Chapter 170

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Guyana Shield.

A massive geological layer encompassing the northeastern part of South America.

After research results showed enormous amounts of rare earth elements were buried at specific locations there, quite a few companies had taken interest.

“But you know. Until then, there was no need to bother developing rare earths.”

70% of the world’s rare earths come from China.

Since long ago, China had undergone a long development period based on predictions that rare earths would become the oil of the future, reaching today’s technology level.

“So even when extracting rare earths, they send it back to China. Because it needs to be refined there.”

Just because you obtain rare earths doesn’t mean you can use them right away.

They need to be refined to be commercially usable.

That technology was also held by China.

“But China acts like that technology is incredibly difficult, when actually it’s nothing special. Even companies in our country and other nations. it’s not that they can’t do it.”

China talks as if only they can do this technology, but in reality, companies just weren’t doing it.

“There are environmental issues, and more importantly, rare earths weren’t even expensive enough to justify the development costs and labor. The cost-effectiveness just didn’t work out.”

That’s how it was until now.

“But now that the Chinese government is gradually trying to weaponize rare earths, everyone’s on high alert. Plus the prices that were crap a few years ago have skyrocketed.”

Neodymium.

Dysprosium.

Terbium.

Praseodymium.

These four rare earth elements were essential materials for advanced industries.

Neodymium was $60 just two years ago but has now risen to $200, and dysprosium rose from $300 to $600.

“Terbium is even worse. It went from $600 to $4,000 now. Praseodymium has nearly tripled too.”

“They’ve really gone up tremendously.”

“Right. Now rare earths are money. The uses have increased much more than before. So China is slowly revealing its claws too. If they hold this hostage, they can have quite a bit of fun.”

In the past, development stopped due to cost-effectiveness issues, but now prices have risen enough to justify development and production.

“Well, there are environmental destruction issues too. But the Guyana Shield area is different. A long time ago, they cleared out that entire area under the pretext of surveying. And Guyana has many ore deposits so they do massive mining. Adding one more thing won’t be a problem.”

Even the labor issue, which was highlighted as the biggest problem, could be fully resolved.

Just hire and use the people there.

“And the biggest headache there right now is illegal mining. The culprits of environmental destruction are exactly those guys. So Guyana is getting investment from Gwangwoon to build up military capabilities and kick those people out. We can contribute as much as we can to those costs.”

“Seeing you say ‘we,’ Kangsung isn’t the only one involved.”

“Right. Recently, with rare earths becoming so expensive and China trying to weaponize them, there are many companies worried, and many see it as a new opportunity. But as you know, there are too many practical constraints to extract rare earths buried in other countries.”

Labor costs, environmental destruction issues, various regulations, and so on.

Unlike other countries, China pushed forward without thinking about such things, which is why they managed. but developed countries couldn’t proceed with development due to practical constraints.

“But Guyana is different. That area was already cleared out long ago so development can begin immediately, there are no legal regulations, and if we continuously invest to reliably build infrastructure and haul things via Gwangwoon Shipping, wouldn’t it be perfect?”

That was exactly why Guyana was getting attention.

Despite its vast area, the population is small, and since several companies had jumped into development before and then withdrew due to cost issues, most of the jungle in that area had already been cleared away.

“But is the survey content reliable? I haven’t heard any official announcement that massive rare earths are deposited there.”

“It’s 99% certain. But the reason companies couldn’t mobilize is the safety issue was major. There’s Venezuela right now and the criminal forces doing illegal mining there. No matter how much rare earths are worth, the current situation is impossible. The moment you deploy people for development, they’ll probably all get kidnapped and trafficked by criminal organizations.”

The military conflict with Venezuela and the kidnapping and plundering by criminal organizations.

Because of these problems, despite having a treasure trove in front of them, companies couldn’t advance.

“But Gwangwoon is going to solve that, right? So we’ll pay our share and enter together too. I heard that even though Gwangwoon is acquiring multiple ore deposits, they don’t have a subsidiary that can actually run them. Give the subcontracts to our domestic companies. Then Gwangwoon just sits back and makes money.”

Rare earths don’t only come from Guyana.

From neighboring Venezuela to Suriname.

The reserves are that vast.

But if we invest in them, each government’s military and our Sentinel provide protection in exchange, and domestic companies receiving subcontracts put effort into rare earth development and mining.

“…!”

My intuition was apparently very pleased too, as a pleasant thrill spread through me.

“How about it? Good, right?”

“I was worrying about how to handle all those mines, and the Chairman brought a good solution.”

“Haha, isn’t this a good function of guilds? Guild members should help each other. Haha.”

I clinked glasses with Chairman Kang Seong-ho for the first time in a while.

Being close with a conglomerate chairman really did have more benefits than drawbacks.

***

Today too, ships and employees bearing Jackson Mobil’s mark were busily moving in Guyana’s waters.

When Jackson Mobil discovered vast amounts of oil here and began full-scale drilling, pumping followed.

They weren’t extracting that much oil right now, but there were expectations that once development was complete, they would obtain enormous amounts of crude oil.

“Nothing unusual today?”

“No. The Venezuelan bastards crossed the border again, but they didn’t cause any damage.”

“Again? Not even surprising anymore.”

Venezuela, which had ignored Guyana for over 100 years, suddenly became greedy when they heard oil and numerous other minerals were coming out of there.

Especially receiving support from Russia and China to strengthen their military, they would constantly cross the border and provoke. but they still didn’t cross the line.

Because if they crossed the line, there was the possibility of US military intervention.

“But with the US government completely broken now, even if something happens here, they might not be able to respond.”

“Come on, no matter how messed up the country is, it can’t be that bad.”

“But I hear it’s really serious. They say the government has completely stopped.”

“It’s fine nonetheless. US Navy ships are still cruising around here, right? The moment those bastards cross the border and attack us, that’s when the US military steps in.”

The employees extracting oil while exploring at Jackson Mobil’s Guyana waters headquarters had become indifferent to Venezuela’s provocations by now.

While they made quite a fuss when Venezuela first crossed the border, since such incidents became so frequent, they reached the point of not even responding anymore.

“Any problems with target production?”

“None. We should meet this month’s target. Division Chief.”

“Good. In about two months, development will be done and we’ll need to pump out much more than now, so mentally prepare yourselves.”

When that time comes, the amount of oil produced here will become enormous.

So until then, enjoy a leisurely life…

KABOOM~!!

“Wha-what was that!”

The relaxed break was short-lived.

Employees were all startled by the explosion that shook the ground.

Before long, the emergency alarm blared throughout headquarters.

“Wha-what’s happening?”

“I don’t know. There was an explosion on the drilling equipment, and an armed group arrived by boat and is indiscriminately shooting!”

“Wha-what!?”

The division chief was startled and went outside to look.

Sure enough.

Hellfire was rising above the sea.

***

Oil king Rockeller.

He once dominated the world’s oil, but was broken up into 34 companies by anti-trust laws.

Thus most companies disappeared, but Jackson Mobil, which was the main company of Rockeller’s empire, survived to the end.

And they were in the midst of acquiring numerous energy companies to recreate their former glory days.

“Congratulations, Chairman. You’ve successfully completed this deal too.”

“This is just the beginning. There’s still a long way to go. How’s the response from the US government?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. With the Aiden government in ruins, they don’t even have the capacity to manage us with anti-trust laws. Even if they wanted to check on us, the government has lost power and can’t take any action.”

Jackson Mobil spent a whopping $60 billion to acquire an upstream shale company called Nature Resources.

With this new energy company acquisition, there were concerns on Wall Street that Jackson Mobil was trying to once again build America’s largest oil empire, carrying on Rockeller’s legacy.

“We should be grateful to Gwangwoon. Without them, we would have been heavily checked by the government right about now.”

“Yes. The lobbying costs would have been enormous.”

But right now, the government didn’t have the strength left to hit major companies like Jackson Mobil.

The Republicans were also hell-bent solely on bringing down the current administration and weren’t paying attention to anything else.

In other words, for major companies like Jackson Mobil, now was the perfect opportunity to bulk up.

“Still, monitor the government situation closely just in case. If there are any signs, we need to act first.”

People know that the Rockeller family no longer involves themselves with oil companies.

Indeed, not a single person in the Rockeller family holds shares in oil companies.

However, that’s just personally. the reality was different.

They already held shares through various funds and banks, and among them, David Rockeller, who had great influence on the US financial market, also held shares through banks.

And Jonathan Rockeller, currently serving as chairman, also held no personal shares, but the fund he belonged to was running this company with a 10% stake.

“By the way, Chambeir also acquired two companies consecutively this time. Those guys also saw this as an opportunity not to miss and are acting very aggressively.”

But becoming the oil emperor again was not an easy task.

Especially since competitors were also aggressively pursuing acquisitions like Jackson Mobil.

“It’s fine. In the long run, this is a fight we’re destined to win. Once the Guyana development finishes well, we’ll be able to surge ahead overwhelmingly. And we only need to be careful of one thing.”

“One thing?”

“Right, Gwangwoon. as long as we don’t clash with those bastards, there won’t be any problems.”

Rolling around in funds, there’s one name you’re bound to hear.

Gwangwoon Group.

The Gwangwoon virus, which had already spread worldwide, had grown uncontrollably larger than even COVID.

“What’s fortunate is that Gwangwoon has no great interest in the oil sector.”

The resource Gwangwoon was interested in was natural gas, and that was it.

They worried whether Gwangwoon might take interest in oil afterwards and try to compete, but fortunately that didn’t happen.

“Plus, isn’t Gwangwoon helping us? We just need to take advantage of this opportunity and move forward.”

But before long, shocking news came in.

“Wha-what? An at-attack!?”

“Yes. Multiple bombs went off and there was an assault, leaving our headquarters devastated. Particularly, the drilling platforms we invested heavily in were damaged, and the situation right now is…”

“Wh-who. Who on earth! Could Venezuela have crossed the line?”

“That’s not certain yet. According to incoming reports, bombs exploded first, then armed assailants appeared on boats and opened indiscriminate fire…”

Hearing the report, Jonathan felt his blood boiling.

The reason he spent $60 billion to acquire another company was because his expectations for Guyana were high.

The costs invested there were substantial, and to recoup them, he had acquired new companies to expand further.

But now Guyana, which they had invested in for years, had been breached.

“Wha-what is the US military even doing!”

“As you know, they’re not in a position to act freely right now either. Military operations require separate authorization, and with the government in that state…”

Thanks to the Aiden government being destroyed, Jackson Mobil was able to take big steps.

But they never imagined there would be such side effects.

“Even so, this is strange. Even with America like this, why would Venezuela suddenly make such a gamble? And of all places, why specifically our company…?”

Come to think of it, that was true.

Even if the US government was a mess, would Venezuela take such a reckless action?

“Didn’t Gwangwoon sign an investment contract with Guyana this time?”

“Yes. I heard they newly established a PMC base and acquired several mines.”

“…”

The timing was peculiar.

“Could Gwangwoon be…?”

And his hands trembled with unease.

The thought crossed his mind that Gwangwoon, which should never be made an enemy in this world, might have marked Jackson Mobil as their next target for elimination.

End