Chapter 1477: Going Home (2) |
A bus was driving leisurely on a city street.
One of the bus’s passengers, Kang Jin-Ho, stared outside the window and took in the passing scenery of this still-unfamiliar city.
Although, I think I’ve gotten a little familiar with it now.
Just as he got more acclimatized to this place, he was going home. But that was okay with him.
Kang Jin-Ho didn’t mind being in China, but couldn’t get used to life in Europe or America for some reason. In all honesty, even he was surprised by how happy he was at the prospect of going back to South Korea.
…And not flying on a plane to do that only made him feel even better!
“I thought it’d be somewhere near the desert, though,” said Kang Jin-Ho.
Wiggins shook his head. “The Americans rejected the idea, my lord. It’ll be too cumbersome to maintain the site, they said.”
“Mm… I guess they have a point.”
Kang Jin-Ho curiously asked, “However, considering the importance of this matter, the extra expenses shouldn’t be a problem for the Americans?”
“Indeed, my lord. However, I’m certain that can’t be their only reason. They probably believe we will hesitate to force our way in if the gate is installed near a densely populated area, like a city.”
“Hmm…?”
That might have sounded strange in any other circumstances, but not this time.
A “normal” army being allowed to land near the enemy city would have been a total disaster, but Kang Jin-Ho and his people were martial artists, not soldiers.
The Martial Assembly always tried its absolute best not to get spotted by the ordinary people and minimize the damage the public might suffer. Since that was the case, installing a gate in a deserted area with no people around would have been ideal. The Assembly’s people wouldn’t have to worry about being spotted by the unwary while getting down to business, after all.
Naturally, being in a densely populated area, like a city, would make them more cautious.
“Doesn’t that mean they have managed to figure out our way of doing things?”
Wiggins furrowed his brow. “They were acting as this was for our benefit, but their real intention must’ve been to improve their surveillance efforts. Still, they deserve some credit for regarding us as reasonable people.”
“Hmm.”
Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded. He didn’t care either way.
A gate was merely a tool to make life easier in his book, after all. He didn’t have plans to use it for combat. Besides, doing so would have been unfeasible, anyway.
This teleportation magic was not as useful as some might think. Teleporting Kang Jin-Ho and a handful of people required the presence of a powerful mage, like Wiggins. The Assembly might boast capable mages in its ranks now, but the best they could do was teleport around one hundred people at a push.
No, considering the distance, that number should be lower.
The Americans must’ve known this, too, and that was probably why they wanted the gate to be installed near a city instead.
Wiggins chuckled. “Isn’t this a good thing?”
“Mm?”
“Miss Choi will have an easier time commuting with this arrangement, after all.”
Kang Jin-Ho grinned wryly. There was that, wasn’t it?
Once a gate was installed in China, traveling between it and America would become a cinch. And if another complication arose, they could just install another teleportation gate in China.
“Thanks,” said Kang Jin-Ho.
“You don’t have to thank me, my lord. We didn’t do it for your sake, after all.”
Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes at how firm Wiggins sounded just then.
“Really now?”
“Yes, really. This is all for the diversification of the Assembly’s business interests. Honestly, it’s about time we explored such avenues of expansion. We can’t keep relying on the old ways and expect our earnings to remain the same.”
That was when Lee Hyeon-Su chimed in. “He’s right, you know?”
The Assembly’s main sources of revenue in the past were its extensive portfolio of real estate, plus earnings from various illicit activities. The former presented zero issues even after the Assembly became a tax-paying legitimate business entity, but the latter posed a significant problem.
Right. The tributes are the issue we face.
Not only the tributes, but this problem also involved funds from illegal business activities, and even payments for other types of dealings.
If the Assembly wanted to, it could still collect tributes. However, if it did that, how would it declare the source of this income to the taxmen? After all, the Assembly had already turned most of its assets readily auditable through MK.
Doing so was a must for the future of the organization, but that also created the problem of declaring where all this money had come from.
Rather obviously, the Assembly couldn’t tell the tax office that it got all this money by ripping off the criminal organizations, now could it?
It could say they had formed a union of sorts, or a coalition, of various small businesses. And that this money had come from the coalition members, but that wouldn’t be a legitimate way of doing things. Revenues of a legitimate business entity must be declared as “earned” by said entity.
Besides, the Assembly had already sold off or simply shut down all of its illegal business enterprises by now, anyway. As for all the extra jobs the Assembly used to take on—rather openly, one might add—in the past, it was now threatening the would-be clients to go away and never to come back. In other words…
The Martial Assembly had stopped all of its illegal business activities.
The government might be dancing in the street in celebration, but from the Martial Assembly’s perspective? It wasn’t exactly a positive development, since its revenue got slashed by at least half since going legitimate, after all!
Lee Hyeon-Su enthusiastically explained, “Thanks to the government’s assistance, we’ve managed to completely launder our dirty money. Right now, MK’s bank account is flush with a ton of cash, but… It’s just sitting there, sir. We’ll keep shaving away at our savings until it eventually runs out.”
“Yeah… That’s true.”
“That’s why we need new sources of revenue, sir. New legitimate sources, that is.”
Kang Jin-Ho nodded again.
Lee Hyeon-Su didn’t oppose the establishment of MK’s entertainment division for precisely this reason. Kang Jin-Ho figured that setting it up would make life easier since Choi Yeon-Ha was thinking of setting up her own agency, anyway. But Lee Hyeon-Su was clearly thinking of going even further than that.
Right. We need to create a legitimate business with nothing to hide.
He was never going to be satisfied with a haphazardly run business where only one person was basically responsible for all of its revenue streams.
This was why he wanted to use the Assembly’s resources to support Choi Yeon-Ha’s entrance into the American entertainment scene. Although the Assembly was trying out a cafe franchise and other business ventures, none of them had proved to be a definitive source of income yet.
Doing nothing and simply relying on the income from real estate would eventually lead to the Assembly declaring bankruptcy.
“Sir, people need money to survive. Anyone who says they will work for free is a nut job.”
“…”
Although Lee Hyeon-Su was being a bit extreme with that statement, Kang Jin-Ho didn’t feel like arguing against it. Most of what he said was true, after all.
“To ensure the continued development of the Assembly, or at least to maintain its current system, we need to make money, sir. Going around ripping governments off isn’t a long-term solution, either. Of course…”
Lee Hyeon-Su grinned like a cat with a full tummy.
“…What the Americans coughed up this time should ensure that we don’t have to work for the next five years and still not worry about money problems. Kuh-euh~! As expected of the so-called Celestial Empire! I was only testing the waters, so to think they’d just accept every demand as is!”
“…”
Just how much did Lee Hyeon-Su get from the American government, anyway?
Lee Hyeon-Su grew somber once more. “And the situation in Japan has been more or less sorted out now, as well. That should ensure that the Assembly wouldn’t have money trouble for a while. However, I’m sure you already know this, sir. This situation won’t last forever. The status quo will collapse eventually, and the Japanese will rise up again.”
Of course they would.
Humans naturally disliked the idea of having someone lording over them. Especially if the rulers one-sidedly benefited while the “ruled” got nothing in return; a rebellion to end the unjust rule would eventually break out.
For now, the Martial Assembly was in a much superior position, which precluded the Japanese from rebelling. But it’d be foolish to view Japan as a reliable source of revenue for the Assembly for all eternity.
“Nothing’s easy, huh…” Kang Jin-Ho grunted softly.
Lee Hyeon-Su chuckled helplessly. “But that’s life, isn’t it? Actually, sir? I’d say you had it far too easy until now.”
“…?”
Far too easy?
Kang Jin-Ho was about to defend himself, only to stop after realizing that Lee Hyeon-Su was technically correct.
Ever since he joined the Demon Cult back in Zhongyuan, Kang Jin-Ho never had to worry about money. At the very least, he had no problem keeping himself fed and clothed during that time.
Considering how the overwhelming majority of people in that era had struggled to put food on the table every single day… One could argue that Kang Jin-Ho indeed had it easy. It was just that… His suffering back then was the result of something else.
“Got it. I’ll leave it to you, so make a killing for us,” said Kang Jin-Ho.
“Yes, sir. Don’t worry about anything.”
Kang Jin-Ho nodded at Lee Hyeon-Su’s confident reply.
Even as they conversed, the bus continued its trek across the cityscape until it reached a large building on the outskirts.
Outwardly, nothing seemed amiss about this building, save for how secure its entrance was with armed security protecting it.
When the bus approached, the security personnel quickly opened the huge barbed wire gate, allowing the vehicle to slip through. That was when Kang Jin-Ho spotted Reynold Spencer and William Reese standing by the large empty space behind the entrance.
Kang Jin-Ho glanced at his companions. “Let’s go.”
“Yes, sir.”
Spencer walked up to the disembarking group while making an unreadable face. “Assembly Master, I didn’t expect you to leave so soon.”
“Mm?”
“We still have so many things left to discuss, sir.”
Kang Jin-Ho cocked his brow to say he wasn’t impressed by the idea. “Really now? What things are you talking about?”
“Things such as the number of our soldiers to be stationed in Korea, the criteria for selecting them, and what kind of training program they will receive under the Assembly’s management. Plus, we’d like to negotiate a few other deals with your side as well.”
“I see. Use your phone, then.”
“I’m… sorry?”
“Do we have to talk face to face? If you’re dead-set on doing that, we can always do a video conference.”
“I… Understood, sir. We’ll do that.”
Kang Jin-Ho was about to walk away, only to stop. “Ah, by the way. There’s this one thing I’m curious about.”
“Yes, sir?” Spencer stared quizzically at Kang Jin-Ho.
“Who will command the soldiers coming to Korea?”
“That’s… The SOB will have its own commanders.”
“But I was impressed by the commanders I ran into during the training exercise.”
“You mean… The commanders from III Armored Corps and the 15th armored division?”
“Mm, yeah. Those two.”
Kang Jin-Ho coolly nodded.
The American military’s armored corps left a deep impression on Kang Jin-Ho with its firepower, but what impressed him even more were the attitudes of Frank Wilson and Reggie Mercer. People like those two deserved to be acknowledged as true warriors, even if they weren’t martial artists.
If it was possible, people like them commanding the American martial artists in Korea would make life easier for Kang Jin-Ho.
Spencer frowned slightly. “There are several problems with that idea, sir. First of all, they are not familiar with commanding martial artists. Also, since they are not martial artists themselves, we don’t know if the soldiers under their command would even listen to them properly.”
“You don’t have to worry about that one,” said Kang Jin-Ho with a smirk.
“Sorry?”
“I can fix that problem, after all.”
Spencer hurriedly clamped his mouth shut.
Since Kang Jin-Ho had said that, he’d definitely fix it, now wouldn’t he? And that was why Spencer couldn’t help but worry about the method Kang Jin-Ho would resort to.
Right. Who’s going to talk back to you if you beat the living snot out of them first?
If it was Kang Jin-Ho… He’d find a way to make the stubborn soldiers submit, even if the commander was some cute little puppy!
“We’ll consider it, sir. But the important part is if they are up for it. We might give them the wrong idea if we approach them out of nowhere, after all. They might end up thinking that we’re demoting them for the training exercise fiasco.”
“Sounds like you don’t plan to punish them?”
“Yes, sir. We can’t punish them for somehow surviving the natural calamity, after all. A commander can’t be held responsible if his soldiers died from a sudden lightning strike.”
“That’s… pretty rational, isn’t it?”
Kang Jin-Ho sighed softly. If something similar had happened to the Korean army, the commanders involved would’ve been summarily punished by getting a demotion instead.
It wasn’t as if the Korean army didn’t care about the process, but it simply prioritized the outcome far more.
“In any case…” Kang Jin-Ho glanced back at Spencer. “Let’s discuss all these things later. I’m about to develop home sickness, after all.”
“Understood. I hope your stay in our fine country has been an enjoyable experience, sir.”
“Yeah, it was. More or less.”
Although, it might not have been as enjoyable for the Americans!
Kang Jin-Ho nodded, then headed inside the large nondescript building. But then, a wry grin formed on his face when Choi Yeon-Ha’s flustered voice registered in his hearing.
“Just where are we going? What is this place?”
He reacted similarly to her the first time as well. Then again, despite having used it several times now, he still found this magic amazing to behold, didn’t he?
