Empire of the Ring

Both of the Arirang Hotels in Batumi Port of Georgia and Moscow had a groundbreaking ceremony on the same day. Youngho and Ilkwon went to Moscow while Jongil and Insoo went to Batumi.

Fatima and Zeynep accompanied Youngho this time because Yaniv insisted to bring Zeynep along. He even came out at the airport to receive them. Knowing Yaniv's effort, Zeynep kissed him on his cheek.

"Grandpa! You look healthy!"

"Hey, my beautiful Zeynep! Welcome to Moscow. Why haven't you called me meanwhile?"

"Phew, grandpa. A student needs to study. Also, I didn't want to bother you when I know you're always busy for work."

"Don't worry. I'll answer your call even when I'm golfing with the president."

"Okay, I got it."

"Mr. Yaniv, it's like all of us are invisible to you except Zeynep."

"Oh, Lee! I didn't notice you were here. Now that you brought Zeynep, you can go back to Baku right away."

Yaniv was in a good mood that he was even unusually teasing Youngho. Since he was a mafia boss, he had brought many men along, who escorted him. The airport was crowded by them as if an influential person was visiting the country.

At the hotel site near the Moskva River, the apartment building was already torn down and cleared for the ceremony.

Many people crowded in for the ceremony including the mayor, the police, other officials, and even the press. They finished the tape-cutting ceremony and then they started a banquet at a reception hall of a nearby hotel. It seemed that all of the high officials came to attend the ceremony forcefully since they soon disappeared after greeting and eating. Knowing that Yaniv was close to the president, they could not refuse to show up at his big business event.

"I wanted to talk to the mayor but he left quickly."

"Well, the reporters took all of the pictures, so they have no reason to stay here. I told them they could go."

Yaniv had called high officials and reporters to advertise his hotel. Although he was only a mafia, he had more power than the mayor and the police chief due to his connection to the president. Youngho thought such things could only happen in Russia.

***

"Brother Sergey, about the construction equipment I asked last time. You shouldn't have sent brand new ones, you should've sent used ones."

"Those were not new, they were used in the army base. I only painted the exteriors. I'm sure they've been used more than ten years."

"Is that so? The parts were brand new though."

"The commander of Southwestern regional base told me to pay only the scrap value because he was getting the latest equipment. I think they were just not used very much."

Youngho did not understand why the military commander had sold the equipment at dirt cheap prices.

"What? Wouldn't he get in trouble for that?"

"The equipment are expendables. Every base has to replace equipment after a certain period of time. Once the time comes, they always sell the old equipment at cheap prices and send the profits to the Ministry of National Defense, although Boss gave them some recompense."

Indeed, it would not make for him to get the great equipment if Yaniv had not bribed the military commander.

"Brother, I thought you'd charge me along with the wine distribution fee. I feel like I owe you more."

"Youngho, stop feeling bad and thinking that you owe us something. We're more than that. If it's for you, Boss and I are always willing to help."

"… but still, I have to pay for what needs to be paid."

"You know my boss is a rich man. He wouldn't mind using that much money. He was feeling bad that you're working on the foreign wasteland by yourself. He wanted to be of help to you. Don't even try to mention such a thing in front of him, he would be disappointed if you say so."

Youngho wanted to keep some distance from them but they would not allow such thing from him. It looked like it was impossible to draw the line. He had to admit now that they had become like a family already even though he hated mafias. The relationship with them had not been harmful to him at all but always helpful.

***

At the instrument panel before the front seats laid the Quran.

Looking at the condition of the airplane, Youngho could see why a Quran was there; to give peace of mind. It seemed that he would have to leave his life to his destiny if he was going to fly on this plane.

The old airplane was in a condition that could be thrown into a dump at this instance. The screws seemed to be loose and the wings were made out of canvas-like cloths. There was a spot that looked like it had been mended, which made it even scarier. He could not believe that this was the plane that used to be the most popular in the sixties.

"This… can fly?"

Jongil, who is usually a bold person, asked in a worrisome voice looking at Youngho.

"I already knew it when they gave us parachutes. I'm going to jump out of here right away if things start to go wrong."

Youngho was feeling glad that he learned how to jump out of a moving airplane when he underwent airborne training. Because Jongil pushed him to learn how to fly light aircraft together, he also registered at a flying school. They had completed basic training and it was the first day on an aircraft. Their trainers had spontaneously decided to fly since there was no wind today. They seemed to have great pride in the aircraft although it was in awful shape.

"Man, they're only going to give us the license after we fly that thing for 25 hours. I think I'm going to wet my pants."

Youngho could not blame Jongil for complaining because he was not feeling well either, although he did not wet his pants. The airplane which felt like it would crash at any moment had landed after two hours of flying.

The aircraft flew between 300 to 500 meters of altitude and the reason that it felt like it would crash at any time was that it was flying at 100 kilometers per hour when the trainers had emphasized that its maximums speed was 150 kilometers per hour.

"I can't do this anymore, Jongil. We should buy a new model instead and tell them to teach us that."

"Youngho my man! It's like you read my mind."

Relieved by Youngho's idea, Jongil hugged him. Youngho felt like he would be risking his and his friend's lives if he kept on practicing flying with the old training airplane. It was ridiculous to do this when he had money, and he needed an airplane in Baku anyway. Since he traveled in-between small countries around Baku often, a light aircraft would come handy when he was in a rush. Also, even if there was a problem in the engine or there was not enough gas, light aircraft could land smoothly like a glider, so he was confident.

Youngho asked the flying school to look for the latest models of light aircraft and what they recommended was 'Cessna 174 Skyhawk' made by Cessna Aircraft Company in America. He assumed that the airplane would be expensive thinking about jets, but Cessna 174 was only 300,000 dollars.

It seated four people including the pilot and could carry 1.1 tons of weight including the weight of the plane. It could also fly up to 4,000 meters above the sky and the maximum speed was 300 kilometers per hour. Youngho especially liked the fact that it could fly 1,300 kilometers of distance since this meant that it could go any nations in the Caucasus.

It was perfect for Youngho.

As it was a plane from a light aircraft manufacturer that proved to be safe for decades, he did not hesitate longer but ordered it immediately.

With the airplane, he would be able to fly to Volgograd in four hours and from Baku to Atyrau, Kazakhstan, it would take him less than three hours. Youngho was exuberated by the purchase.

Since it was a light aircraft, it would not be too dangerous even if he had to make a forced landing on the plane's belly. Not to mention, that he could use a parachute at any time. He also trusted the ring's power. If something happens, it would still protect him from danger.

***

"So, you want me to learn how to fly?"

It was Insoo asking back after Youngho's suggestion to learn to fly.

"Sure, you and Ilkwon too. It's not fair that we're the only ones wetting our pants."

Ilkwon interrupted the two.

"Mr. Lee, I can even fly jets. In the North Korean university, they picked elite students and taught us how to fly."

"They invest that much money to raise agents?"

"Well, it only applies to a few talented students."

"Whoa. They do whatever to train to hijack. So, that means, you were such an elite student! You proud brat."

Jongil was blaming Ilkwon for nothing but knowing how he was like, Ilkwon just laughed.

"No, no. I can't fly. I have acrophobia and I was exempted from parachute training."

Insoo was backing out but Jongil had no heart to let him go.

"Don't be ridiculous. I also have acrophobia, but I'm overcoming it as I'm learning how to fly. You'd be exempted from our gang if you don't learn to fly!"

Since it would be exhausting to fly three to four hours straight, Youngho and Jongil decided to convince his friends to become pilots, so that they could take turns when flying for a long distance. Since Ilkwon was already a pilot, Insoo was their target.

Hearing Jongil and Insoo's conversation, Youngho suggested a solution.

"Why don't you take some calming medicine, then?"

Indeed, Youngho had become so busy to the point where he needed an airplane to travel between a workplace to another. He had heard that there was a military airport in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia. If he could use that airport, he would not have to travel on the dangerous and rough mountainous roads to get there.

Since he was the owner of the Arirang Hotel in Tskhinvali, it would be easy to request to use the military airport. If that did not work, he could make Katya visit the prime minister and she would resolve the issue. Youngho thought that he could take advantage of her beauty to convince the prime minister.

Anyway, with the light aircraft's appearance in his life, his traveling patter would dramatically change. Time was money for him now that he had become a busy, well-off businessman.

Until the Cessna airplane arrived, they had to practice flying with the old practice airplane.

Cha Insoo and Kim Ilkwon also trained to fly along with Youngho and Jongil. It was such a nerve-racking training period but they were getting the hang of it as time went on. Now the tension of flying had decreased and Youngho could observe what was around him during the flying lessons.

Zeynep Farm, Serbian Village, and the ranch all could be seen from the sky. They always felt so huge but looking from the sky, they did not seem so big. They were so tiny that Youngho felt like he had been satisfied as if he had the whole when in fact, what he had was nothing in the world. It was indeed that the world should be viewed from different perspectives.

If he had not trained to learn how to fly, he would have never realized this truth but would have been boastful of the size of his estates.

Youngho thought of what Eriksson from the Information Agency said. He said that not everything is what it seems, 'not everything is what meets the eye.' Those words came anew to Youngho.