Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 244

246

Godz Knights’ Chairman’s office. Esther, standing before Beomseok, stared intently at the electronic documents with a bewildered expression. It was none other than the main sponsor contract, which included a whopping 1 billion krang [fictional currency] in sponsorship funds for a 3-year contract. Only a mid-tier Central League team could secure a contract of this magnitude.

Esther put down the electronic document and said in a trembling voice.

“C-Chairman. Is this huge sum of money really coming to our team?”

“Of course. Why, is something strange?”

“Of course, it’s strange. Our Godz Knights are in the Wide League. And even if Gloria and Beomseok are close, this kind of main sponsor contract is too much. Besides, Rainbow Group isn’t a big enough company to invest 1 billion krang in advertising expenses.”

Beomseok smiled brightly and said.

“Well, that’s true, but in this capitalist society, anything is possible. And that money has advertising expenses plus alpha [additional, unspecified benefits].”

“Alpha?”

“Hmm, it means most of the sponsorship money is used for Gloria. Actually, I’m only telling you this because it’s you, but Rainbow Group might face a hostile M&A [mergers and acquisitions]. This money is going to be used in that fight.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. Wouldn’t it be better to buy back company shares instead?”

He shook his head as if it were absurd. With the Black Society’s M&A expected, there was no way they hadn’t considered buying back company shares.

“Share buybacks are generally prohibited under commercial law, except for some exceptions. And even if we bought them back as an exception, there’s no voting rights. Do you understand what I mean?”

Esther immediately understood. Shares without voting rights would be useless in defending management control.

“I see. So, the idea is to circulate funds under the guise of sponsorship and then prepare for the Black Society’s hostile M&A.”

“That’s right.”

Esther looked disappointed. She thought Godz Knights would grow significantly due to the massive influx of funds, but that wasn’t the case at all.

“Then, can’t we use some of this money to recruit new gladiators?”

“No. Even scraping together all the funds in the team and putting them into Rainbow is not enough.”

“Then what about gladiator recruitment this transfer season?”

“Well, we have to prepare for the Rainbow Group’s crisis first, so I don’t think there will be any new gladiator recruitment for the time being.”

“So, we’ll have to maintain the current squad for the beginning of next season.”

“Probably.”

Just when it seemed the conversation was about to end, a call came from Beomseok’s pocket. He took out his electronic notebook from his inside pocket and showed it; the sender was Lexter. He pressed the call button and answered the phone.

“Ah, Inspector. What’s going on?”

“– Beomseok. It’s starting.”

“What do you mean, starting?”

“– Margaret says the Black Society seems to be starting their attack soon.”

Tense, Beomseok looked urgent.

“Really? How do you think they’ll attack?”

“– It seems the prosecution or the National Tax Service will move. The National Tax Service has already designated personnel for a tax audit of Godz Knights, and a member of the Black Society had a secret meeting with a prosecutor from the Lima District Prosecutors’ Office who is on their side.”

He expected the National Tax Service to move, but he didn’t expect the prosecution to get involved. And the fact that he knew about the attack in advance thanks to Margaret meant that Emma was being completely excluded from this matter by the Black Society. This meant they were sharpening their knives, so he couldn’t help but worry. And he could see that Emma’s usefulness was extremely low.

“Hmm. Inspector. When do you think the specific attack will happen?”

“– Well, it’ll be soon, but I don’t know the details. But don’t worry too much. We’ve secretly deployed our company employees, so we’ll know right away if they make a move.”

Lexter was running a security and escort service company called Shieldless with Margaret. Their main business was security and escort, but they also hired some hackers and errand center employees separately to act as the information department of Ilsimhoe [a secret society] in the shadows. The ones protecting Godz Knights now were the information department employees of Shieldless.

“Inspector. Can I trust you to take care of things from now on?”

“– Yes. Don’t worry about that. I’ll turn back as soon as I arrive. But prepare yourself in case something goes wrong. If things go wrong, problems may arise.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“– And give the kids who are helping out a treat. And give them some pocket money for doing work outside of their duties.”

“Don’t worry. I know that much. I’ll prepare separate envelopes with well-laundered cash.”

“– Haha. I knew you’d do well. Then I’ll hang up now.”

“Yes, goodbye.”

Two days later. A group of people came to the Godz Knights training camp. Everyone was wearing a gold badge in the shape of a pentagram on their left chest, so they were definitely National Tax Service employees. They all smiled faintly and looked at the Godz Knights office building in the distance.

“Chief Queens. Do we just need to find something to pin on them?”

A blonde man was talking to a red-haired man walking in front. These were Queens and Park; one was the chief of the investigation department at the Lima City Tax Office, and the other was his subordinate.

Queens calmly shook his head and opened his mouth.

“Well, is there any need to do that on purpose? It’ll all come out during the investigation.”

“That’s true. Especially since the Godz Knights team is run by an individual, there will probably be many problems on the books.”

“Yes. Especially if we come in unexpectedly like this time, even more so. They wouldn’t have had time to prepare.”

Park, with a face full of hope, rubbed his hands together and said.

“If we handle this well, can we expect good results in the next promotion review?”

“That’s right. I’ll become the director right away, and you’ll take my current position. And the rest will get corresponding rewards. The Black Society is ruthless to its adversaries, but it gives sure rewards to those who are loyal.”

Park, smiling contentedly, looked at the other tax office employees who followed and said.

“Did you all hear that? We just need to follow Chief Queens. Then we can all get promoted to our satisfaction.”

“Yes.”

Queens nodded, looking at his chanting subordinates.

“To do that, we have to finish today’s work properly. We can’t allow even one mistake this time. Do you all understand?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Okay. Then let’s all hurry. Let’s finish today’s work quickly and go have a big drink.”

After saying that, Queens hurried down the road. Now, the Black Society’s members were eagerly waiting for a report on today’s work. It was good for his promotion to quickly handle it and make them feel comfortable.

However, their plan went wrong from the start.

“Stop. Outsiders are prohibited from entering beyond this point.”

Queens, who arrived in front of the Godz Knights office building, looked bewildered at the no-entry line and several men in uniforms in front of the door. It was because the police were blocking the entrance and standing guard, as if something had happened. Moreover, they were relentlessly blocking them from entering the building.

“We need to go inside urgently.”

A police officer pointed to the holographic no-entry line with his thumb and said.

“Can’t you see? We are urgently conducting a police search and seizure. No one can enter this building until the investigation is over.”

“What’s going on?”

“Are you a police official?”

“No. We are employees of the Lima City Tax Office.”

“Then you don’t need to know. Now, please go back.”

“But we need to conduct a tax investigation of Godz Knights urgently.”

The police officer raised his chin and looked at him.

“That’s none of our business. We have only received orders not to let anyone into the building except those involved. And we’ve never heard of tax office employees visiting.”

“Ah. This is an urgent tax investigation.”

The police officer pointed to the parking lot with one hand and said in a firm tone.

“It doesn’t matter. Now, please go back.”

Too embarrassed, Queens looked at his subordinates, not knowing what to do. He didn’t know how to deal with this because it was his first time experiencing this. But he couldn’t go back like this. The Black Society members wanted quick results.

“We also need to investigate Godz Knights. We can never back down.”

“Please back down. If you continue to interfere with the investigation, we will immediately arrest you for obstructing the execution of official duties.”

“No, we are also executing official duties, so what obstruction of official duties are you talking about?”

“That’s none of our business. Now, please go back.”

Queens, slightly heated by the officer’s strong attitude, nudged the officer’s shoulder.

“What kind of people are you! Who is your superior!”

However, instead of mentioning the name of the superior who ordered him to answer, the police officer immediately jumped up and rolled on the floor. And after trembling, he collapsed powerlessly. In response, another police officer, his face red, rushed at the tax office employees.

“These guys dare to hit a police officer! Arrest them all!”

A barrage of batons rained down on Queens and his subordinates. Meanwhile, a police officer quickly took out a walkie-talkie and made an emergency call to the local emergency center. The content was very simple: a police officer was attacked by a stranger and was in critical condition.

Beomseok, who watched this situation from the chairman’s office window, smiled faintly.

“Hollywood action… As expected of Inspector Lexter’s junior who likes soccer. But he handled it very well. Now I can live comfortably for a few days.”

As he watched the tax office employees being arrested and taken away in police cars, he moved away from the window and went to his seat. And he took out his electronic notebook, found a phone list, and pressed the call button. It was Chairman Lucas. He intended to firmly declare war because the war with the Black Society had begun with this incident.

After a few rings, Lucas’s face appeared on the screen.

“– Oh, isn’t it Beomseok? You’re calling me like this, so it seems like there’s something very urgent?”

Beomseok, with a calm face, nodded.

“Yes, something troublesome has happened.”

“– Yes, what’s going on?”

Even at the hypocritical words, Beomseok did not waver and maintained his composure.

“A search and seizure is taking place at our Godz Knights right now.”

“– Oh, is that so? Oh dear, oh dear. That must be quite difficult.”

“Yes, I’m in a very difficult situation. So I contacted you for help.”

“– Hmm, help… It seems difficult for the time being…”

Beomseok glared at him with sharp eyes.

“Why not?”

“– Well, wouldn’t you know the reason better?”

“Oh, is that so? I don’t know.”

Lucas on the screen clasped his hands together and raised his eyes slightly.

“– Is that so? Do you think I and our Black Society are fools?”

“Yes.”

At that moment, Lucas twitched one eyebrow. It was only one word, but he could fully understand Beomseok’s intention. He was definitely hostile to the Black Society.

“– Haha. We’re fools?”

“That’s right.”

“– This. It seems our Black Society is being thoroughly ignored by you.”

“It can’t be helped. How can I treat an incompetent person who can’t even tell whether the opponent is a tiger or a kitten, and who doesn’t know how to handle their own business and makes some crazy bastard clean up after them?”

Lucas took a deep breath and forced a smile on his face.

“– Hehehe. Then what about you, who is being defeated by someone like us?”

“Besides, I don’t even know if they cleaned up properly, so it’s even more pathetic.”

At the words containing thick bones, he looked at Beomseok with strange eyes.

“– You. Didn’t you say you were being searched and seized a little while ago?”

“Yes, so I said I needed help. Wasn’t it the case that some crazy tax office employee hit a police officer who was conducting a search and seizure and was dragged away for obstructing the execution of official duties? Well, I didn’t have to worry about it, but I showed human compassion and tried to ask for the tax office employee to be safely released. But if the chairman doesn’t want to, I can’t help it. Even though I did my best, it didn’t work, so I don’t need to feel sorry for the tax office employee who was dragged to the police station, do I?”

Lucas was silent for a long time. It was because he couldn’t possibly not know the meaning of what Beomseok said. The one performing the task of hitting Godz Knights was none other than his direct junior.

“– It seems like I’ve made a mistake no matter how I look at it. But how did you know?”

“Well, it’s hard for me to say, so try to guess.”

“– Emma?”

Some of it was right, but Beomseok shook his head.

“The chairman knows that’s not the case, right?”

“– Well, that child doesn’t know anything about this, so it can’t be. Now, then who could it be?”

“Hehe. It seems you still think of me as a chick. Do you think I’m someone who can only oppose the Black Society if I rely on someone?”

“– Hmm. It seems like it. Because there’s no way a traitor could have come out of our organization. But your ability is this much, it’s really surprising. It seems I’ve made a big mistake.”

Beomseok crossed his arms and said.

============================ Author’s words ============================

Ah. I’m going crazy. Things are popping up every weekend. Thanks to that, I just got here. This is two days in a row that I’m late. There won’t be anything like this during the week, so don’t worry. ㅠㅠ Have a great day everyone. I’ll see you again tomorrow.