Money Keeps Piling Up No Matter How Much I Spend

Chapter 214

Translator: Dreamscribe[Everyone, wake up. We are being deceived!]

A face I hadn't seen in a long time was on TV, shouting before a crowd.

[The media, the press, the politicians, they're all in on it together. Do not fall for the schemes of those who would make you their eternal slaves!]

John Carey.

A few years back he'd suddenly gone quiet, and then resurfaced as a conspiracy theorist. Even now, he was apparently at the forefront of the movement, warning crowds and preaching his theories.

His speech was currently airing on a mystery channel back home.

"You know, during the whole COVID wave, John Carey was telling people not to get vaccinated because it was dangerous."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Something about how it steals people's minds. That it's not meant to make us healthy, it's meant to destroy us. He even said COVID was spread on purpose, just to sell vaccines."

"...Hold on. Is he talking about Kwangwoon?"

"Who else would it be?"

At my sister's words, I set down the chopsticks I'd been using to eat my ramen.

"The guy's insane."

"That's not all. He says Hollywood was created to control people's minds, and that American politics is run by a secret organization."

"Don't tell me that's supposed to be Kwangwoon too?"

"Yep. Apparently he's named them directly, multiple times. Called Kwangwoon a devil wearing an angel's mask. Says they do charity work as a front while doing other things behind the scenes."

I could feel the anger rising.

A devil wearing an angel's mask.

Our foundation's people are some of the most selfless, good-hearted individuals out there.

They don't hesitate to walk into life-threatening danger zones, and they've saved countless lives doing it.

If he were just insulting me, I could laugh it off.

But dragging our foundation's staff through the mud crossed a line.

"Let it go. There have always been conspiracy theories about Kwangwoon. The company's doing too well, so this kind of thing keeps popping up. And how many people actually take those theories seriously?"

"Even so, calling our foundation staff devils and attacking them like that doesn't sit right."

Honestly, I could have just let it slide.

It wasn't the first or second time I'd heard this kind of thing.

But I couldn't stand by while people doing the most good in the world were being slandered.

"......"

I opened my phone and tapped a saved contact.

Before long, the other party answered in a startled voice.

"Director Yang. This is Jung Jin-ho from Kwangwoon Securities."

* * *

Director Yang Jeong-gu, who oversaw the Strategy Team, had been working without a day off, even on weekends.

Today was no different. While everyone else was enjoying their weekend, he had come into the office early and was in the middle of work.

"Sentinel is making contact with Russia?"

"Yes, sir. Most of what Sentinel does is classified, as you know. They almost never report directly to us as a precaution. But one thing is certain: the other side reached out to Sentinel first."

"Those Russian oligarchs?"

"Yes. Word is that the bitcoin asset freeze has them completely cornered."

Sentinel was a secretive organization.

On the surface, it was a private security firm that escorted ships. In reality, it was an operations outfit with agents planted all over the world.

"This bitcoin freeze, the CEO personally selected that list, right?"

"Yes. And it turns out every item on that list is connected to Russian assets."

"How did he figure that out? Did KW Exchange sort it for him?"

"No. He apparently picked them out himself from among the many frozen assets."

That was the real mystery.

The Strategy Team was world-class when it came to digging up intelligence.

Yet even they couldn't determine how much of the oligarchs' hidden wealth was parked in bitcoin.

"And the CEO pinpointed it exactly?"

"Well, it's hard to say definitively that those assets belong to Russian oligarchs, isn't it? They could belong to other wealthy individuals."

"No. The oligarchs' movements are too suspicious for that. What does it mean that they went so far as to ask Sentinel for help? It means the CEO struck right where it hurts. The oligarchs are scrambling to find a way out."

Facing the prospect of losing everything, the Russian oligarchs had chosen to protect their precious fortunes rather than fight to the bitter end alongside Patin.

"So what exactly are they trying to do? Overthrow Patin?"

"We haven't received a detailed report, but my guess is they're trying to remove Patin from power. That's the only way to end the war with Ukraine, get the sanctions lifted, and protect their assets."

If China hadn't collapsed, the oligarchs wouldn't have been shaken much even with their bitcoin seized. They would have figured that conquering Ukraine would sort everything out on its own.

But China's fall changed everything.

They had nowhere left to turn.

"The CEO knows about all this, right?"

"Given everything we've seen, I'd say he's receiving reports directly from Sentinel. After all, it's CEO Jung Jin-ho who's driven Russia into this corner in the first place."

From China's collapse to the freezing of the oligarchs' hidden assets.

The White House's ultra-hardline sanctions on Russia.

All of it was Jung Jin-ho's doing.

And Sentinel had been backing him every step of the way.

"We should assume he's getting direct reports."

"Yes. And on top of Sentinel, it seems like CEO Jung has another organization he runs separately."

"Have you found out what it is?"

"No. We've investigated multiple times, but nothing's turned up."

On top of everything, judging by the way things had been going, it appeared that Jung Jin-ho was operating yet another organization besides Sentinel and the Strategy Team.

The problem was that they couldn't find a single thing about it.

"Should we dig deeper?"

"That's..."

Just as Director Yang was about to answer.

His phone suddenly rang, and he furrowed his brow as he checked the screen.

"...?!"

The name on the display made him bolt upright before he even realized it.

"Yes. I, I've answered, sir."

His back bent instinctively into a bow, and the team members in the meeting swallowed hard.

They could tell exactly who was on the other end of that call.

"Ah, yes. Yes? John Carey? Oh, yes, yes. Understood."

The call wasn't long.

"......"

But during those few seconds, Director Yang had broken into a cold sweat.

"Wh-what did he say?"

"...He wants us to crush this John Carey guy."

"What? Did he really say it like that?"

No. He hadn't actually put it that way.

He had simply said, in a very gentlemanly voice, that a person named John Carey was damaging their reputation with defamatory statements and asked that measures be taken.

But Director Yang could feel it.

The fury contained in that voice.

God was angry.

"But why John Carey all of a sudden?"

"Has that guy still been running his mouth about Kwangwoon?"

"Yes. He's been giving passionate speeches pushing various conspiracy theories. But there are plenty of people like him, aren't there? Of course, since John Carey used to be such a famous actor, he does have some reach."

The reason they hadn't taken action until now was that it was just conspiracy theory nonsense at the end of the day.

But now the situation had changed.

"Kwangwoon is approaching the final stage."

The final stage.

That was what the Strategy Team called it.

"Implanting chips in people's bodies."

Even just hearing it described sent a chill down the spine.

"That's why we've been eliminating the heads of the Insurance Cartel and building the framework to create compulsion."

Nothing worked better than insurance for creating compulsion.

But they couldn't actually force chips into people's bodies.

"It has to be voluntary. People can't feel resistant to having biochips put in their bodies."

That was why Jung Jin-ho had been rolling out chips first in Africa, where medical infrastructure was lacking, as a test run, using it to show people that the chips made life better and safer.

"But if people like John Carey keep stirring things up and feeding negative conspiracy theories, that process could get complicated."

"So you're saying we're past the point of just watching."

"Exactly. We've got one stage left. We can't let anything derail it."

That was why Jung Jin-ho had called personally.

It was time to act.

"We can't just get rid of him out of nowhere. It would cause a social uproar."

"So we bury him?"

"Do we have anything to work with?"

"If we don't, we'll make something."

"Good. Coordinate with the local police where he lives and manufacture something. Destroy him socially, and make sure he never appears in the media again."

Even if he did manage to appear.

The footage would be taken down immediately.

"Director Yang, about the matter that got cut off earlier..."

At that, Director Yang's brow creased.

"Do you have no sense of timing?"

"Sir?"

"The CEO called us the moment we started talking about that. What do you think that means?"

The team members shifted uneasily.

A call coming in right as they were discussing the secret organization that Jung Jin-ho controlled, that meant the contents of this very meeting might be...

Director Yang quietly raised a finger to his lips.

"Don't ever bring that up again."

"...Yes, sir."

The team members swallowed hard and rose from their seats.

The cold sweat running down their spines felt colder than usual today.

* * *

"Sergei. Did you send our guests to the oligarchs?"

"......"

"Sergei?"

"Ah, yes."

"You seem off today. Something wrong?"

"No, sir. I think my stomach's been upset since lunch. As for the oligarchs, I've sent agents to their location. They happened to be gathered for a meeting today."

Watching China's collapse, President Patin had been tightening internal control more than ever.

Even China, which had poured unimaginable sums into building its surveillance apparatus, had ultimately failed to prevent its own collapse.

How much more precarious, then, was Russia, which had been leaning on that very China?

Right now, he felt like he was walking on thin ice.

Gripped by the fear that a coup could erupt at any time, anywhere, he had been ramping up surveillance.

And sure enough.

Intelligence had come in that the oligarchs, men who owed their fortunes to Patin, were plotting to remove him.

"But the intelligence is confirmed, right?"

"Yes. Kwangwoon's Sentinel sent it directly. The oligarchs had in fact reached out to Sentinel for help and were planning to use them to overthrow you."

The ungrateful oligarchs, biting the hand that fed them, had seen their bitcoin assets frozen and decided to stage a coup with outside help.

But remarkably, the tip-off had come from none other than Sentinel.

"Surprising. I didn't expect Kwangwoon to make the first friendly gesture toward us."

But if they truly wanted a friendly relationship with Russia, they shouldn't have done what they did to China.

"Or maybe this is an opportunity? We could seize the chaos in China and use it to resolve the economic crisis that's spiraling out of control?"

Either way.

Thanks to Kwangwoon, President Patin had been given a way out of the crisis.

"Idiots."

The oligarchs, who surely believed Kwangwoon was on their side, were about to get the shock of their lives when Patin's gift came crashing down on them.

"Chief of Staff, sir. I've brought your tea."

"Good. I'll take it to him myself."

Patin held immense power, but the people he truly trusted could be counted on one hand.

One of them was his right-hand man, Chief of Staff Sergei.

Sergei had repaid that trust with unwavering loyalty, giving his all every single day, determined never to betray it.

He had been prepared to lay down his life for Patin.

"......"

Until yesterday, when he saw a single photograph.

His son and daughter, studying in Switzerland, held captive by unknown assailants.

Along with the photo, they had sent a name.

The name of the very man sitting before him now, lost in thought.

His master, Patin.

"......"

He ran his fingers over the small vial tucked inside his breast pocket.

One drop.

Just one drop would be enough.

"......"

The deliberation didn't last long.

Because every father's love for his children is the same.