Chapter 171

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“What happened exactly? Did Venezuela really attack?”

Usually I don’t come to the office early in the morning.

If there are no major changes, the Vice President handles the rest anyway.

But today I came to work early in the morning.

Because of the terrorism that occurred in the middle of Guyana’s waters.

“Venezuela is firmly denying it. But just before the incident occurred, two Venezuelan vessels did cross the border and sailed through, but they say it definitely wasn’t them.”

Jackson Mobil had spent years surveying, laying the groundwork, and finally enabling pumping in that area.

Naturally, the money invested there must have been substantial.

And for the Guyana government, that location was also very important.

Because they received a portion of the sales revenue from resources produced there.

Also, since it was a resource the government itself could use, there were significant military advantages too.

Someone attacked that critical place.

And they set off multiple bombs and even shot people, partially destroying the facilities and stopping production.

“How are people reacting?”

“Everyone’s blaming Venezuela. Since America is having so many political problems right now. Apparently Venezuela judged that even if they did this, the US military couldn’t intervene quickly.”

But the US military was still the US military.

The US military cruising nearby dispatched forces upon hearing that the facilities had been attacked.

“But most of them ran away and some died in the US military attack. When they confirmed their identities, apparently they were members of criminal organizations that had crossed over and were operating in Venezuela and Guyana.”

“So you’re saying someone hired them to attack?”

“Yes. Interpretations are divided now. It’s unclear whether they resented our Sentinel and the Guyana government sweeping up surrounding criminal organizations and did this out of discontent, or if they were hired by Venezuela to commit terrorism.”

The first reason had some validity, but even so, there was no reason to attack Jackson Mobil out of nowhere.

Circumstantially, it only looked like something Venezuela orchestrated.

“So tensions at the border are extremely high right now. Even though the US government has become a vegetable administration, this is directly connected to security issues threatening an ally, so even the Republican side is responding this time. They’ve decided to dispatch additional vessels.”

“Venezuela picked the wrong fight.”

“Yes. It hasn’t been confirmed that they really did it, but they’ve ended up provoking America’s anger. Guyana will also be somewhat relieved. The problem is Jackson Mobil.”

Isn’t there a saying about shrimp getting crushed in a whale fight? That seemed to apply perfectly to Jackson Mobil.

“The damage amount must be substantial. The money invested was that much. And repairing this… who knows how much it’ll cost. Plus Jackson Mobil just spent $60 billion to newly acquire a company.”

Jackson Mobil had already been spending money freely, rashly pulling together various energy companies.

“Because of that, they already don’t have much money left, and then this situation broke out.”

Shareholders aren’t fools. These days, with the world advanced as it is, you can roughly gauge how much capital a company has, if not exact figures.

So they knew too. That Jackson Mobil doesn’t have much capital left.

“The reason Jackson Mobil invested this much was because they believed they could monopolize all the oil in Guyana. But now they’ve been attacked like this, the facilities were destroyed, and there’s a precedent that the place isn’t safe. the stock will inevitably take a hit.”

Jackson Mobil, which had maintained a $400 billion market cap, was now seeing its stock rapidly decline after this incident.

“Word is that Jackson Mobil also didn’t anticipate this level of damage, so they’re confused about how to respond. Apparently the damage amount is expected to be in the trillions of won.”

“So the future is the problem?”

“Yes. There’s a lot of talk internally now. The Rockeller family descendant overreached trying to reclaim past glory, and investors who put money in the fund and shareholders who hold Jackson Mobil shares are complaining enormously.”

I recall seeing an article about the Rockeller family trying to become the oil emperor again.

Particularly, they started investing in various energy resources, not just focusing on oil, in keeping with the rapidly changing global situation.

They poured money in while looking at the distant future. but that was because their business prospects looked viable.

“Chairman Jonathan Rockeller must be dumbfounded too. He probably never predicted the facilities would be bombed. Even if Venezuela invaded Guyana, he must have believed they wouldn’t attack their facilities.”

But the world is changing rapidly now. And it’s running in unpredictable directions.

Think about it. Who could have predicted COVID-19 would hit the entire world?

Also, in the 21st century full of nuclear weapons, who could have dared predict that a war between Russia and Ukraine would break out and continue until now?

Beyond that, various happenings are occurring in this world. Earth’s author has completely lost their mind.

“Anyway, this became the trigger, and now Jackson Mobil is trying to push out the current chairman and install a new one. They see it as using the company for personal ambition rather than realizing shareholder profits.”

Meaning the accumulated grievances all exploded at once with this incident.

It didn’t seem like something that concerned us.

“Our Sentinel and the mine side are okay, right?”

“Yes. Since the US military moved, Venezuela won’t be able to move freely either. Seeing Venezuela withdraw all forces positioned at the border after seeing the US dispatch additional naval forces, they must have gotten scared.”

Then that’s fine. It’s unfortunate for Jackson Mobil, but as long as we don’t get hurt.

“The next agenda is Japan.”

“Is this about that contaminated water?”

“Yes. Hasn’t it been noisy for a few days because of that?”

Since the Fukushima incident, Japan has been trying to discharge the contaminated cooling water into the sea.

But until now, they were internationally checked due to safety not being secured.

Now Japan has declared they will discharge, saying they can no longer store it.

“The US, EU, and IAEA have all ruled there’s no problem. But whether there really isn’t a problem can’t be fully determined.”

Scientifically, even if the contaminated cooling water is discharged, they say it won’t adversely affect humans.

But just because there’s no short-term impact doesn’t mean we can be sure about the long-term perspective.

“But Japan is saying they feel wronged too. Because France, China, Canada, and even our country are all currently discharging contaminated water from nuclear power into the ocean. Of course, the difference is Fukushima is an accident reactor, while our country and other nations have currently operating nuclear plants. that’s the distinction.”

Contaminated water from nuclear power is discharged after being purified to meet IAEA standards.

It’s the same concept as going through a filter system like a sewage facility.

But the reason Fukushima is problematic is because it’s not a normal reactor but an accident facility.

Whether they’ve undergone proper purification before discharge is questionable, and Japan has a history of falsifying standards when discharging, so they’re getting more distrust.

“So Japan has been keeping it in storage tanks until now, but they’ve reached their limit and decided to discharge.”

There was good reason for citizens of neighboring countries to be anxious. I was anxious too.

“There’s nothing we can do if Japan acts like this, right?”

“Right. It’s a diplomatic issue. But we can verify with the IAEA, the international atomic energy agency, whether their investigation results are really accurate. Or we can send donations while requesting them to do a clearer investigation once more.”

Right at that moment, I felt a tingling sensation at my fingertips.

“Isn’t nuclear power generation coming back into fashion these days? Especially eco-friendly and safe nuclear power. We can cite supporting that direction of the IAEA as our pretext to send the donation.”

I felt it again there.

“That’s a good idea. Ask them to investigate again so Japan can’t indiscriminately discharge contaminated water. This could greatly affect us too.”

The thing about the world is, they say you have to give something up to gain something.

But I believe technological advancement is precisely to avoid losing that something.

***

“Thank you all for coming despite being so busy.”

“Not at all. Rather, we’re grateful that the Chairman persuaded Gwangwoon so well. Haha.”

Chairman Kang Seong-ho gathered representatives of each company participating in this Guyana project in one place.

On their faces bloomed smiles. they had gained the opportunity to not only mine the rare earths considered difficult due to practical constraints, but also the ore deposits piled up like mountains in Guyana.

This year would be a very prosperous year.

“But I heard there was some trouble in Guyana this time…”

“Ah. Don’t worry too much about that. Thanks to the US military stepping in, Venezuela can’t budge.”

“Yes. Honestly, I’m not too worried. The Chairman vaguely senses it too, right?”

“Ahem. Me?”

“Oh, come on. Why are you being like that? We know about as much as we need to know. About this incident. there’s a lot of talk that Gwangwoon orchestrated it, right?”

At those words, Chairman Kang Seong-ho frowned.

“Hey now. Watch your words. There’s no evidence.”

“But this time Jackson Mobil shareholders asked Gwangwoon for help, didn’t they? They’ll sell off some shares, so please take over the company.”

Kang Seong-ho already knew this.

Jackson Mobil shareholders were trying to oust the existing Chairman Jonathan Rockeller and put Gwangwoon in his place.

In other words, while Gwangwoon didn’t hold a single share, they were offering to hand over shares cheaper than the current price and asking Gwangwoon to take over the company.

“What an amazing company. This is basically a bloodless conquest, isn’t it? I was wondering why they suddenly started developing in Guyana…”

“Didn’t I say? To not jump to conclusions without evidence. Do you know what happens in this business if you run your mouth wrong?”

“Ah. S-sorry.”

“Plus, if there was evidence that Gwangwoon orchestrated such things, would the US government stay quiet? What about other places? You’re all people who could get in big trouble.”

“…”

At Chairman Kang Seong-ho’s words, everyone looked tense.

Soon he burst out laughing heartily.

“I’m joking. It’s a joke. That was meant to lighten the mood, so why is everyone so stiff? The food is getting cold. Let’s eat.”

Only then did they sigh in relief.

They almost caused themselves harm with careless talk.

Everyone already knew that Chairman Kang Seong-ho of Kangsung Group was the person closest to Gwangwoon.

“Chairman. Since things have come to this, can I ask one more thing?”

“What?”

“About Gwangwoon donating generously to the IAEA and making an official protest this time? Because of the Japan discharge issue. Could Gwangwoon be trying to pressure Japan again…?”

After Gwangwoon completely crushed Japan, numerous Korean companies advanced into Japan.

Since Japan declared complete openness to revive their collapsing economy and removed all regulations on Korean companies.

That’s why they now feared whether Gwangwoon was going to smash Japan again.

“What do you take our Gwangwoon for?”

“Excuse me?”

“Alright. Since we’re all in the same boat now, let’s talk frankly. Do you really think our Gwangwoon thinks about things like the environment?”

“Th-that is…”

“Everyone knows what’s buried in Guyana, right?”

They thought for a moment before answering.

“You don’t mean uranium, do you?”

“Yes. We’ve already taken over all the surrounding ore deposits, so actually if we just bring in equipment, we can extract uranium too. But can we do that openly?”

Extracting uranium wasn’t easy.

Because there was international scrutiny.

“Nuclear power is getting attention again right now. And in this situation, Fukushima is going to discharge contaminated water, so international attention is focused. That’s why eco-friendly nuclear power is rising even more. And what’s K-STAR in our country researching?”

“K-STAR means… eco-friendly nuclear power plant?”

Eco-friendly nuclear power, called the dream technology.

A technology minimizing environmental problems, it had been getting renewed attention since the Russo-Ukrainian war.

“Yes. And do you know what one of Jackson Mobil’s subsidiaries that they’ve had for decades is? It’s a nuclear power development company.”

“Ah!”

Only then did they clap their hands.

I was wondering why Gwangwoon suddenly protested to the IAEA about the Japan discharge issue.

Actually it was to create a different justification.

“Honestly, we’ve got a lot of our companies entering Guyana this time, right? It’s a bit too many to just be mining ore deposits. But what if that manpower builds a new nuclear power plant on that land?”

“Using eco-friendly nuclear power as a pretext? But that’s not completed technology yet.”

“Not now. But we can build it first and then develop it gradually, right? As a pilot.”

They too let out short exclamations and nodded.

This Guyana project wasn’t just about rare earths. there was a bigger plan.

“So everyone, act smart. Keep your mouths shut as much as possible. Our Gwangwoon dreams of developing together with Korean companies rather than competing with them.”

Somehow, the phrase “our Gwangwoon” felt especially natural on his tongue today.

End