My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 256

“Probably, as expected, they’re receiving huge bribes from the Chinese side and pushing the deal through.”

“Ugh….”

“Well, it’s not that I don’t understand….”

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is someone who seized power through a coup. And after taking that position, he ousted all the corrupt members of the royal family.

Naturally, he confiscated all the wealth they had accumulated through illegal means. Wasn’t it said that the wealth amounted to billions of dollars? In a situation where their heads would be on the line if they didn’t hand over the assets, most of the corrupt royal family members had no choice but to relinquish their fortunes.

“Someone is bound to take that place.”

“But they should have seen what happens when you become corrupt.”

“No, it’s currently impossible.”

“Huh?”

“The fact that the current Crown Prince seized power through a coup means, conversely, that his support base is ambiguous.”

Of course, it’s no exaggeration to say that he already firmly controls the military and police forces. In fact, he succeeded in the coup by dominating the military. However, his political foundation is weak in reality.

“No matter how much the current military pledges allegiance to the Crown Prince, in Saudi Arabia, the King is the one who controls the military.”

In other words, even if it’s a military unit, they can’t refuse the King’s explicit order if he goes crazy and says, ‘Kill the Crown Prince.’ Because it’s a clear command.

Conversely, it also means that even the current King is somewhat condoning the current Crown Prince’s coup.

“And what’s important in these political battles is the political support base. The problem is that, given the nature of Saudi Arabia, most key positions are held by members of the royal family.”

No matter how powerful the current Crown Prince is, he cannot maintain power by turning everyone into enemies. The military supports him because he is likely to seize power, not because he currently holds power.

“The King also doesn’t stop the coup because, in the worst-case scenario, a civil war could break out in Saudi Arabia if he doesn’t tolerate it.”

Of course, deep down, there must be concerns about the incompetence of the previous Crown Prince. After all, he was the former Crown Prince who stood by and watched as illegal wealth accumulation reached not millions, but billions of dollars.

The general opinion is that even though Saudi Arabia is currently overflowing with money, the King didn’t like the former Crown Prince’s actions of hoarding it for themselves instead of using it for the future. In fact, there’s another reason for this: unlike other countries, Saudi Arabia’s basic rule is fraternal succession, not inheritance from father to son.

Since the founding of Saudi Arabia in 1926, all the kings have been sons of the first king. Originally, the Crown Prince was also the 35th son of the first king.

The problem is that even though there are many siblings, they are all brothers, so they are all old. As a result, the former Crown Prince’s age is by no means young, and the corrupt forces united around him were eating away at the country.

So, everyone thinks that the King subtly drew his sword. Eventually, there will come a point when fraternal succession is impossible, and if that happens after the younger brother takes over, his sons will just live and die as mediocre royals. In any case, it was an inheritance that went against the existing rules and order, and to justify it, the support of even one royal was crucial.

“So, even if they get caught, they won’t receive a severe punishment.”

“That’s right.”

It was a coup to hand over power and normalize the country, not a coup to kill off all the relatives.

If that were the case, the current King wouldn’t have been safe either.

But that didn’t happen, and in reality, most of the royal relatives who contributed their wealth, with a few exceptions, saved their lives.

“It’s a common occurrence in the political world. When you seize power, the people who were aiming for it start to exploit it enthusiastically.”

Go Gwang-soo frowned at Park Do-joon’s words.

“Then it’s impossible for us to overturn it.”

Because the decision has already been made at the top. In the absolute monarchy of Saudi Arabia, there can be no accusations against the royal family.

In the first place, in a situation where the passport says, ‘This person is the property of the Saudi royal family,’ isn’t it common sense that property cannot accuse its owner?

“And realistically, I don’t think they’re unaware of this at the top.”

“You think they’re aware?”

“People tend to cower when a sharp sword is wielded.”

“Is that so?”

“It’s said that during the Gwangju Democratization Movement [a period of pro-democracy protests in South Korea in 1980], not a single theft occurred in Gwangju. But do you think thieves were so moved by democracy that they didn’t steal?”

No. Of course, they didn’t do it because they were afraid of getting a bullet in the head. People were collapsing and dying from government troops’ bullets on the streets, and dozens were disappearing every day. Stealing in that situation? Only a madman would do such a thing.

“It’s the same thing.”

It hasn’t been long since they purged all the members of the royal family who had accumulated illegal wealth. But to do this openly means, conversely, that they’re saying, ‘We’ll give you this position, so exploit it moderately.’

“The problem is that there’s no regulation for that ‘moderately.’”

Considering the Saudi royal family’s large financial scale, the size of that moderation must be enormous.

“Hyunseong surprisingly didn’t lobby [attempt to influence decisions by authorities].”

“Ugh, that’s….”

Hyunseong decided to compete solely on merit, thinking that if they rashly offered bribes to the current Crown Prince, who is known for cracking down on corruption, they might provoke him and suffer disadvantages.

‘I guess they misjudged.’

If they had properly analyzed the other party, they would have known that the problem wasn’t the money itself, but the direction where the money was flowing.

“Then, if we give bribes now….”

“It’ll be difficult.”

“Why?”

“First of all, we don’t know how much China gave. And frankly, the scale difference is too big. Poongjin Construction is literally a company run by the state. So, they earn a tremendous amount of money every year in China. Can you match them in bribes?”

“Ugh, that’s….”

Impossible. In the first place, Poongjin Construction’s annual revenue is almost equal to the entire Hyunseong Group’s revenue. You have to compare it to the entire group to barely match it, so they can’t give bribes similar to theirs.

“Then, is there no way?”

“Well? I don’t think that’s something I can solve.”

Even if it’s Park Do-joon, a solution can’t suddenly pop out in this situation.

“Let’s think about it for a while. It’s not like a decision will be made right after the briefing….”

Park Do-joon said with a bitter smile.

-So, bribes are the problem after all?

“Did you expect it?”

-I was hoping, but I didn’t think it would be. As you’ve heard….

“I know. People mistakenly believe that the power elite who ousted the existing corrupt forces are clean.”

But the reality is not like that. Most of those who ousted such corrupt forces did so not because they were clean, but because they coveted the vested interests held by the corrupt forces.

It is true that Saudi Arabia is definitely much cleaner now than in the past, but that doesn’t mean that industrial wastewater suddenly becomes first-class water.

-It’s complicated. Definitely complicated.

“It seems we need to watch the situation for now.”

If we approach them now to give bribes, it’s obvious that the other party will be suspicious, and they won’t even accept it in the first place. In the end, we have to choose one of the two, and they can’t receive from both.

-I’ll definitely talk about it on this side as well. We have to find a solution. By the way, I have something to tell you too.

“If you have something to tell me?”

-Well, Director Go will tell you the details, but it seems there’s a suspicious travel agency.

At the word travel agency, Park Do-joon’s eyes widened. A suspicious travel agency, that means it’s about the case of the deceased flight attendant.

“Who is it?”

-They say it’s Zaid Otaibi.

“Zaid Otaibi….”

Park Do-joon repeated the name and asked.

“So, that person runs a travel agency.”

-He’s famous as an adventure traveler.

“An adventure traveler….”

Park Do-joon smiled at those words. Because the culprit has finally been identified.

“We need to catch him first.”

Park Do-joon smiled at the fact that the resolution of the case was not far off.

Zaid Otaibi. Thirty-eight years old. Unmarried and a citizen of Saudi Arabia. And currently running a travel agency based on adventures.

“What is an adventure travel agency?”

Go Gwang-soo had no choice but to ask seriously because he didn’t know what it was.

“Generally, travel runs in the form of packages. But not everyone wants that.”

People with a strong sense of adventure or those who are tired of such package tours seek a newer type of travel.

First, there’s package travel. Next, there’s free travel, and then there’s adventure travel.

“But it’s not something you can do as you please.”

Some areas don’t allow you to light fires, and some areas don’t allow you to catch certain animals.

And that’s what adventure travel agencies take care of.

“You can enjoy the thrill, but it guarantees a certain level of safety.”

“Ah, now that I think about it, the people who found the body were also adventurers, right?”

“Yes.”

Saudi Arabia is not a safe place. You can’t give tourists firearms, so someone has to be armed and protect the people.

“Adventure travel agencies specialize in that aspect.”

It’s different from a bodyguard. They provide overall travel services together.

“Doesn’t Korea have such places?”

“Korea doesn’t have them. Korea is a country that really dislikes deviating from the established framework.”

Moreover, Korea doesn’t have suitable terrain for adventure. Forests are common in other countries as well, and in reality, Korea’s forests have almost no dangerous animals that could threaten people.

“Adventure travel agencies are usually found in places with vast lands where you can enjoy unique terrains.”

And Zaid Otaibi is someone who runs such a travel agency.

“But there was a mistake.”

“A mistake?”

“There was no connection with Zaid Otaibi.”

“What?”

Park Do-joon frowned at those words. This was something he hadn’t even considered. He thought that since Zaid Otaibi was running an adventure travel agency, there would naturally be some connection. But there’s no connection at all?

“None at all? Guides usually ride the same plane together… No, never mind. I guess not. If it’s an adventure travel agency… that could certainly be the case.”

Guides sometimes ride the same plane and travel with the tourists, escorting them. So, Park Do-joon thought there would definitely be a connection.

“Adventure travel agencies certainly don’t have much reason to go outside.”

Adventure means traveling while taking on a certain level of risk. And the employees of such adventure travel agencies would naturally want to minimize that risk.

Then, naturally, they can’t help but become experts in one area. The problem is that even if they are experts in one area, they can’t act as experts in other areas.