Money Keeps Piling Up No Matter How Much I Spend

Chapter 198

Translator: Dreamscribe"General Director. The North Korean government has finally raised the white flag."

"What do you mean?"

"It seems they simply can't stop the remnant soldiers pouring across the Tumen and Yalu Rivers. So they've decided to accept support from the UN and the United States."

The mighty North Korean regime, accepting support from the UN and the United States.

But if they didn't accept help now, the regime would surely collapse.

The Chinese government, the one power they had trusted and relied on, had crumbled from civil war, and those troops were now pushing southward. How could North Korea possibly hold them back?

Even if they did manage to hold them off, maintaining the regime itself had become impossible.

All support coming in from China had been completely cut off.

"Apparently our headquarters took an active role in this round of negotiations as well. They served as mediators. Ships loaded with food are currently sitting out at sea, after all. We can handle the food problem as a first step, and the US and the UN can handle military support."

Then North Korea, whether it wanted to or not, had no choice but to allow foreign troops onto its soil.

"President Aiden reportedly approved the matter immediately as well."

Aiden was Kwangwoon's man.

That was precisely why he had rubber-stamped the approval without hesitation.

"What does the Strategy Team say?"

"The plan is to have the UN and US forces go in first to stabilize North Korea, and then transfer the food from the ships. They'll also deploy a large number of volunteers to help people in need across the country."

"And that's when they plan to send in our Sentinel?"

"Yes. The flow is similar to what we did in Sichuan Province. They intend to scatter operatives disguised as volunteers throughout North Korea."

What could it possibly mean to scatter Sentinel operatives throughout North Korea?

The intent was to topple the regime, just as they had done in China.

"If the US and UN forces wage open war against North Korea, the Kim family might go mad and decide to take everyone down with them in a suicidal last stand. But if our operatives turn the North Korean generals and neutralize the Kim family, a peaceful regime collapse becomes possible."

"And then we install a new king in North Korea, one to our liking?"

"Yes. Kwangwoon wouldn't want North and South Korea to unify, either. It would only compound social chaos. It's far easier to control things if they install a leader in North Korea who follows their orders. Just like Africa, they could handle North Korea however they please."

Anthony was beginning to understand why Kwangwoon had been so eager to bring North Korea down.

One only had to look at Africa to see why.

Kwangwoon was essentially the king of Africa right now.

African governments and their people survived on Kwangwoon's money.

In other words, they had become modern-day slaves.

Now it was North Korea's turn.

If they built a system run by Kwangwoon and turned its population into a labor force, it would be nothing but profit for them.

"North Korea might just be the beginning."

"Sir?"

"It's North Korea now, but where do you think comes next?"

"Are you talking about China?"

"That's right. They'll seize North Korea first, watch the turmoil in China, and when the time is right, they'll move in. And when they do, they'll install another king to their liking, just like they did in North Korea."

If that happened, Kwangwoon would gain not only North Korea but the labor of hundreds of millions of people in China.

"On top of that, I hear they're developing a chip to implant in the human body."

"That's... a bit chilling."

Chilling.

Anthony felt a chill for an entirely different reason.

Because the glorious day when Kwangwoon would rule all of humanity was not far off.

* * *

"North Korea really accepted the negotiations?"

"Yes. It seems headquarters did a good job mediating. And North Korea is in quite a desperate situation right now. Above all, with military and food crises bearing down on them, they're in no position to be picky."

Even so, this was North Korea they were talking about.

The Foundation had actually extended a helping hand several times over their severe famine.

But every time, North Korea had refused us.

This time, however, it seemed they couldn't afford to say no.

"Immediate entry isn't possible, but once things stabilize to some degree, they plan to move the food supplies in. Our Foundation staff will be able to go in at that point too."

"It's fine for the Foundation staff to go, but please make sure their safety is well taken care of."

"Of course. Sentinel said they'd be keeping a close eye on safety as well."

I let out a sigh of relief.

I had been worried about what would happen if North Korea stubbornly refused to the very end, but thankfully, they had no choice but to accept the proposal in order to keep their regime intact.

"So the North Korean regime should hold together for the time being, then?"

"Yes. If things stabilize militarily and food supply goes smoothly, there shouldn't be a problem maintaining the regime. But neither the US nor the UN would want that. They'll make sure North Korea can no longer be as closed off as it used to be."

In other words, it would either open up to some degree like China, or declare full openness.

One way or another, they seemed intent on making North Korean society different from what it had been.

That was something I agreed with as well.

We couldn't keep trembling at the risk North Korea posed forever.

Real change was needed now.

"Oh, and CEO-nim. You know that project you approved the investment for last time?"

"The RFID Chip?"

"Yes. The research team did some additional digging on it, and it turns out Kangseong had also developed a similar project in the past."

I looked over the documents the Department Head handed me.

"They say it's currently on hold due to social and ethical concerns, but if Kangseong were to take on the development, the production quality could be raised significantly, so..."

So Kangseong had been working on something like this too.

But development had been halted over social concerns.

"...?"

The moment I opened that document, however, my Intuition flared with an intense reaction.

"How do you think they'd feel if we asked them to pick this back up now?"

Asking them to revive a project that had already been shelved did seem a bit presumptuous, all things considered.

"But you and Chairman Kang Sung-ho are very close, CEO-nim. And if Kangseong thinks there's money to be made, wouldn't they accept?"

It was a tough call, but there's a saying.

The world runs on connections power, after all.

And it wasn't as if Chairman Kang Sung-ho and I were strangers.

We were Guild Members, practically family.

* * *

"Kwangwoon wants to invest in what?"

Chairman Kang Sung-ho was jolted awake by the report that came in first thing that morning.

"There's a project that our Kangseong started developing in the past but discontinued. They say they'd like to invest in it."

"This thing? An RFID Chip?"

"Yes. It's a chip implanted in the human body. In practice, patients who need to check their blood sugar daily are already using implanted chips to monitor it through a phone app instead of drawing blood. We were trying to make something similar. A chip that checks not just blood sugar but a wider range of health data, and on top of that, works with Kangseong Pay."

Just hearing about it felt unsettling.

"That's exactly why we halted development. There were also several other companies developing similar technology, but conspiracy theorists raised such a fierce outcry, claiming the chips would be used to control humanity, that they all stopped too."

There was that very famous conspiracy theory about 666 and the VeriChip.

But even setting aside conspiracy theorists, having a chip implanted in one's body was something any human being would instinctively resist.

"And now Kwangwoon suddenly wants to invest in that?"

"Yes. And it's not just Kangseong. Kwangwoon has already provided funding to several companies with related technology, and they're offering to invest a full one trillion won in our Kangseong alone. If Kangseong takes the lead on development, the chip could be integrated with Close AI and Kangseong's mobile platform to significantly expand its utility."

And that one trillion won was just the initial investment.

Meaning, if development showed progress, they were prepared to invest even more.

"Has there been any progress on development?"

"The RFID Chip that started the whole conspiracy theory is actually just for medical identification purposes. Location tracking and other functions are completely impossible. The chip is simply too small to support that many features."

"But Kwangwoon wants to make all of that possible?"

"Yes. Not just simple identification, but real-time scanning of the human body to detect specific diseases. It would also enable payments through Kangseong Pay, as well as identity verification. Research in this field is actually more advanced than you'd think, so if funding is poured in, completion could come faster than expected."

But the key issue was data collection.

Development alone wouldn't cut it.

They needed test subjects to confirm whether the technology actually worked properly and functioned as intended.

"It seems Kwangwoon plans to use Africa as the testing ground. If you look at the stated investment purpose here, it says the goal is to distribute the chips in places with inadequate medical facilities, like Africa, for early disease diagnosis."

"They'd implant them in pets too?"

"Yes. They also intend to prioritize socially vulnerable groups like the elderly and infirm, with the goal of reducing solitary deaths."

On the surface, it was a genuinely good system.

In places without medical facilities, diseases could be diagnosed early. Social isolation among the elderly and vulnerable could be reduced.

Pets could also have chips implanted to monitor their health in real time.

It would clearly have a positive impact on society.

"This is absolutely..."

But Kang Sung-ho was looking at it from a different angle.

"They're trying to lower people's guard, aren't they?"

"Yes. Under the pretext of protecting the vulnerable and saving people suffering from lack of healthcare in Africa, they're trying to obtain test subjects. If they indiscriminately implant chips in the massive population across Africa, they'll collect an enormous amount of data."

It meant, in essence, conducting a massive human experiment in Africa.

This was a chip being implanted in the human body, after all.

Naturally, there could be side effects, or the chip could malfunction.

"The plan is to iron out as many errors as possible there first, and then distribute to other countries. Before that, they'll tear down as much of the public's resistance to implanted chips as they can."

No matter how well-made the chip was, if people refused, it couldn't be forced on them.

But if they saved the vulnerable, showed Africa as a success story, and advertised only the positives through social media, public perception would gradually shift.

"And that's when they plan to roll it out under the Kwangwoon and Kangseong names?"

"Yes. If everything proceeds according to Kwangwoon's plan..."

"Then every person who has that chip would be under Kwangwoon's surveillance."

"They could even use the chip to kill someone without a trace, just like the conspiracy theories say."

"...!"

Chairman Kang Sung-ho's hand trembled faintly as he gripped his water glass.

Through its partnership with Kwangwoon, Kangseong had achieved tremendous growth.

And throughout that process, he had merely watched as Kwangwoon swallowed the world.

He had even cooperated indirectly.

But this was different.

This was the final key to dominating the world.

Implanting chips in every person's body and controlling them however Kwangwoon pleased.

And the core technology for that chip would have to be developed by Kangseong.

"..."

Until now, Kangseong had done whatever Kwangwoon asked, but never before had they been given a task whose intent was this explicitly laid bare.

That was why Chairman Kang Sung-ho was agonizing over it now.

Honestly, he had always thought that social obligations, ethics, none of it mattered as long as the company was making good money.

But for the first time, the thought crossed his mind: Is this really the right thing to do?

Kwangwoon's intention to put people under its thumb and control them was blatantly obvious.

Knowing that full well and still proceeding with development was something his conscience would not allow.

"However, this is a task Kwangwoon could have easily, and secretly, entrusted to someone else, yet they chose to give it directly to you, Chairman. What do you think that means?"

"That I've profited from Kwangwoon all this time, so now it's time to pay the price?"

"Yes. And it may also be a test of whether Kangseong is truly on Kwangwoon's side, a loyalty check. If you were to refuse this investment..."

The executives did not finish that sentence.

There was no need to spell out what had happened to everyone who had defied Kwangwoon so far.

"..."

After a moment of deliberation, Kang Sung-ho signed the documents.

He felt the guilt of having betrayed humanity, but those who wanted to live had to survive, didn't they?