The Chaebol Who Flies From Space - Chapter 47



Only Noblemtl

47. You want me to invest in North Korea? (2)

I’m kidding.

This was 100% a joke to me.

“Do you really want me to go to Pyongyang?”

– Then wouldn’t it be an honor for the family? Go to North Korea and meet Pogle and the fat guy.

Sigh! Let’s stop talking.

“How long do I have to go? Can I go next year?”

– Don’t be tricky and come quickly. Every other day, I get a call from the Blue House. The chief economic advisor wants to see you.

Damn, I can’t even run away.

After I hung up the phone, I thought about it for a long time.

Should I take this opportunity to change my citizenship to the United States?

After much thought, I decided to go to Korea and make a decision.

They say that if a student studies well, he or she will go to a Korean university, and if a baseball player is good at baseball, he or she will go to that team. So, since I make a lot of money, should I go to North Korea?

After I finished the phone call, I was so angry that I was trying to calm down, but Ariel tried to comfort me.

[Even the chief economic advisor won’t say anything bad. He also invested in the toad.]

“Will there be any problems if I change my nationality?”

[You will be able to obtain US citizenship in 3 months, but unlike other people, we will fast-track your application.]

It was a strangely irritating tone of speech.

“But what is this?”

[My prediction is that you will be kicked out of your house 100%.]

That was the problem.

Even if a grandfather treats his grandchildren in a relaxed manner, there is clearly a line. As a nobleman who has lived with the pride of a family that has protected the country for generations, if I, the eldest grandson, were to change my citizenship to American citizenship, I would immediately be removed from the family register.

“I can’t help it. Where is the private plane now?”

[Emma took a ride to New York.]

“Did I give it to you too early?”

[It’s true that I handed it over a little early because the private jet will be delivered next week.]

“Will it be noisy again when I get the private jet I ordered?”

[That may be the case in the US, but there will be a lot of talk about it in Korea. Korean companies do not use the large 747 as a private jet. The concept of using a private jet is not familiar to them.]

“That’s probably because the country is small. There aren’t many people in the world who use a 747 as a private jet like me.”

The cost of the modification alone was over 200 million dollars. The task of changing the structure of a passenger plane that carries many people into one suitable for carrying 30 people is more difficult than you might think.

[Master, why are you so obsessed with large machines?]

“If the plane is too small, it’s too stuffy, so I’d rather have it bigger even if I get scolded.”

[I’m not greedy when it comes to cars, but I’m greedy when it comes to airplanes.]

“Is it because of trauma? There was a lot of talk about my private spaceship being bigger than the Federation Space Force flagship. I just feel uneasy when I’m riding something small. How’s the process of forming a security team going?”

As my face became known, my freedom to move around ended.

Safety is the most important thing, even if it costs money. Although it’s been suspicious that Ariel has been emphasizing security so much lately.

[For close protection, we have acquired a small but experienced security company. We will begin security work once the Master arrives in Korea.]

“Here, all the game-related stuff can be pushed aside by the station manager. Is there anything else left to do?”

[All the big stuff has been finalized. The process of purchasing Maotai shares from Zhongxin Securities is in progress.]

“Will the station succeed in investing in Alibaba shares?”

[If you succeed, thank you, if you fail, there’s nothing you can do.]

“I think so too.”

Even if your initial investment in Alibaba fails, if it’s a good company, there will always be an opportunity to invest in it at some point.

I asked him to show his ability by teasing the station, but I didn’t have high expectations.

“That’s fine, but do we really have to invest in North Korea?”

[When I return to Korea, there will be talk of investing in the Kaesong Industrial Complex. The Kaesong Industrial Complex was built with great ambition, but the government is worried because there are no large companies willing to invest as much as it expected.]

“So that’s why you’re calling me an easy target.”

[He has a lot of money and is still young. If you gently coax him, he seems like he’ll listen well.]

“What is the outlook for the future?”

[The investment environment is the worst. The industrial complex can be closed at any time if the political winds change. There is currently no way to receive compensation for damages when it is closed.]

The more I listened, the more I sighed.

“I guess I should approach it from the beginning by thinking of it as a sunk cost.”

[Master, this is a good opportunity.]

“What are you talking about? It’s annoying.”

[What kind of companies will be moving into the Gaeseong Industrial Complex? The government probably doesn’t want to build a liquor factory. They’d rather go into a more reasonable industry. This is an opportunity to swallow up one insolvent company like a toad. Let’s eat one more every day.]

When I heard it, my ears perked up.

“Is there a company that is worth eating raw?”

[There is a preferential treatment. We are currently looking for a company to acquire, but it seems that there is no company willing to acquire it at a fair price.]

“Didn’t you say you were signing a contract with GM last year? Didn’t the contract already end?”

[A final contract has not been signed yet as some additional details have not been agreed upon.]

“So? How do you eat that raw?”

[The acquisition price is announced externally as 1.6 trillion won, but in reality, it is a contract worth 400 million dollars. The debt of 1.2 billion dollars was agreed to be converted into preferred stock and receive cash dividends.]

“So, the acquisition price of the large, preferential car is actually a contract worth 500 billion won.”

[If this fact becomes known to the public, public opinion will be in an uproar.]

“That’s true, but public opinion would be in an uproar if a large company like Woori Automobile was handed over for just 500 billion won.”

Even though it went bankrupt, it was the third largest automobile company in Korea.

[I’m swallowing it. How can you swallow such a big company for just 500 billion?]

What a naive guy. They say that many things are bound to get involved in a takeover battle for such a large corporation.

No, there’s no way this guy would do that.

“I see you’ve changed your hobby recently. Is it cars this time?”

[…….]

Once an artificial intelligence becomes attached to its owner, it cannot come to its senses.

“If you exercise your right to remain silent, do you think I’ll let it slide? Why should I bother helping you with your hobby?”

He pestered the man who cast a spell to not tell a lie to his master.

[Companies owned by masters may generate a lot of cash, but their influence is small.]

“So you think I’m not being treated properly?

[Isn’t it?]

What kind of company do you think the company I own is? In short, the company I own is a super-large space military-industrial complex that is much larger than the current Samsung Electronics plus Aramco, and even larger than GM and Boeing combined.

The equity relationships were so complicated that even I, the owner, didn’t know which company I was affiliated with.

I was looking to buy a company I liked, but it was already mine.

Needless to say, my influence was so great that even politicians held their breath at my every word.

“I’m so busy, what’s the point of not having time to go to the bathroom and pee?”

Those who don’t know might envy the rich for living a luxurious life, playing all they want and eating all they want, but if you try to get in that position, you’ll see how heavy the shoulders are.

Do you know how much money we pour into preparing for an unknown future?

There is no proper manager who does not have a nightmare about his company going bankrupt.

The company I own was an exception, as it had grown to a level where it could not fail even if it wanted to.

It has become too big to be ruined by my own judgment alone.

The best thing about coming here is that I can play whenever I want.

Since the future can be predicted to some extent, there is no stress.

At first I thought we were in the Stone Age, but after living here for a while I think it’s more like the Bronze Age.

Even though I reacted negatively, Ariel didn’t give up.

[Remember the Master Procto Engine?]

“That’s the basic engine that was discarded when you started learning about space power while making space engines. When you learn about space engines, you also learn how to make a procto engine as a practical lesson. It’s small and efficient, but it’s so simple that it’s been forgotten.”

[This engine, which was used to power large ships, was abandoned due to insufficient output. If modified into an automobile engine, it will not lack output.]

“Will it work? There’s no special steel here that goes into engine basic materials.”

[I saw the simulation. Of course, the performance is lower than the original, but if you modify it as an automobile engine, you get an engine with an overwhelming cost-effectiveness and transcendent performance. Master! I said this is a viable business! Let’s eat up the global automobile market together. It’s a monster engine that goes 1,000 km on 1 liter of gasoline.]

Although Ariel was quite passionate about her speech, my reaction was lukewarm.

If an early Iron Age item came out during the Bronze Age, it should have that level of performance.

“If you make that, who’s going to take care of the aftermath? You’re having fun with your hobby, and I’m going to be threatened with assassination?”

I am a gerenium tycoon, the so-called space age oil.

What if an engine that is a thousand times more efficient than its predecessors was developed with a dramatic performance improvement?

Of course, the person who created it is killed and the engine that created it is buried deep inside.

There is no way to argue with this.

It’s unconditional.

If the engine performs as well as Ariel says, I’ll be living the next day under the sway of assassins hired by both the oil cartel and the big car companies.

It will be thrilling.

“Dismissed. Dismissed! Come to think of it, this bastard is trying to drive his master into the pit of death. Who ordered you to do this! @)@*&!^%%^”

[Master, calm down. Calm down! Adjust your anger level according to emergency protocol.]

I was so excited at the moment that I almost fell over if there had been no emergency measures taken.

***

I took a flight from Hong Kong, which is near Shenzhen, and arrived at Incheon Airport in no time.

If there were no seats available on the plane, I would have made an excuse, but unfortunately there were plenty of empty seats in first class.

WD Investment’s CEO Kim, who had been contacted in advance, came to the airport to pick us up.

I listened to the delayed work report in the car on the way to Seoul.

“Did you enjoy your trip to China?”

“Yes, that’s right. I heard that the investment in Baidu was successful?”

When talking about investing in Chinese venture companies, the company that Director Kim recommended from the beginning was Baidu.

I trusted and entrusted the matter to Director Kim, who was acquainted with the CEO, and the equity investment was successful.

$200 million for 15% share.

It was a surprisingly low price for a company that accounts for over 20% of China’s Internet search market.

Because the Chinese market is still small and competitors are strong.

Yahoo and Google, which have dominated the world’s largest market, the US, have entered the Chinese market in the form of a local joint venture.

There were many assessments that Chinese Internet companies such as Baidu would have difficulty surviving in the future.

“That’s what fools say because they don’t know exactly what kind of country China is. China is a dictatorship ruled by the Communist Party. They are currently accepting foreign investment and letting it run wild, but in the future, they will try to control information. Yahoo and Google should either accept Chinese information control or withdraw.”

“Then Baidu’s search share will increase.”

“It will absolutely go up. Right now, with the outlook being bleak, Baidu is at its lowest point.”