Chapter 133

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“President. Did you hear the news? Indonesia paid all the overdue contributions.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Our government was also quite surprised. Indonesia had been acting like they absolutely wouldn’t give it even if it led to legal disputes. But they suddenly changed their position.”

There was conflict between Indonesia and our country, but still distinguishing between public and private matters, we delivered donations to people who needed help.

“Perhaps our sincerity got through to them? Gwangwoon Foundation invested a massive 300 million dollars, and above all, our foundation staff are directly there doing volunteer work.”

“Well, what Mr. Lee says makes sense. But if they were the type to be grateful, they would have paid the contributions long ago.”

As the manager said, I too didn’t think Indonesia changed their mind purely because of donations.

“I think it’s probably related to vaccines. Recently, a variant virus has been spreading in Indonesia, hasn’t it? Already confirmed variant virus corona patients number over hundreds of thousands. It’s not even predictable how much more it has spread.”

“They’re being cautious because we have those vaccines?”

“Yes. Wasn’t Indonesia earning massive money from tourism revenue? But after corona, tourism was cut off, so they were trying to quickly restore past glory through rapid vaccine distribution.”

Then after finishing vaccine distribution, suddenly a variant virus spread.

This way, even if Indonesia opens its borders, it’s useless.

Because other countries will all ban travel to Indonesia.

“If our government and Gwangwoon start playing games with the vaccine, they’ll be in trouble too. The later the vaccine comes, the much faster the variant corona will spread, right? Then no matter how much vaccine is distributed, no country will allow travel to Indonesia until it calms down.”

In the end, Indonesia also moved after calculating.

“Still, I believe our Gwangwoon Foundation’s sincerity got through to some degree. It’s a cold world, isn’t it? Yet our Gwangwoon Foundation isn’t sparing money or effort to help people, so the Indonesian government must have thought differently.”

Unless Indonesia is full of only cold-blooded people, I didn’t doubt our Gwangwoon Foundation’s donation had a positive impact.

They say the more you share, the more beautiful the world becomes, and the more you give, the happier life becomes.

If Gwangwoon Foundation was even slightly helpful in resolving the conflict between the two countries, that was enough.

“Ah. But the donations aren’t going directly to the Indonesian government, right?”

“Yes. We’re monitoring very strictly to make sure money doesn’t flow to wrong places. If it goes to the government, we don’t know whose pockets it’ll fill.”

The foundation seemed to be thoroughly watching to prevent such things.

“Our employees aren’t the type to play games behind the scenes. Plus they report precisely. This is a document organizing how this donation will be used and how it was used.”

Beyond my expectations, the foundation was meticulously managing money and appropriately distributing it to places that needed it.

“Everyone’s really working hard.”

“Yes. They’re people who pour all their passion into helping others.”

Flood damage home repair. Earthquake damage recovery fund. Disease damage fund.

Nickel mine underground terminal colla…

My gaze stopped there.

“There was an accident in nickel mining, I see.”

“Accidents happen fairly often in places like mines. There was flooding from the rain that submerged the mine, and also an accident where a tunnel collapsed. They’re helping people who were injured there and couldn’t receive treatment, or people who had problems with their livelihood.”

Indonesia is the world’s largest nickel producer.

Especially as electric vehicles started rising, nickel demand also surged.

When nickel is processed, it can be used for electric vehicle batteries, and it’s also used to make stainless steel—steel that doesn’t rust.

Besides that, nickel was an essential material for manufacturing military equipment.

“…”

But why was my intuition activating on this word ‘nickel’?

It was shining intensely, drawing my attention.

“Is there a way we can obtain nickel from Indonesia?”

“Indonesia completely changed their business structure starting last year. Originally, they sold nickel ore to overseas as soon as it was mined. But now they’ve completely banned ore exports.”

Nickel ore was Indonesia’s main export.

Isn’t it the world’s largest nickel producer?

But they suddenly banned selling ore.

“If they sold the ore for 100 dollars, they had to buy back the processed nickel product for 1,000 dollars, so there was no margin left. So they changed their approach entirely, banned nickel ore exports, and instead had overseas companies come to Indonesia to build factories and process the ore there.”

“They won’t sell the ore but only nickel processed products?”

“Yes. Countries that were receiving nickel from Indonesia raised issues about this and even filed lawsuits at international courts. But honestly, even if they sue, if the Indonesian government says no, it’s meaningless.”

Countries that were receiving nickel from Indonesia must be flustered.

They blocked nickel ore exports without any notice.

The damage to companies must have been enormous, and above all, nickel prices soared.

“I understand Indonesia’s position. But the method was a bit harsh. They should have given some grace period, but blocking exports like that gave a big shock to the market.”

The conclusion is that regardless of what others say, Indonesia completely banned nickel ore exports.

“…”

But why.

My intuition kept sending signals from this nickel ore.

“About this nickel ore. Is there a way to make an inquiry to the Indonesian government?”

“Inquiries are possible, but… as I mentioned, Indonesia has completely blocked ore exports. They’re not even pretending to listen to protests from other countries.”

Meaning they won’t listen to our request.

Even so, my intuition kept shaking me.

“What if we say we’ll buy it at a higher price?”

“That won’t work either. Indonesia has already been accepting overseas companies and building factories, and they plan to process and sell nickel themselves.”

But stubbornly, my intuition kept stimulating me.

“I’ll add more to the price, so please just inquire if they can sell. I know they banned exports, but we can still try poking, right?”

“Yes. I’ll make the inquiry. But please don’t expect too much…”

“Just make the inquiry.”

“Yes.”

After wheat and natural gas, now nickel…

Where do I store nickel?

Well. Indonesia will reject our proposal anyway, so maybe I don’t need to worry?

————————————————————————————————————————

“What? Gwangwoon wants what?”

“An inquiry came asking if we can sell nickel ore at a bit higher than current market price.”

President Joko was already in a very bad mood, feeling like his contribution was extorted due to Gwangwoon’s threat.

Of course, that contribution was originally something he had to pay anyway…

Anyway, it meant Gwangwoon had properly touched his nerves.

“And what? They want nickel ore? After extorting the contribution!? Don’t those bastards know we banned nickel ore exports?”

The Vice President barely managed to calm President Joko who was fuming.

“They must know we banned nickel ore exports.”

“Then why are they making such a proposal?”

“Didn’t you say last time, President, that Gwangwoon’s purpose isn’t just the contribution?”

President Joko’s uneasy premonition had come true.

It had been suspicious.

That they came in scattering 300 million dollars in donations and all they wanted was contribution payment.

“So they had another ulterior motive after all.”

Gwangwoon had finally revealed their black intentions.

Their original purpose was nickel.

“What should we do?”

“What do you mean what! Reject it! We already paid the contribution. Asking for more here is pure thievery.”

“But… the contribution was money we originally had to pay.”

“Yes. It was money we originally had to pay, but if not for Gwangwoon, it could have been money we never paid.”

Handing over nickel ore.

That was out of the question.

“Reject it.”

“What if Gwangwoon does something harmful…”

“Then we’ll thoroughly retaliate. So investigate thoroughly where the donation money from Gwangwoon Foundation is flowing. Also investigate if terrorist organizations currently operating in Indonesia have any connection to Gwangwoon. If even a bit of evidence is found, I won’t stay quiet.”

He had already bent his pride once with the contribution.

But bending it twice was unacceptable.

The Vice President agreed.

“But it’s a bit of a difficult situation since the vaccine is in Gwangwoon’s hands.”

“Is there nowhere besides Astrazenon making vaccines?”

“Other companies did start vaccine development, but Astrazenon’s technology is world-class and they’ve taken control of everything from production facilities to shipping routes, so everyone gave up.”

In other words, vaccines are only made at Astrazenon.

“Tsk. Make sure to deliver this too. The moment they threaten with vaccines, from then on it becomes a national diplomatic issue.”

“I’ll… try to convey that well. But since we don’t know what crazy thing they might do, we should prepare internally.”

“Yes. If they try to do something inside our Indonesia, we’ll have to give them a bloody retaliation.”

Mental preparation was complete.

If those bastards try to scheme something inside Indonesia, he wouldn’t just watch even if he had to get blood on his hands.

“…”

The President was seething with excitement, but Vice President Yaman was starting to get scared.

Aren’t those Gwangwoon bastards famous for always doing crazy things that no one can predict?

————————————————————————————————————————

The great artery of world trade.

That was the Suez Canal.

Located west of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, it connects to the Mediterranean Sea in the north and the Red Sea in the south.

It serves as the boundary between the Eurasian continent and the African continent.

At one time, ships traveling between Asia and Europe had to detour around the Cape of Good Hope at the southernmost tip of Africa.

Then with the Suez Canal built, they could reduce the distance by as much as 9,000 km.

An innovative development that shortened shipping time by nearly 10 days.

“Ships keep coming in endlessly today too.”

Suez Canal employees felt tremendous terror during corona.

Because not a single ship entered the canal that usually overflowed with ships like now.

But contrary to expectations, maritime trade numbers exploded due to corona, and far more ships than before were entering the Suez Canal.

“But the wind’s blowing quite a bit today.”

“Well, it’s not like ships are going to tip over just because the wind blows.”

“Hehe. That’s true.”

As the employees were laughing and checking ships entering the canal.

“Hm? What’s that? Why is it leaving the waterway?”

“Hey, wh-what’s going on with that?”

That’s when one ultra-large container ship left the waterway and tilted.

Sure enough.

CRASHHH—!!

It collided directly with the walls on both sides.

“Th-this is crazy!”

The ship that ran aground ended up blocking the waterway completely in a horizontal position.

All the employees watched that scene in frozen shock.

It was the moment when the Suez Canal, through which tens of thousands of ships pass, was forcibly sealed.

————————————————————————————————————————

After rejecting the nickel ore proposal, the Indonesian government was on alert for a while.

They were worried about what Gwangwoon might scheme inside Indonesia.

But contrary to their concerns, nothing happened.

Terrorist forces were quiet too, and there wasn’t anything particularly problematic besides the variant virus.

“Then the nickel ore was really just them poking? The vaccine production is finished and coming in, they said?”

“Yes. The shipping side is currently bringing all the raw materials and vaccines Indonesia needs.”

What Indonesia needed now was vaccines.

Because they had to stop it as quickly as possible before the variant virus spread further.

Only then would other countries allow travel with peace of mind.

“Good thing they’re not messing with the vaccines.”

Perhaps the warning that breaking the contract and stopping vaccine supply would become a diplomatic issue had worked.

But it was also strange for the infamous Gwangwoon to back down like this.

Well, they probably didn’t want to deal with a pissed-off Indonesian government either.

—Right around the time he was thinking that.

“Th-that doesn’t make any sense?”

News arrived that he couldn’t believe even after hearing.

“The Suez Canal is blocked!”

“Breaking news is already going out widely. A giant container ship lost direction due to strong winds, speeding, and mechanical defects, and blocked the path horizontally after leaving the waterway. So all ships passing through there have stopped now.”

It wasn’t a lie—it was real.

Weren’t all news channels already showing footage of the waterway blocked by the container ship?

“The problem is all the ships that should have come to our Indonesia are stuck there.”

“What? Surely not our vaccines too?”

“Yes. Not just vaccines but all kinds of raw materials are stuck, expected to be delayed at least 20 more days. The problem is vaccines need to be stored at extreme cold temperatures in what’s called a cold chain system. If delayed like that, they say they can’t guarantee vaccine quality due to fuel and maintenance issues.”

“!?”

The variant virus was spreading at an alarming rate and they had been waiting for vaccines to arrive, and now this!

This wasn’t the time to feel relieved that Gwangwoon wasn’t playing games with vaccines.

Who in the world could have imagined this?

That the Suez Canal would be blocked by such an absurd accident.

“Wait.”

Then a thought suddenly came to him.

Is this really an accident?

“That… they said it was mechanical defects and strong winds, right? And there was also the captain’s mistake?”

“Yes. They say it was poor maneuvering.”

“Couldn’t the captain have done it on purpose?”

“Pardon? But this is an incident that causes enormous negative effects on the global economy. No one would be crazy enough to do it on purpose…”

Yes. It’s crazy.

Crazy acts that no one expected.

But if it’s Gwangwoon?

Aren’t those the people who’ve been doing things like this all along?

“That means those crazy bastards really…!”