Mining And Construction Tycoon [EN]: Chapter 210

210. Rockefeller’s Mess (3)

Kim Jong-pyo, who had initiated the topic, shook his head.

It was a probe, but deep down, he desperately hoped it wasn’t true.

‘Lockheed Gate! Such a massive scandal, and this kid…!’

When, where, and how did the Lockheed Gate scandal even resurface?

Ultimately, it meant he could even buy off U.S. senators and manipulate them like puppets.

Even with ties to the Rockefeller family, this seemed impossible.

‘To move the head of the Rockefeller family to his whims…!’

What did that imply?

It was why Kim Jong-pyo’s face changed.

“…No, right? It can’t be. It mustn’t be!”

“Then do you think we were just lucky that the Lockheed Gate bypassed Korea?”

Kim Jong-pyo knew better than anyone that this couldn’t be the case.

Korea spends a significant amount on defense.

It was impossible for it not to be on Lockheed’s lobbying list.

‘Unless someone deliberately blocked it…!’

Kim Jong-pyo’s eyes widened.

Tae-soo smiled calmly.

“They’re all very grateful.”

It meant Tae-soo had deliberately covered it up.

‘Good heavens!’

Kim Jong-pyo groaned.

‘What kind of hornet’s nest have I stirred up? I was dealing with someone who could detonate and cover up the Lockheed Gate at will!’

Cold sweat trickled down his spine.

“With such capabilities, why bother covering it up?”

“You probably have an idea why.”

Tae-soo was testing Kim Jong-pyo, probing him instead.

He was gauging how far Park Jung-hwan’s strategist could think.

Kim Jong-pyo felt a chill.

“Right, if Korea, like other countries, had been involved in the Lockheed Gate, those who would have suffered would have been high-ranking officials or influential figures.”

That look, urging him to continue.

That relaxed gaze, as if a superior looking down on a subordinate.

That infinitely deep and sharp gaze, as if seeing through a person’s soul.

It was hard to see it as the gaze of a mere kid.

“If the Lockheed Gate had broken out like in other countries, the Korean government would have been paralyzed with so many people involved. In other words, you would have had all those people in your grasp.”

Tae-soo smiled.

It meant he was on the right track.

Kim Jong-pyo distorted his expression.

“You must have co-opted them in exchange for covering up the Lockheed Gate. You seized their weaknesses.”

Republican congressmen, conglomerates, high-ranking officials, the Central Intelligence Agency [South Korean intelligence agency], and the military.

Only now did he understand why they were all pushing Kim Jong-pyo out with one mind.

Then what was the goal?

“Why me of all people? Because I offended you with the Taeyang Apartments?”

Wrong.

Kim Jong-pyo was never Tae-soo’s primary target from the start.

Reading Tae-soo’s stern gaze, Kim Jong-pyo trembled.

“Don’t tell me I wasn’t the target?”

Kim Jong-pyo looked up.

Unlike the confused Kim Jong-pyo, Tae-soo was utterly calm.

His eyes showed no emotion at all.

Kim Jong-pyo let out a hollow laugh.

“Are you saying I wasn’t even worth your time? Then why go to such lengths against me…?”

One person suddenly came to mind.

The one person Kang Tae-soo openly showed hostility towards.

“Han Cheong-ho.”

Now he understood.

“You knew I had been deeply involved with Han Cheong-ho for a long time.”

Kim Jong-pyo, as Park Jung-hwan’s strategist, had spearheaded the economic development plan.

Although he wasn’t given as much authority as the work he did, how could vested interests be excluded from national land development and national development plans?

Moreover, Kim Jong-pyo was under strong scrutiny from Park Jung-hwan, so everyone was reluctant to get involved with him openly.

How much effort and bribery must Han Cheong-ho have invested behind the scenes?

“I gave Cheongil vested interests. My economic development plan was crucial to Han Cheong-ho, who was more outstanding at lobbying than managing, to become a conglomerate leader.”

He deliberately chose prime locations and gave them to Cheongil.

That was why Cheongil Oil and Cheongil Heavy Industries were located in such prime locations.

From the beginning of the economic development plan, he planned it so that Cheongil would benefit.

He had roads built across Cheongil’s land and prioritized support when drafting policies to promote the heavy equipment industry.

“Yet, I even went out of my way to promise Han Cheong-ho a special pardon. So, it was only natural that I fell out of your favor. Haha, hahahaha.”

Kim Jong-pyo felt drained.

As he recalled Han Cheong-ho’s downfall, another hypothesis came to mind.

Kim Jong-pyo’s eyes shook erratically.

“Don’t tell me… you got rid of Park Jung-hwan and Chun Doo-hwan for that reason? Because of Han Cheong-ho?”

Tae-soo said nothing.

But his silence seemed to affirm it.

A chill ran down his spine.

“You’re insane. You triggered a series of huge incidents that paralyzed the country just to ruin Han Cheong-ho and eliminate the powerful figures who might shield him?”

Kim Jong-pyo’s mouth dropped open.

His finger, pointing at Tae-soo, trembled.

“Could it be… for the same reason, you’re now targeting Japan, who might shield me…?”

Why did the Lockheed Gate scandal break out so massively in Japan?

Kim Jong-pyo could immediately deduce the answer.

“You’re removing my backers as a side effect, and also preventing them from interfering with your oil development! So Japan can’t focus on other things!”

Kim Jong-pyo looked at Tae-soo in disbelief.

“The scale is absurdly large. To trigger such massive incidents that paralyze a country just for such a small matter.”

He was a quick thinker.

He understood why Kim Jong-pyo was called Park Jung-hwan’s strategist.

Tae-soo looked at his watch.

One minute left.

“So, what’s your business?”

“Business?”

Kim Jong-pyo swallowed hard.

After meeting Tae-soo, his business had changed.

In fact, he had come here wanting to fix his political career, which had gone wrong because of Tae-soo.

He thought that if he could appease Kang Tae-soo, the political offensive would subside.

But he was mistaken.

“Spare me.”

The opponent was not an innocent kid who could be appeased, but a powerful figure who could shake the country.

A man who had already co-opted all the high-ranking officials and held the weaknesses of more than half of the Republican congressmen.

A man who had Park Jung-hwan’s secret agreement and had triggered the Lockheed Gate scandal.

He realized that he had offended such a person.

“Just this once.”

Kim Jong-pyo gave up cleanly.

Already, the Central Intelligence Agency’s investigation into Kim Jong-pyo’s four major allegations was tightening its grip.

Kim Jong-pyo’s closest aides were being dragged to the Central Intelligence Agency one by one.

Those who had provided Kim Jong-pyo with political funds had disappeared.

Those who had worked with Kim Jong-pyo had all turned their backs.

Even Japan, due to the Lockheed Gate scandal, was no longer looking out for Kim Jong-pyo.

“I came to you in the first place to fix everything.”

He came to fix everything?

If that were the case, he wouldn’t have held his head so high from the start.

He wouldn’t have spouted nonsense as a proposal.

He wouldn’t have threatened and sneered so presumptuously.

“It’s too late.”

Kim Jong-pyo had a premonition.

It wouldn’t end with just the end of his political career.

Surely, this man before him would end it ruthlessly.

Thud.

Finally, Kim Jong-pyo knelt before Tae-soo.

Pride was nothing compared to life.

“I’ll be your dog. I’ll bite anyone who blocks your path. I’ll be completely loyal!”

“Dog?”

Tae-soo raised an eyebrow.

Wasn’t Tae-soo treated like Cheongil’s dog?

Tae-soo, who had elevated Cheongil to the top of the business world, was killed as if he were a hunting dog being boiled [discarded after serving its purpose].

“Are you telling me to take in and raise someone who volunteers to be a dog?”

“I’ll bark if you tell me to. So please, just spare me!”

Tae-soo was dumbfounded to see Kim Jong-pyo barking like a dog.

Kim Jong-pyo crawled desperately on his knees.

“You won’t be disappointed. I’m the one who, as Park Jung-hwan’s strategist, created this country’s development plan. I’ll prove my usefulness to you in the future.”

“I don’t need it.”

Tae-soo didn’t even blink.

He had seen countless people like that over the years.

Those who slyly wag their tongues with dark intentions and scheme behind the scenes.

There was no good in getting involved with them.

“Cheongil!”

If he had ended up in this situation because of Han Cheong-ho, he would have to sell Han Cheong-ho out to survive.

“I’ll completely crush Cheongil! I’ll focus the arrows of attack I used on the conglomerates on Cheongil!”

“Time’s up.”

Tae-soo raised his hand.

Kim Jong-pyo’s vision went dark.

He quickly grabbed Tae-soo’s trouser leg.

“Please! Just once!”

If he was cast out like this, the future was obvious.

‘I’ll end up like Han Cheong-ho! I can’t let that happen!’

What had happened to Han Cheong-ho?

He was dragged to the Central Intelligence Agency and tortured for a long time.

He was sent to prison with no part of him intact.

Even in prison, he was reportedly being gang-raped by vicious criminals.

But Kim Jong-pyo knew that wasn’t the end of it.

‘I can’t let that happen to me!’

Kim Jong-pyo desperately listed his usefulness and passionately pleaded.

But Tae-soo’s smile in return was cold.

“Kim Jong-pyo, you dreamed of becoming the second Park Jung-hwan.”

“Yes, I swear I’ll kill anyone who blocks your path! I’m confident I can do even better than Park Jung-hwan!”

“You can never become Park Jung-hwan.”

“Why? I’m more capable and smarter than Park Jung-hwan! I can handle not only what Park Jung-hwan could do, but also what he couldn’t!”

He was frustrated.

Kim Jong-pyo was truly confident he could do well.

‘If I can just get through this crisis…! The day will surely come when I repay this humiliation properly!’

Kim Jong-pyo was someone who never forgot a grudge.

How could Tae-soo not know that?

“Why? Do you really not know why?”

Tae-soo turned his back and walked towards his desk.

Step by step.

Only Tae-soo’s footsteps echoed in the president’s office.

“You have no integrity.”

Park Jung-hwan was suspicious, but he tried hard to maintain the dignity of the supreme leader.

So much so that he told people to trust his words more than himself.

Park Jung-hwan tried to keep his word as if it were his life.

Even if it meant taking a loss, he endured it.

That was why people gave him a break when Tae-soo carried Park Jung-hwan’s lighter [showed respect and loyalty].

“Your oath of loyalty is cheaper than Park Jung-hwan’s lighter.”

Kim Jong-pyo’s words and actions were inconsistent.

He had never kept a promise properly.

He was always thinking of stabbing someone in the back at any opportunity.

That was why he was nicknamed a schemer.

“Just trust me once! You’ll never regret it!”

“Why should I trust someone who can’t even keep his own word?”

“What do you think was the reason why Park Jung-hwan couldn’t trust me but still had to use me? It means I’m that capable. Are you going to throw away talent for such a small matter?”

Tae-soo sat down.

Kim Jong-pyo looked up at him from the floor.

He exuded dignity as if he were sitting on a throne.

“Trash should be thrown away.”

No matter how expensive and valuable it was, trash was still trash.

It was like a death sentence, so Kim Jong-pyo had to bite his lip.

Knock, knock.

It was Shin Ji-soo, the head of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Next to him was Lee Se-hoo, the Army Chief of Staff and head of the Joint Investigation Headquarters.

“H-How can you be here so quickly?”

Kim Jong-pyo had to scream.

Shin Ji-soo, the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, opened his mouth.

“Kim Jong-pyo, I’ll give you a choice. Will you follow me willingly, or will you be dragged away?”

“I’m the acting president! How dare the Central Intelligence Agency investigate me!”

Lee Se-hoo, the head of the Joint Investigation Headquarters, answered instead.

“The investigation into the assassination of President Park Jung-hwan hasn’t been concluded yet.”

“I’m innocent! I wasn’t involved in the president’s assassination at all!”

“That depends on how you frame it.”

This time, Shin Ji-soo, the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, answered instead.

“Kim Jong-pyo, this is the method you used the most. Isn’t the fate of the loser in a power struggle predetermined?”

Shin Ji-soo shrugged.

“With even public opinion turning its back on you, what’s so scary about arresting you?”

“Ha, hahaha. It’s not public opinion, it’s because Kang Tae-soo turned his back on me!”

Kim Jong-pyo laughed loudly.

What was the reason why the head of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Army Chief of Staff appeared here as if they had been waiting?

It meant that Tae-soo had already called them.

That meant that Kim Jong-pyo knew before anyone else that he was heading from the Blue House to Taeyang Building.

So how could he not laugh in vain?

“I’ve been dancing in the palm of your hand, Kang Tae-soo.”

Kim Jong-pyo got up from the floor.

“I’ll go on my own.”

As he watched Kim Jong-pyo disappear, Secretary Song Chang-joon said.

“We’ve succeeded in developing the 7th mining sector’s offshore oil field. News has just come in that oil is gushing out.”

Kim Jong-pyo’s hollow laughter had to turn into a madman’s cackle.

“It’s a complete defeat. Hahahaha!”

Now, who can stop Kang Tae-soo’s oil business?