Empire of the Ring

Chapter 41: Park Jongil’s Decision (2)

“Yes, I am fully entrusted to do business with you. I apologize for our men’s reckless behavior on behalf of my boss. My boss even regretted that he cannot run normal businesses because of his stupid henchmen.”

“....”

“We recently invested in the oil development business. We are a legal business partner of the Azerbaijani government. We don’t want to antagonize the government because of the bad blood between us.”

Sergey was a calm and polite man. His mafia organization must have been putting a lot of efforts into starting the oil development business with the government.

“An organization of such big businesses sent assassins only to take over a clothing store? You must be hiding something from me.”

“....”

“Did you want to take over everything from me including the farm? I hope I’m wrong.”

Still furious at them, Youngho could not reciprocate his politeness.

“If my apology was not enough, I apologize again. Our organization is a massive one and it’s difficult to have absolute control over the smallest groups. It turns out that the men in Sumqayit impulsively acted out without reporting to their superiors.”

Sergey’s did not seem to be lying.

“If you are speaking the truth, you should check what your uncontrollable men are up to.”

“...We are trying to keep our men away from engaging in illegal stuff. Now that we are expanding our horizons as a legal business group, we are being extra careful. It’s been a hard to control the members who are used to their old lifestyle.”

Sergey did not have an attitude of arrogance, nor did he try to threaten him by force. Sergey surely came to negotiate with Youngho.

“I am a foreign investor doing legal businesses in Baku, and I have nothing related to you. If you want to take over my business, do it properly by buying it out with your abundant amount of funds.”

“Mr. Lee, you are mistaken. If you forgive our men’s behavior, we’d like to be your proper business partner and support your business.”

“Your organization only wants to make big profits in exchange for a small investment.”

Having been patient all along, Sergey’s face was turning red with agitation. At the same time, one of the bodyguards next to him moved.

However, he fell soon after he moved his body. Park Jongil had struck him with a lethal move. The guard was unconscious on the floor, showing only the whites of his eyes. It was strong enough to be deadly, but luckily he was not killed. Jongil, who had been patiently listening to the conversation all along, welcomely made a move as soon as he saw the guy move. Youngho instantaneously stopped him.

Sergey also kept his other bodyguard at bay with his arm.

“I knew it. You people always use your force to solve every problem.”

Embarrassed, Sergey apologized right away, “I’m sorry for my bodyguard’s impulsive behavior.”

Ignoring his remark, Youngho spoke, “I’m going to involve every government official, politician, and press I know to destroy your group. You must have more to lose than me. I’m personally declaring war against you.”

Sergey rushed and tried to stop Youngho.

“Mr. Lee, we admit our fault. Let’s talk it out.”

“And tell Yaniv that I’ll send a gift to him soon. You may leave now.”

Sergey became pale upon realizing that Youngho was serious. His boss’s name was unknown to many, but Youngho had mentioned it.

“Mr. Lee, please wait! I’ll call my boss right now. You can talk to him.”

Not being able to talk it out with Youngho, Sergey called his boss and talked for a while in Russian. After five minutes, he handed the phone to Youngho.

“Mr. Lee. The boss wants to directly talk to you.”

Sergey’s expression looked complicated.

Youngho did not wait, so as soon as he took the phone, he spoke, “Mr. Yaniv? I’m Lee Youngho. I assume you’ve already heard about it, but your men provoked all this. I’m telling you that what I’m going to do from now on is just to defend myself.”

“Mr. Lee, I know you’re upset. I’m sorry on behalf of our men. I’d like to maintain a good relationship with you. How about we help each other from now on?”

Yaniv, the boss of a mafia organization did not fear Youngho, but he feared that the oil business would be affected by this. He continued, “I received a call a few days ago from the higher authorities. They said that we should maintain a cooperative relationship with you.”

The Director of Main Police Department must have moved other politicians to protect Youngho. As Youngho had guessed, the mafias were related to politicians.

“All right. However, I’m only going to be cooperative if you give me a strong assurance.”

“Of course, Mr. Lee. Why don’t we talk about it in person and have a drink together in a few days?”

“Okay. If I’ve been rude, please forgive me for not controlling my emotions.”

Youngho did not want any war against the mafias. He acted unruly because he knew that the mafias feared ruining their relationship with the government. They had invested a lot of funds in oil development. However, they still did not make any profits because they could not find any oil until now. If they were eliminated from the business, they would lose a tremendous amount of funds.

Sergey’s bodyguard woke up and seemed to be wondering why he was on the floor. Sergey apologized politely again and disappeared from the farm, taking his men with him. As a friendly gesture, he left all of the weapons that his intruders brought to the farm a while ago.

New weapons were added to the safe room collection in the farm: Russian Dragunov sniper rifles, night vision goggles, and radio transmitters, with three of each. Youngho and Jongil got excited like boys with new toys after seeing that the guns were equipped with silencers. Although Youngho had suffered for the incident with the mafias, he felt rewarded to receive those weapons. Like elementary students playing war, they planned on adding more security men and security systems in the farm, pointing at each place in the map of the place.

After a long call with Edward, Youngho adopted a complicated look on his face. Edward suggested assigning Jongil as a CIA special field agent since he wanted to leave the militia. He even added that Youngho needed a backup agent who could help in Baku anyway, and Jongil was a great match for the job. Jongil was a highly trained and intelligent person who could speak English. Needing a backup agent meant Youngho’s role in Baku was important. Edward asked Youngho to convince Jongil and hung up.

Even though Youngho wanted Jongil stay with him since long ago, he was still reluctant to make him an agent. It was a dangerous job with no way out. As a field agent, Jongil would have to go to any place, with the probability of even risking his life if he was appointed by the CIA. Youngho’s head hurt over agonizing on behalf of Jongil.