Empire of the Ring

Youngho stopped at Zeynep Farm in Baku to give his children souvenir products that he got from the Evenks of Siberia and hurried to Frankfurt. There was a monthly meeting and he was also going to meet Eriksson. The schedule was tight.

The Heydar Aliyev International Airport—the gateway to Azerbaijan, was crowded by tourists leaving for the summer vacation season. As the situation in the Caucasus stabilized, the number of tourists in the region increased dramatically. The Arirang Hotel in Baku had also been booked almost full throughout the summer.

The recently opened 100-room, three-star Arirang Hotel in Almaty, Kazakhstan, was also booked full by global businessmen and long-term staying tourists. It was proof that the global economic recession is slowly clearing away.

At the Aliyev airport, Youngho spotted many Asians that were hard to find when he first came to Azerbaijan. Kim Il-kwon, who drove Youngho to the airport, glanced and pointed to one place. There, Chinese group tourists were sitting on the lobby of the airport, chatting loudly and eating food.

"Wow, there are quite a lot of Chinese travelers here."

"There might be North Korean officials as well. Aren't you still on their radar? Be careful, they might get you."

"Haha, don't worry about me. I'm a citizen of Azerbaijan and permanent resident of Kazakhstan."

"You're still their arrest target. Don't you know that North Korean diplomats often become defectors these days?"

If North Korea hurts my family or me, it will have to pay a huge price."

"Huh! Calm down, if you're in that position, I'm going to take the lead to take revenge. But, I'm just telling you, you should be careful. They can still come to Azerbaijan as long as they want to."

"Sure I'll be careful. Man, these Chinese people reminded me of something I don't want to remember."

Come to think of it, Chinese companies or Chinese people were seen everywhere in foreign countries now, especially around Central Asia. It made Youngho worried that the Chinese influence over Central Asia and the world was getting bigger. Many of Chinese businesspeople who had their eyes on Kazakhstan were interested in the old Silk Road without bypassing Russia, and there was no way to stop their surging power. It was quite threatening for him since he lived in Kazakhstan.

He decided to talk about this issue with the president when he visited the Presidential Palace next time to demonstrate the use of drones. He was afraid that poor Central Asian countries would be subjugated to China one by one. The market was already devastated by Chinese manufactured goods and daily necessities.

"Boss, are you not flying?"

As Youngho was deep in his thought, he almost forgot that he was going to Frankfurt.

***

Arriving in Frankfurt, Youngho met Michael privately at his office after the monthly meeting.

"Lee, I'm worried about China's advance, but It's nothing to be concerned right now. No political leader would just make a decision to take over the Central Asian regions. You know how people in Central Asia are particular and rough."

"It's a problem because Chinese people are increasing near the border area. Thousands of Chinese seem to be living in mountainous areas. I think the government is up to something and is deliberately sending them there."

"Is it prior to the plan to pressure the Kazakh government to make an autonomous state when the number of Chinese increases in the country?"

"I'm sure they're up to something and it is going to happen fast. If they were Uyghurs, I would've believed that they came to the country to flee from the Chinese government's oppression but they're Chinese. Why would the government let its people cross another country's border?"

"Hmmm… That's weird."

Michael's reaction was sour, and it seemed as if the US CIA was not quite interested in this issue. Only Youngho's mind was busy.

"Even the Kazakh government is reacting passively since it doesn't want to challenge the Chinese government. The only way to stop it is to mobilize the international press to pressure China. Large cities such as Almaty are also flooded with Chinese people now. Wouldn't it be a loss to the United States if Central Asia falters?"

"Can we get the evidence?"

"Our intelligence agents are filming the situations of the Kazakh border with drones. I intend to show them to President Nazarbayev."

"Well, Russia tried to take over the Crimean Peninsula, and now China is trying to take over Central Asia."

"We were too soft on the Crimean case."

"What would I do when the European countries don't cooperate with us? They care about Russia's oil, and gas is more important than Ukraine's security."

Although he was reporting as if he were in a hurry, Youngho was not expecting much from Michael. This was because there was no immediate conflict. It only needed Michael's cooperation to move its international opinion. He was expecting that China would slow down a bit if things happened near the Kazakh border.

The border area should be heavily guarded to prevent further illegal immigration. If drones could strengthen the border area, it would be a great achievement. People would get cold feet if they saw an aircraft that roars overhead frequently—making noisy sounds. Since Michael was the one who introduced the drone company to Youngho in the first place, he thanked him.

"If the autonomous state's drone company goes on the stock market, I'll give you your share of the company, Chief."

"I don't take bribes."

"You're getting it as an honorary resident of the autonomous state."

"Is the honorary residence forced?"

"Yes, and please stop by the autonomous state some time. The general hospital is about to open. Don't you need a medical checkup?"

"I'm a very healthy person."

"It's an obligation of every resident."

***

With his sunglasses on in a no-tie outfit, Youngho was drinking coffee at an outdoor cafe. He was waiting for Eriksson. Frankfurt, even in the middle of the summer, was 25 degrees Celsius and its humidity was low, making it Korea's general fall weather. This nice climate attracted a lot of tourists. Also, as various fairs are held throughout the year, it was hard to find a room at hotels where business people from all over the world were flocking to. Thanks to this, the Arirang Hotel in Frankfurt had always been full of guests. Because of this, Youngho often had to stay in Yun-suh's house, not in his hotel whenever he came to the city for the European chapter's monthly meeting. It was a long time ago that the annual net income of the Arirang Hotel in Frankfurt had already exceeded ten million dollars.

The hotel business in a world-class city was like a goose that laid golden eggs. Operating profit, of course, was soaring day by day because room prices were high.

Youngho had to wait about 20 minutes to get a table at a cafe where he was supposed to meet Eriksson. When he drank half a cup of his coffee, Eriksson appeared with a big smile.

"I'm a little late."

"You've arrived precisely. I got out of the hotel a little bit earlier."

"You look great. I guess it's because you're having fun these days, right?"

"Thanks to you. I'm burdened because I received such a huge amount of commission."

"I requested it from the agency because I didn't think it was going to end in a single transaction. Nikolay's gold was auctioned off, and as much as 20 million dollars was brought into Youngho's account. Having not expected that much, Youngho was stunned by the influx of money. Since he heard that the agency had earned at least 100 million dollars from a secret auction, that amount was sent to him as a commission. To ask how much it was sold without any consideration was not courteous, so Youngho did not ask.

"One reason why our organization is going on for so long in the run is the bold payment of fees. It's a profit to invest properly in someone like you, Mr. Lee."

"I see. Please thank your superiors for me."

"They'll like to hear it. Aren't you expecting another news from me, right?"

Another good news was about Nikolay's factory. This meant that the sale price had been fixed and that it was above expectations. Eriksson seemed to have completed due diligence in such a short period of time that he even found his owner.

"How're the factories?"

"I could tell why Moscow's powerful officials were dying to get them. It would've been a tragedy for your client to have them longer. The decision to sell was an excellent choice. It would be hard to survive in Russia if a stronger power didn't back you up."

Simply put, it was a great company.

It is a money-making machine, but if it did not have the power to stand up against other influences, it could not possibly survive for long.

"If we sell it to a third party, wouldn't it be okay?"

"Well, I think your client would have to give up a little bit to the Russian officials in order to live without any problem in Russia."

And that was to say, eventually, selling the factory would be a problem. However, it would not be impossible if the company offered a significant amount from the sales as bribes.

"So we've decided to drastically lower the official purchase price."

"This means that the amount of money the client will actually receive will be higher than that. Wouldn't your client be happy to make a decision on the sale then?"

"I'd be happy to offer him that kind of option."

"We only close deals that both parties are satisfied with the terms. Our clients would leave us if a single party is not happy about the deal."

"I've always thought you're agency is an attractive organization, but it's also rational. Or are you guys just confident in your company's ability?"

"I'm so happy to hear your praise."

"Oh, I'm not even in a position to compliment you. I just envy your organization."

"Alright then. Why don't we move to a nice restaurant to talk about the details of the deal? I'll treat you today."