Chapter 158

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“As instructed by the President, I’ve distributed positions to each KW Sentinel employee.”

“Has everyone gone to headquarters?”

“Yes. Everyone has moved to the headquarters in Turkey, and employees will soon be dispatched to the naval base in Nigeria as well.”

KW Sentinel.

Meaning sentinel or guard—hyung-nim named the company that way to symbolize vigilant defense and protection.

I had only one purpose in establishing this company.

For our shipping vessels to be safe from pirates.

Also, to create a world where not just our shipping vessels but everyone passing through the seas can feel safe.

How unfortunate were the crew members who were helplessly attacked by pirates and died screaming from gunshots?

I planned to invest generously to ensure such things never happened again.

So while this is about protecting our business, I consider it a kind of social duty.

Making money is important too, but shouldn’t human lives come first?

That’s why I didn’t care how much it cost.

“Right now we’re only entering the Nigerian naval base, right?”

“Yes. Anthony Watson, who took the Director General position, said he’d go in first with employees to build the system, and if additional personnel is needed, he’d request from headquarters. And since Nigeria is the only place with even a modest naval base, Somalia and Togo will probably take quite some time.”

What we ultimately want is active cooperation from each country.

If those three countries receive our investment and gain enough power to drive out criminal organizations en masse, that would be satisfactory.

“But there are also voices of concern coming from within those countries. That we Gwangwoon might be trying to control the nation’s military power under the guise of investment.”

“Well…………… since what we’re doing is ultimately for safety. They could certainly misunderstand. Please tell Director Anthony to coordinate that well. He’s a specialist in such matters.”

If my intuition gave him the Director General position and entrusted all of Sentinel’s operations, he must be that capable of a person.

Outwardly it might look like we’re playing around with a nation’s military power, but if we show through actions ultimately, wouldn’t misunderstandings be cleared?

“Our Gwangwoon Scholarship Foundation also says there are many places needing help because those regions have suffered from long civil wars, and they want to dispatch employees.”

“Won’t it be dangerous?”

“Security is indeed dangerous. But if this time our dispatched Sentinel assigns security personnel and strengthens defenses, we might be able to prevent damage.”

Our scholarship foundation employees’ passion is admirable.

I was honestly worried they seemed to throw themselves into dangerous areas without sparing their bodies.

So I was going to say no, but—

“…….”

That’s when I felt my intuition responding.

Was it that if we properly deploy personnel as the Vice President said, they can safely do good work?

“Sigh. If I say no, they’ll be itching to go, right?”

“Yes. They’re such angelic people. Employees who can’t just pass by those in need.”

Right. How can I stop them when they’re stepping up to do good deeds?

Plus, seeing my intuition responding like this, even it seemed to not want to block good actions.

“Then please tell them to select security personnel well. Convey that it’s okay to select an excessively large number. Safety of employees must be the top priority.”

“Yes. I’ll do that.”

I was grateful to our foundation employees.

I know there are many people who don’t view our Sentinel entering Nigeria favorably.

But I wanted to show that we’re starting this work not with bad intentions but with good ones.

Our foundation employees seemed like they’d properly fulfill that role.

***

“Is personnel deployment complete?”

“Yes. I’ve also roughly planned how to start work once we move to Nigeria. Since everyone’s a pro at this, they work together seamlessly.”

Anthony Watson smiled broadly upon hearing the Division Head’s report.

“Of course they do. I told you. Even before we submitted applications, Gwangwoon had already made plans for who to hire and where to deploy us.”

Coming to work at the Sentinel headquarters set up in Turkey, he was feeling it keenly the more he worked.

Gwangwoon absolutely did not pass these employees through just documents that day.

Perhaps for several years, step by step, they’d been making plans, calculating who to put in their company and where to deploy them for maximum efficiency.

“Any instructions from above?”

“They said Director can just handle it as you see fit.”

“What? They’re leaving everything to me?”

“Yes. They said they’ll fulfill any support request. However, there’s also discontent within the Nigerian government about our Sentinel being established, so they said to resolve that well.”

“Really?”

Leaving everything to him meant everything from purchasing weapons to reinforcing personnel was all up to Anthony, the Director General.

He hadn’t expected such generous support.

Did that mean they trusted Anthony’s abilities that much?

“Or it could be a test.”

“A test? They’ve already given you Director General?”

“You just said it. There are forces opposing us within the Nigerian government. What does that mean? They’re telling us to quietly clean them up. Whether we align that first button well, or whether we create noise. They’re testing us with that.”

“This is a more suffocating place than expected.”

Suffocating.

Anthony didn’t think so at all.

“This Sentinel is the cornerstone for creating a borderless empire. Making history that no one has ever attempted or succeeded at. So Gwangwoon has no intention of doing this halfway.”

Actually, even before entering here, Anthony couldn’t tell what Gwangwoon was ultimately pursuing.

People at intelligence agencies back then also couldn’t figure out who was manipulating Gwangwoon from behind or what their goal was.

But entering here, he naturally realized.

Gwangwoon was trying to build a new concept of empire that no one could touch.

Just participating in that historic undertaking made Anthony’s heart race.

Hadn’t Gwangwoon even given him authority to command this Sentinel as he pleased?

“Director, there is one most important instruction.”

“What instruction?”

“The Gwangwoon Scholarship Foundation plans to dispatch employees to Nigeria. For volunteering purposes. But since security is so unstable, they’re telling us to dispatch security personnel in large numbers.”

The scholarship foundation sending employees out of nowhere?

Anthony quickly grasped the intention.

The Division Head seemed to understand too.

Both smiled simultaneously.

“This—Gwangwoon is making the path too easy for us.”

“Yes. If we deploy large numbers of security personnel inside Nigeria under the pretense of guarding volunteers, covert ops will become much easier. We can also plant our people disguised as volunteer workers and operate.”

“What does the Nigerian government say?”

“They have no reason to refuse volunteer workers coming to do good deeds and feed hungry people to improve public sentiment. Plus, the Gwangwoon Scholarship Foundation already has a good global image. They say it does lots of good work while not sparing money.”

So the Nigerian government jumped at it.

Without thinking that it was a Trojan Horse.

“Headquarters isn’t even giving us time to adapt and is immediately putting us to work.”

“Well, they’re paying a lot, so they’re saying to earn our keep.”

“Even better. I was already getting bored sitting here anyway. Call a meeting. We’re going to draft an operation and enter with the scholarship foundation.”

“Yes, Director.”

As he finished speaking and the Division Head was about to leave, he stopped.

“Ah. Director. What should we do about filtering out internal spies?”

Internal spies.

Filtering out internal spies was important work at any company.

“Especially our side was famous from when we were taking applications. Almost every intelligence agency would have struggled desperately to plant spies here.”

But they didn’t know who was wearing a mask.

For future work, that needed to be identified.

What was KW Sentinel’s motto?

Making sure the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

But if someone collected information internally and exposed it, that would definitely become a legendary scandal someday.

“Ah. That. No need.”

“Huh? But you know well. CIA has definitely planted spies among us.”

“Yes, they would have tried.”

Anthony snorted and shook his head.

“But would Gwangwoon not know something even we know?”

***

Gwangwoon had created a legal PMC, joined hands with small nations wanting strong military systems, and even put forward the justification of eliminating pirates.

They were dangerous before, but now they were trying to go beyond that.

But they couldn’t just sweep them away without reason.

This was a nation of laws.

So they had to dig up everything dirty they were doing behind the scenes and make them face legal judgment.

So when Sentinel started large-scale recruitment, intelligence agencies tried to infiltrate using personnel they had selected.

“But……… not a single one got in? With that many people hired, at least one should have gotten in?”

Sentinel didn’t just hire a small number.

It was truly large-scale recruitment.

That’s why they’d sprinkled spies.

To somehow bring down Gwangwoon’s ambitions.

“Yes. Even though the CIA sent people they carefully selected, Sentinel didn’t accept a single one.”

Actually, planting spies in Gwangwoon had always happened.

The problem was while they could enter the company as low-level Gwangwoon employees, no one could enter the departments called core.

“It’s not just our CIA. Coordinating with other places, they say no one has ever succeeded in planting a spy in Gwangwoon’s core operations.”

Entering as low-level was successful, but the moment they tried to repeatedly get promoted and enter core departments, Gwangwoon suddenly blocked the path.

“They knew everything. Who the spies were.”

“That’s why they were even more careful in selection this time, weren’t they? But not a single one got selected means………….”

“It seems information had already leaked from inside the CIA. Other intelligence agencies probably too…………”

Aiden squeezed his eyes shut. He was so dizzy for a moment that his body swayed.

“M-Mr. President!”

“I’m fine. So… including this time, the reason we haven’t been able to plant a single person on Gwangwoon’s side so far is all because of information leaks?”

“Yes. It doesn’t make sense otherwise. We were careful multiple times, but as if Gwangwoon knew everything from the start, they never once accepted our people into core departments.”

But there was still a sliver of hope.

“Then what about recruiting employees who got into KW Sentinel? There must be CIA alumni?”

“It’s run secretly so we don’t know exactly which employees got in. However, we did find out about some through inquiries, and word is they’re all terrified.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“They say Gwangwoon already seems to know even the parts they hadn’t disclosed. So if they try to cooperate with us, Gwangwoon will definitely find out…….”

“So now they won’t cooperate with our government?! Even after working at the CIA for the country?!”

“Yes. We’re still actively trying to recruit, but everyone has unilaterally cut off contact. Plus we can’t exactly identify who’s in Sentinel…………”

There, Aiden felt dizzy again. This seemed to be happening frequently lately.

And whether this person speaking now was on his side, or already a spy who had gone over to Gwangwoon.

He found himself suspecting people from that starting point.

As things like this kept happening, it became increasingly hard to focus on conversations, and he could feel his memory noticeably declining.

SNS was making dementia memes about it and mocking President Aiden.

“Could it be…… even this is Gwangwoon’s plan?”

Making him constantly suspect his own people like this, while mocking and pressuring him externally through SNS.

Now that it was confirmed today that even the CIA’s intelligence network was completely compromised, there was nowhere left to trust and rely on.

“John. The only person I can trust now is you. Please, at least you, don’t betray me.”

“Of course, Mr. President.”

The chief of staff who answered was trembling slightly.

Actually, Aiden wasn’t the only one terrified.

He was keenly realizing in this place that Gwangwoon’s clutches had already extended everywhere.

That meant John felt that he, as Aiden’s closest aide, could be the next target.

“………..”

That’s why today too, the words to resign from chief of staff kept rising to John’s throat multiple times.

<End of Chapter 158>