Empire of the Ring

Hong Sung-ki sounded excited. His voice went one octave higher, which meant he had good news to share.

“Man, don’t get excited and tell me how it went step by step.”

“You think I’m not going to get worked up in this situation? It turns out that Sergeenko was one of the pillars of the black market here. I’ve been drinking a few drinks, and he said he would connect us to another organization if you asked.”

“Oh, that guy’s crazy. He would be dead by now if he was in Volgograd.”

“I don’t think so. He said that he was an invisible hand.”

It was worth taking a risk to deal with him and the black market, but the key was how far Sergeenko was exposed. Sergeenko must be risking his life to do a business that Yaniv extremely disliked.

“We can’t deal with him if he’s exposed.”

“He said that he’s putting people on the line and manipulating them from behind. I’m telling you, I can’t be exposed even if the world was split in half. He’ll tell you the details when you get here.”

“Of course, I’ll be there the day after tomorrow.”

“Alright.”

“You did a great job this time, so how about I reward you with a big stone.”

“If you’re going to give it to me, please give me a few small ones instead of a big one.”

He probably needed something to show off to his new bride. Whatever it was, it must have been hard to get acquainted with Sergeenko, but he managed to do it well with a few drinks. He deserved to be rewarded.

Most Russians thought that their language was very difficult for foreigners to learn, so they were very favorable to foreigners who spoke Russian. Youngho also struggled to learn Russian early on, and it served him well in Russia since he was not taken as a stranger to Russians.

In particular, the Siberian region had a large population of Asian origin, so it also played a part for Youngho and his friends and employees doing business there.

Hong Sung-ki’s phone call broke the peaceful daily life of Youngho’s family. The peaceful daily life that only applied to Leon and Jelyan. However, for Youngho, he finally had an excuse to escape Baku. Since the kids nagged so badly, Youngho had to call the follower couple to stay with them. The followers were only happy to get out of the autonomous state as it felt like a vacation trip for them.

“I’ll be traveling to Siberia. You guys stay here for a while and see if there’s any problem with Zeynep Farm. ”

“We’ve got work to do in the autonomous state. We can’t stay here for more than a week.”

‘Ha! Look at these guys, I didn’t say that I’ll be away for a week. So, you want to be here for a week?’

The follower couple was trying to get away from the autonomous state as long as possible.

“Okay… Anyway, stay here until I come back. If it’s too hot, play at the reservoir with the kids.”

“Yes, sir!”

Now that they were ordered to play in the water for work, their voice had gotten higher in excitement. As the replacement of Youngho came, the kids did not even look at him when he walked out the door carrying his luggage. Even Fatima said good-bye without looking at him and headed to talk to Kim In-hwa. It seemed that she wanted to go shopping with her. Feeling regretful, Youngho sighed and left.

***

The city of Krasnoyarsk, though in Siberia, was located in southern Russia and felt rather hot in the summer.

At the airport, there was a large thermometer that looked like a clock tower, and it was marked at 27 degrees in Celsius.

Hong Sung-ki, who was at the airport to meet him, was fussing about how hot it was.

“Boss, it looks like you brought summer with you. It’s going to be a very hot day tomorrow.

It’s a mess.”

“It looks like you have abnormal weather here too.”

“Even if I want to go home to the autonomous state, I can’t go because of the heat…”

“Your wife is waiting alone in the state. You’re returning with me when this job is done.”

“You promised to give the team leader autonomy, didn’t you?”

“It’s an exception for a new groom, or I’m going to withdraw my promise to give you a diamond.”

“Okay, okay. I got it. I’m going home, so don’t take back your word.”

“So, how much influence does Sergeenko have in the black market?”

“I’d say he’s one of the big hands of the black market. But, I can’t really tell only from his words.”

“He’s not a big talker.”

“It’s hard to read his mind.”

Although inexperienced, Hong Sung-ki was doing well beyond his given role, adapting to a new setting and dealing with mafias.

“Well, it’s not easy to figure out the mafia in a short period of time. Don’t be impatient since we have all the time with us. Act as if you’re not anxious about getting diamonds. Make them think that you don’t need the diamonds so badly. Keep a straight face. You’re now an agent, alright?”

“I got it. I’ll act as brazen as an old snake, so don’t avoid me for being creepy.”

The branch office was neat and tidy. The second-floor accommodation also had several rooms, a large living room, and kitchen, so there was no inconvenience for living.

“How did you solve the heating problem?”

“This is a district heating system. The heating line passes through the front of the house, so it was easy to fix it. You don’t have to worry about the cold in winter.”

Since it was a cold region, the city was providing heat through the district heating system. It was aimed to reduce the economic burden of individuals which was quite nice.

“Who’s idea was it to make a separate resting room in the office on the first floor?”

“It was Choi Sang-ho. It made the office a lot homier.”

It was an office that was too big for three male and one female employee. Now that a rest area was provided, it was quite comfortable to welcome guests from the outside. Choi Sang-ho must have brainstormed the idea to make it comfortable for the girl employee since he was in love with her.

***

“Do you think I’m not going to be as tactful as that? It’s also directly related to my safety, so I’ve been careful enough to not get exposed.”

“I’m just worried because Mr. Yaniv will be furious if he finds out about this.”

“You know, we don’t have a normal distribution route for things like this, so we have to get it on the black market. The central government cannot intervene in Siberia because this is the land of the natives. I also have the blood of the natives in me.”

Youngho was surprised to hear his confession.

“Anyway, I’ll drop out if the rumor starts to spread out. I’m not going to run a dangerous errand for a technical partnership.”

“Mr. Lee, the days of Boss Yaniv are already drawing to a close. Now that small groups are rising up all over Russia, it’ll be hard for such a large organization to survive as it used to do. The godfather’s distribution of the business to the middle bosses is also based on the trend of the current times.”

Even though Sergeenko was stuck in the remote Siberian region, his judgment on the world trend was keen. It seemed that he had enough qualifications to become the boss of a bigger group. It was all a show when he acted that he enjoyed receiving little money from Youngho. Youngho decided to call him in a different name now.

“Mr. Sergeenko, I need to renew my relationship with you. If I’ve ever been disrespectful to you, please forgive me…”

“No. You were the most respectful gentleman who came to the Boss’s introduction. It would be more convenient if you treat me as you have before. I’m a mere local mafia of this region, and I still have a long way to go until I can become a bigger boss. Even the Mafia also has grace and loyalty.”

He now looked different from Youngho. He was plausible even though he was still a mafia. It must be because of his eloquence. Sometimes mafias needed to be serious to survive in Siberia.

Sergeenko was dreaming of survival after Yaniv’s time had ceased. He apparently made a lot of fortune through diamond deals.

“Now, shall we talk about business?”

“It was a few years ago that I snooped to the black market. Before that, I didn’t dare to.”

Sergeenko continued for a long time, but to sum it up, the diamond ores came into his hands by chance, and he kept it believing that it was a hot potato. But, he stepped into the diamond business when he heard the Chinese company was sweeping raw diamond in the black market. He sold the diamonds quickly through an agent.

“Well, logging business is my priority here. I just need raw diamonds and materials because the U.S. company that’s in partnership with us asked me to get some for industrial use.”

“You won’t be able to see a single diamond without going through the black market. These days, the Chinese company have been rushing to buy them out, so their prices have gone up.”

It seemed like the Chinese company was trying to make up for their loss from the fleeing of the general secretary, when in fact, the rough diamonds from the company was in Youngho’s hands now.

When Youngho smiled as he thought about the general secretary, Sergeenko made an interesting suggestion.

“Mr. Lee, do you know why the Evenks here have been keeping their eyes closed on the shining stone? It was because diamonds drove so many people to death during the Imperial Russian era. But now, times have changed and we’re putting them out little by little. What I deal with is mostly theirs. That’s why you won’t have to worry about being exposed.”

“Are you also a native like them? I don’t see that in you at all.”

“I told you. I have the blood of the natives here. I’m proud to be an Evenk.”

Most people were busy hiding their mixed blood, but Sergeenko seemed to be proud of his Evenk origin. It was quite interesting to meet a mafia with the blood of an Evenk.

“Then you must know the Evenks that stay in the Taiga region in the winter.”

“Of course. I’m supplying their daily necessities.”

“Well, I can see the warm elm in the woods.”

“No, how do you know that gentleman?”

It was strange that Sergeenko referred to him as ‘that gentleman’. He must not be just an ordinary Evenk.

“Of course. I happened to meet him last winter while doing a basic survey of the area and gave him some combat rations and rifle ammunition. So I’ve brought enough supply to give him this year again.”

“They don’t like to interact with strangers… Did you have a pleasant encounter with him?”

“He was rather glad that I’m an Asian like him.”

“Hahaha…”

“…”

“I’m still being ignored by them for having a little bit of European blood.”

“I guess the Irtysh is someone notable?”

“Yes, he surely is. Since he’s already seen by you Mr. Lee might as well get the whole Taiga Forest at no cost.”

“What do you mean?”