novelraw Chapter 90 : We Might Be Able to Catch a Bigger One
Chapter 90 : We Might Be Able to Catch a Bigger One
Chapter 90: We Might Be Able to Catch a Bigger One
I had to resolve what felt unsettling before moving on. On the open sea, variables could arise at any time.
When Min-soo’s life was on the line, I had no intention of leaving behind even a single variable.
“If we leave him alone, it could come back to haunt us. He could interfere with the stowaway operation as early as this time.”
“That’s exactly what worries me the most as well. Wang Hae seems to be under President Han because of money, but there’s no guarantee he’ll remain under him forever.”
“As Mr. Lee Cheong-ho saw as well, his eyes were clearly startled at the time. It looked like he was hearing it for the first time.”
“Well… it’s also possible that So-ryong was shocked after learning the truth.”
After finishing his words, Lee Cheong-ho furrowed his brow. He found Wang Hae, who had forced So-ryong to live steeped in vengeance, deeply unpleasant.
“Specifically, what methods could he use? I mean, ways he could interfere with us.”
At my question, Lee Cheong-ho took a brief breath. Then, with the cold gaze of a professional, he began listing the worst possible scenarios.
“First is informing on us. Leaking the departure time and route to the Coast Guard or the military counterintelligence unit. Before we even reach international waters, the ship would be seized, and Min-soo would be arrested on the spot.”
“With Han Do-gyeong around, is that even possible?”
“President Han doesn’t have every line under his control. Wang Hae must have built his own connections while working under Han Do-gyeong. Pretending it was a ‘mistake’ and leaking information is entirely possible.”
“That’s a headache. What’s the second?”
“A mutiny at sea. Wang Hae has lost a lot because of this incident. He was told that President Han himself would be handling this deal and that he should keep his head down for a while. There will definitely be talk among his subordinates.”
He paused briefly, then continued.
“He’ll pin that responsibility on us. Especially on me. Under the pretext of avenging So-ryong, he could incite the crew to attack us. Disguising it as an ‘accident’ that happened on the vast open sea—there’s no better setup than that.”
His voice, as he laid out every assumption, was calm, but the content itself was chilling beyond words.
“Even though it’s a ship that Han Do-gyeong himself is running, would that really be possible?”
“I don’t know Han Do-gyeong well enough to say for certain… but it’s a sufficiently plausible scenario.”
I nodded. No matter how strict the discipline was, at the core it was still a smuggling organization. If things went sour, no one could know what they might do.
“The last one is tampering with the ship itself. Putting a subtle flaw in the engine before departure, or mixing impurities into the fuel so that the ship stops in international waters. In the middle of the sea, where we can’t even send a distress signal, we’d drift until we starved to death or get swept away by a storm.”
All three scenarios led to horrific endings that threatened Min-soo’s life.
I stared down at the teacup that had long gone cold, then slowly opened my mouth.
“Let’s add one more. He directly moves a ship and attacks the one we’re on.”
“An attack?”
“Yes. The probability is higher than a mutiny. Han Do-gyeong is someone who’s had Busan’s smuggling routes locked down for over a decade. Do you think he’d really put Wang Hae’s people on the ship he’s riding himself?”
If it were me, I would never do that. Han Do-gyeong would also move after removing risk factors from the outset.
“If Wang Hae does interfere, excluding a mutiny, which of the remaining three scenarios do you think is most likely?”
“Tampering with the ship, and the attack you just mentioned. Informing is risky for him as well. But an accident at sea… leaves no evidence at all.”
I stood up from my seat. Thinking about even the one-in-a-thousand chance, I couldn’t just sit still.
“Understood. We’ll have to prepare in advance.”
“How do you plan to proceed?”
“If Wang Hae is harboring other intentions, we strike first. I’ll go meet Han Do-gyeong first.”
“Yes. I’ll look into gathering more information.”
I went down to the first floor and asked President Wang to call Jin Tae-rim.
A short while later, Jin Tae-rim came to my room. His face still showed complicated emotions, but the sharp wariness from before was gone.
“You called for me?”
“Mr. Jin Tae-rim. Are you Wang Hae’s man, or Han Do-gyeong’s man?”
“…Why ask something like that all of a sudden?”
“It’s important. Please answer.”
Jin Tae-rim fell silent for a moment. It was as if he were weighing his past, present, and future. After thinking briefly, he spoke as though he had made up his mind.
“I’m closer to Captain Wang. We’re from the same hometown, after all… Still, the one who really looked out for me wasn’t Captain Wang, but you, sir. I consider myself President Han’s man.”
“Good. Contact President Han without Captain Wang knowing. Tell him I need to see him urgently.”
“Right now?”
“Yes. As quickly as possible.”
Urged on by my insistence, Jin Tae-rim got to his feet and hurried out of the room. About an hour later, he returned.
“He says to bring you immediately. Let’s depart.”
Together with Jin Tae-rim, I headed for an old pier in Yeongdo. Instead of the boat I usually rode, a sleek-looking vessel was waiting for us.
“It’s a different boat.”
“Yes. The one you rode before was Captain Wang’s tubby boat. This one belongs to the president.”
The face of the person sitting in the cockpit looked familiar. It was Park Gi-nam, who used to act as Han Do-gyeong’s double.
I carefully stepped onto the boat. When Jin Tae-rim handed me a blindfold and I covered my eyes, the boat soon began to move.
Cutting smoothly through the rough waves, the boat sped through the darkness and arrived at the island where Han Do-gyeong’s villa was located.
When I removed the blindfold and saw the island for the first time, I held my breath for a moment.
Jet-black basalt cliffs that seemed to have been carved straight down, and atop them, the deep green of sea pines standing firm.
And the night sea embracing it all shimmered under the moonlight, as if silver powder had been scattered across it.
To hide a blood-soaked den within such a breathtaking landscape, boasting primordial beauty untouched by human hands.
‘Beautiful. To a sickening degree.’
This beautiful island could become someone’s final grave.
Guided by Park Gi-nam, who disembarked after me, I headed toward the villa.
In a quiet spot behind the villa, Han Do-gyeong sat alone, his fishing rod lowered, gazing at the moonlit sea.
Without turning around at the sound of my approach, he spoke softly.
“You didn’t come for night fishing. What is it? There’s still a week left before departure.”
I dragged over a small chair placed nearby, set it beside him, and sat down.
The creaking noise cut through the stillness of the night, but he didn’t so much as flinch, focusing solely on the subtle movements of the float at the end of the fishing line.
“What do you plan to do about Captain Wang?”
Han Do-gyeong, who had been looking out at the sea, slowly turned his head toward me. His eyes were filled with deep suspicion.
“What do you mean, what will I do with Captain Wang?”
“You’re not planning to keep him around after stepping into the light, are you?”
“……”
To my knowledge, there were no ethnic Chinese in Han Do-gyeong’s company. He strictly used his own bloodline and Koreans.
“Are you not planning to clean things up?”
“…Who did you hear that from?”
“Is there anyone who truly knows what’s in your heart, President? Where would I even hear it from? It’s just a guess.”
If I were Han Do-gyeong, I wouldn’t want to hand over this shadow kingdom I had built with such difficulty to a greedy bastard like Wang Hae.
Even if he became a legitimate businessman, he’d try to leave some kind of connection behind no matter what.
“How do you plan to clean it up? Do you have a plan?”
“…Why should I tell you that?”
“Because that’s where it begins. The biggest obstacle when you step into the light, President Han. Even if few people know your true identity, those who do still exist. If, after you’ve settled in, someone reveals that truth, would you be able to fend off that attack?”
Of course, there was no such incident in my memories.
There were ominous rumors about the past of Han Do-gyeong, who later became a businessman, but not a single piece of decisive evidence that he had been a Sea Whale ever surfaced in the world.
Strangely enough, not a shred of evidence ever came out. It would have been impossible unless everyone had been sent to the bottom of the sea.
“So what. What are you saying we should do?”
“Let’s clean up Captain Wang on this occasion. No—rather than cleaning him up, let’s make Captain Wang the true body of the Sea Whale.”
“What are you talk—.”
Han Do-gyeong’s eyebrow twitched. I leaned toward him and began whispering a devil’s plan.
“Do it like this. First….”
I took a long time explaining the plan.
A perfect scenario that used Wang Hae’s greed to pin all the crimes on him, while Han Do-gyeong himself escaped as a victim and a former cooperating informant. As he listened, Han Do-gyeong’s face gradually grew grave.
When I finished speaking, the look in his eyes as he stared at me had changed. He no longer saw me as a green twenty-year-old. Han Do-gyeong was looking at me as though he were facing a monster.
He was unable to say anything for a while, then suddenly let out a low laugh as if he couldn’t hold it in any longer.
“Heh heh…. You really know how to fish. And at that, a very dangerous kind of fishing.”
Han Do-gyeong abruptly stopped laughing and looked straight at me. In his eyes, along with admiration, spread a thrill so intense it was almost chilling.
My plan had pierced straight through his deepest desire.
That was when it happened. As if it had finally taken the bait Han Do-gyeong had cast, the fishing rod that had been holding firm bent like a bow and plunged beneath the surface.
“It’s on!”
Han Do-gyeong hurriedly pulled up the rod. It seemed to be a fairly big one. The fishing line screamed taut, as though it might snap at any moment.
Only after a long, fierce struggle did a silvery giant finally reveal itself, bursting up above the water.
Gigantic scales flashing under the moonlight, a powerful tail thrashing. It was a giant grouper, called the ‘King of the Sea’ among anglers. It looked well over a meter long—a true trophy.
“Heh heh, this is the biggest one I’ve caught recently.”
Han Do-gyeong scooped it up with a net and smiled in satisfaction. Looking at the flopping grouper, I opened my mouth.
“You’ll be able to catch an even bigger one. And if he doesn’t take the bait, then I think it’ll be fine to keep him in our net for now.”
“I understand. Let’s go inside first. We’ll slice this one up and have a drink while we talk about the real matters.”
We went inside the villa and sat facing each other at a well-polished wooden table.
Park Gi-nam skillfully prepared the grouper they had just caught and brought out a plate of white, translucent flesh. Along with it came cold soju in a rough bottle.
Han Do-gyeong filled my glass to the brim with soju.
“Have you ever eaten grouper?”
“I’ve had it before. I’ve never caught one myself, though.”
“It’s been several years since I last caught one too. It’s a species you can only catch if the heavens smile on you. What you’ve had before is probably on a whole different level.”
Han Do-gyeong spoke proudly and held out his glass.
Clink—the glasses collided with a clear sound.
I put a thick slice of grouper sashimi into my mouth. Firm yet tender texture, and the deep flavor of the sea spread throughout my mouth.
Then the strong soju I tossed back burned its way down my throat as it went down hot.
“Keuh.”
The fiery kick of distilled soju over thirty degrees and the rich oiliness of the grouper paired together surprisingly well.
Han Do-gyeong asked with eyes full of childlike anticipation.
“Well?”
“What I’ve eaten until now wasn’t grouper. The texture itself is completely different.”
“Wahaha! Exactly! You can’t compare what you eat on land with something you slice up and eat the moment it’s caught.”
Han Do-gyeong downed his soju in one go as well, then grabbed a thick slice of sashimi and stuffed it into his mouth.
“Keuh. This is good.”
With a satisfied expression, he filled my glass again and spoke in an excited voice. The atmosphere was as though he were simply talking about the sashimi we had just eaten.
“If things go according to your plan and Captain Wang takes the bait…… then I’ll finally be able to step into the light without any worries.”
“Yes. Captain Wang will become the Sea Whale. You can hand the organization he leaves behind to a suitable person, and President Han can run a new company.”
Even now, he was running a legal business called Do-gyeong Fisheries, but that was nothing more than a shell put together for appearances.
The Han Do-gyeong I remembered from the future wasn’t someone who would remain trapped on a small island like this. He was the head of a massive conglomerate.
“A business, huh…. It feels like a dream.”
His voice trembled faintly. To a man who had lived his entire life in the shadows, the light must have been an unattainable dream.
“The connections you’ve built through smuggling will be a huge help. In the end, our country has to survive on exports and imports.”
Trade and smuggling were separated by no more than a sheet of paper. Only the way the path was opened differed—the essence was the same.
“That’s right. The business I want to do is trade. I want to grow it into the greatest general trading company in South Korea. That’s my lifelong dream.”
After finishing his words, Han Do-gyeong turned his glass and let out a quiet chuckle. The image of businessman Han Do-gyeong confidently declaring his ambitions overlapped faintly before my eyes.
‘You did it.’
I repeated it to myself.
While other conglomerates grew on the foundation of manufacturing, he was a man who rapidly expanded his company through trade and exports alone, to the point of threatening them in a short span of time.
That man was Han Do-gyeong, sitting right in front of me.
“Come on, have a drink.”
The drinking session went on for quite a while.
Excited at having, for the first time, someone to share his true dream with, Han Do-gyeong talked about his future like a child and delighted in it.
He was a lonely man as well. I quietly listened to his story, refilling his glass as needed.