Mercenary Black Mamba

"If he's a generous man...then what about me?"

Bonipas was hurt by Mu Ssang's throwaway comment.

Sure, 47 million francs was a large sum of money, but was it really necessary to highlight that fact? As if Bonipas needed to be reminded of it!

He had been pouring hundreds of millions into Mu Ssang's coffers yet he had never ever got complimented with a 'You're a generous man' before.

Was Chairman Javer some kind of a Korean ginseng while Bonipas was a Provence radish to Mu Ssang?

"Eh, I've never been called generous, even after giving away three hundred million francs. Yet Javer only needed to spend 47 million. I'm telling you, a man needs a lot of wealth to be treated right in this world," Bonipas grumbled to himself.

The phrase 'It's not fair!' was written all over his face.

"General Director, you are the person in charge of securing the safety of all French citizens abroad. And I risk my life to rescue any French citizens in danger. It's only obvious that you will express your gratitude to me, no? Can you transfer a million francs from your personal bank account to me as my commission, then?" Mu Ssang smirked while staring at Bonipas.

Bonipas jumped up in alarm. "Why would I do something that crazy? I've never personally met anyone requesting for money, or even bribing me for it. You already know what a public servant's salary is like, don't you? Even if I want to pay you, I don't have enough money to do so."

"And that's exactly it. General Director, that 300 million francs you paid me as the commission for the Ruman operation didn't come from your own pocket, but from the French taxpayers. But Javer is paying the bounty with the wealth he earned through his own hard work.

"You're jumping up in alarm over a million Francs, but Chairman Javer generously handed out 47 million without hesitation. Let's see. If Javer is a generously-sized oak barrel meant to age fine wine, then General Director... I guess you'd be comparable to a pepper shaker."

"Hahaha, a pepper shaker, is it? That certainly stings. Sounds like you want me to stop showing off with the taxpayers' money and hurry up with the payment calculations," Bonipas said while laughing out loud.

Depending on how they were interpreted, those words could have soured the listener's moods, but Bonipas didn't mind it. What Black Mamba said wasn't wrong, after all. And besides, Bonipas wasn't a narrow-minded fool.

"Well, neither you nor me enjoy a lot of free time, after all."

Mu Ssang barely even blinked while urging Bonipas to get on with it. When it came to the matters of money, not even a prick of a needle could draw blood from him.

"Indeed, Chairman Javer is a generous man. On top of the original bounty, he even added an extra 53 million francs, making the successful operation fee to one hundred million."

Bonipas deliberately concealed the fact that Javer wished to personally meet Black Mamba.

Mu Ssang was a freelancer, yes, but that didn't change his 'call name', Black Mamba. Even if the meeting could ultimately benefit the country, a civilian businessman getting close to a designated agent was not exactly ideal.

"One hundred million francs!" Mu Ssang was stunned to hear that.

A person's mind was bound to change before and after using the loo. No matter how rich you were, one hundred million francs was no pocket change. It was already praiseworthy to stick to the initial promise, yet for Javer to cough up an even bigger amount like that... what a unique person that was.

"He was genuinely happy that fourteen of his employees came back home alive. He offered that amount of money, saying that the true worth of each employee can't even be calculated in monetary terms."

"Amazing. He's a rare breed indeed, a true entrepreneur. I should at least have a chat with Chairman Javer if I find some free time."

Black Mamba sounded genuinely interested. Bonipas flinched at this unexpected response.

'Dammit, I was wondering why that fox-like old man spent all that sum of money, but he was aiming for this, wasn't he!'

Javer stopped pestering Bonipas and withdrew pretty easily, making the latter mistakenly think that his persuasion was successful. The truth was, though, Javer had already succeeded in meeting his goal. With how things ended up, it might have been better for Bonipas to act as a middleman, instead.

As expected, it seemed that only a chosen few could become a chairman of a massive corporation.

"General Director. I'm already happy with the intention of Chairman Javer who greatly values his employees. As such, I'd like you to distribute that one hundred million francs as compensation to the bereaved families of those sacrificed during Operation Fist of Justice. I'll even return the down payment of eight million francs, too."

Du-dun!

Bonipas's expression froze as if someone had poured ice-cold water over his head. His eyes resembled those of a bull that slipped and fell on a sheet of ice.

"Why would you do such a crazy... O-one hundred million francs... D-don't you need the money?" Bonipas asked in a stuttering voice.

"Hundreds of young bloods had to be deployed to the jungles of Ituri after being pushed on by the hands of oecophylla smaragdina. They were sacrificed for no good reason. They were sons, fathers and husbands. Can you guess what they were thinking about in the moments of their deaths? They must've been worried about the families they were about to leave behind."

"Ahht!" Bonipas, looking stupefied until then, jumped up to his feet and began military saluting all of a sudden. "Black Mamba... No, the invincible Eastern Swordsman. You truly are a nobleman. I've always wondered why so many people from different religions and races followed you as if you are a deity or something. But now, I finally undersand.

"Even a man would fall for you. That's how cool you are. And to the man who possesses all the right qualifications to be called a real man, I salute you."

Bonipas was genuinely moved.

This man gladly gave away the one hundred million francs he received for risking his life to complete strangers. Never in his life did Bonipas imagine that he'd get to meet a person like this.

It was already rare to find a person firmly holding onto their convictions, but a person capable of putting their conviction into action was even rarer still. That's because a human's nature was fundamentally self-centered, to begin with.

"Aigoo, would you look at that man's face? Man, we have a new addition to the ranks of Ombuti virus patients, huh. But even I think master is pretty damn cool," Samdi quietly muttered to himself.

What Bonipas said about being a 'real man' lit a spark in Samdi's heart. The fervent desire to live on like a real 'person' burned in his chest.

Mu Ssang replied, "Sharing a cake makes it tastier. Stashing it away so that you can eat alone will only make it rot."

"Oh! That's an excellent saying. I should recite it to the high-ranking officials and people wearing the badges of members of assembly back home." Bonipas was impressed once more.

Samdi listening in was already jotting down what his master said on his palm with a ballpoint pen. He wanted to regale Lady Edel later and get praised by her.

'Seriously now?! Listen, dude... Compared to Korea, your country is like the land of clean water,' Mu Ssang could only groan inwardly.

Korea was the type of a country where its President would disintegrate a perfectly-fine corporation just because said corporation didn't bribe him enough.

"Stop it with all this goosebump-inducing nonsense, and just hand over the package, will you? The development cost of an oilfield should be pretty steep, I'd wager. And that's precisely why I'm getting really impatient here, you know." Mu Ssang waved his hand with an awkward expression on his face.

Bonipas took out his fountain pen, even as the traces of his earlier shock lingered on his face. Both Chairman Javer and Black Mamba were no ordinary people. Since that's the case, Bonipas needed to demonstrate that not anyone could take up the role of the General Director, too.

Bonipas, now burning in competitive spirit, began a complete revision of the numbers found on the 'account statement'. He even put aside the constraint knows as taxpayers' blood and sweat. Regardless, it would be just a drop in the ocean compared to Black Mamba's achievements.

"After you got involved, the Fist of Justice has transformed into the Cluster Bomb of Justice. You're considered a national treasure because you can magically turn fishing rods into trawl nets. With you, it feels like all the big fish are showing up at the same time, while the supplements always turn out to be larger and more interesting than the main books themselves. And it's also the reason why I'm a fan of yours. So, here. Please confirm the invoice."

Mu Ssang received the sheet of paper, then tilted his head in confusion. "Is there a point to complicating the matters between us, though? Why don't we just keep it simple like the last time?"

"Unfortunately, this time things have gotten a little more complicated. If you notice anything missing, do let me know."

"Will do!"

The corners of Mu Ssang's lips sneakily curled up.

He watched on as Bonipas openly revised the amount right in front of his eyes. Not many men out there would remain calm after being told to their faces that they were stingy bastards. Bonipas's fighting spirit had been unintentionally lit on fire now.

[Fist of Justice Operation Summarized Statement]

1. Rescued hostages: 14 surviving hostages, three corpses recovered

(5,000,000Fr.)

2. Rescued missing operatives: rescued three GIGN operatives

(18,000,000Fr.)

3. Discovery & recovery of remains and personal articles of operatives deployed afterwards: recovered 64 remains and 1,530 articles

(3,000,000Fr.)

4. Total annihilation of the guerrilla forces: Killed 698 Damballa rebels, captured three alive for the sake of the ally, the French government

(350,000Fr.)

5. Elimination of potential threat: eliminated CIA and MSS (Chinese Ministry of State Security)

(10,000,000Fr.)

6. Acquisition of bioengineering data: acquired bioweapon 'Haunter'

(100,000,000Fr.)

7. Acquisition of industrial and military technologies: Semiconductors, computers, four sets of biomechanism control chips plus technologies, one set of laser-linked ADS Fire Control System, 350 pieces of DNA modification experiment equipment plus 30,000 related data points.

(300,000,000Fr.)

8. Miscellaneous operation support expenses

(63,650,000Fr.)

Total Settlement Amount: 500,000,000Fr.

"Huh. Human lives don't cost that much now, do they?" Mu Ssang could only sigh.

The compensation for eliminating 701 Damballa rebels was only 350,000 francs. Meaning, it was only five hundred francs/125,000 won per head.

Meanwhile, it was six million francs per rescued GIGN agent. The difference in the value of a French and a Congolese was 12,000 times.

Here was another reminder that a nation needed to be functioning properly for its citizens to be treated properly, too.

Mu Ssang's eyes scanned the list and grew wider at points six and seven on the list. Now that was a huge score. A corpse and some scrap metal he recovered for no other particular reason than thinking of giving them to Bonipas as gifts turned out to be worth four hundred million Francs in total.

Then, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets after reaching the last line detailing the total amount.

The Plaza Accord of the early 1980s meant that the dollar depreciated compared to the main currencies of Europe. In 1985, the Won/Dollar exchange rate went up to 870 won, while Won/Franc dropped to 250 won.

Five hundred million francs! That would be 125 billion won in the official exchange rate. South Korea's first-ever nuclear power station, Kori, cost 120 billion won to construct back in 1977. Back then, that was a historical sum of money.

Yet here he was, making more than enough money to build himself a nuclear power station in just one business trip that lasted around a month or so. Was this really fine?!

Humans engaged in economic activities to survive. But, somewhat paradoxically, the types of business that paid well usually involved destroying other humans. Selling booze, selling oneself (prostitution), selling drugs, selling other people (human trafficking), and selling lives (contract killing) were some of the most obvious examples of businesses that destroyed humans.

Earnings climbed higher in the order of: booze < prostitution < drug dealing < human trafficking < contract killing. And in all honesty, Mu Ssang was a businessman trading in human lives. He was basically engaging in the most profitable business of them all.

"Don't you think this is a little excessive?" Mu Ssang tried to sneakily brush this aside.

As expected, Bonipas indeed was the God of Wealth. Mu Ssang had mastered the Rule of Sight, so it was easy for him to still read the original amount despite Bonipas had smudged them into dark blobs using his fountain pen.

The original total was only around 150 million francs.

He gave up one hundred million only for it to return as 350 million additional francs. What's even funnier was the eighth category of 'miscellaneous support expense' amounting to 63,650,000Fr. Anyone could tell that that number was shoved in there just to round out the even five hundred million.

Mu Ssang began dripping in cold sweat while trying to manage his expressions.

"Not at all. I am a high-ranking official with a duty to spend the taxpayer's precious money in utmost good faith. I certainly cannot waste the budget without a reason, but if I don't spend the allocated budget, I'll be criticized as a fool.

"The DGSE's Technical Design Division and the Intelligence Division determined that we would have needed 150 billion Francs to succeed in this operation. As such, I'm basically an evil businessman who will reward you with only 0.3% of what you have actually accomplished."

Just like always, Bonipas remained honest. Of course, this honesty was only applicable to Black Mamba.

Bonipas was a cold, calculating person without any openings, fully deserving of his nickname of the 'Serpent'. In other words, he was not the type to generously reward Black Mamba just because he liked the latter as a human and was moved emotionally by his actions.

As the head of the DGSE, Bonipoas was currently under intense pressure from the CIA's extensive SIGINT activity. The Helios Project, which involved launching medium and high altitude spy satellites, cost 50 billion francs.

Until the Helios Project could be activated fully, Black Mamba's presence was an absolute necessity. No, wait - once the Helios Project was complete, Black Mamba would become even more indispensable for France as he was basically a nuke without the associated radiation fallout.

A professional's price was determined by his abilities. As such, paying five hundred million francs for Black Mamba's services was the deal of the century, really.

"Thanks for this present, since I was in need of it."

"If it was up to me, I'd have gladly given you a billion francs."

"Heh heh heh. If it's one billion, even the one and only DGSE would've been in trouble trying to manage its budget, no?"

"Well, I did receive a bribe so it's only normal to reciprocate this much. Thank you for understanding. However... Would people believe me if I said this is just a regular tusk?" Bonipas replied while shaking around the weighty fang of Sarcosuchus.

At a casual glance, it did kind of resemble a tusk, but it was too sharp like an ice pick to be one. No known large animal on Earth possessed fangs like it.

"Right. That will attract too much attention in its current state. Give it to me for a minute."

Mu Ssang took the fang. He circulated the resonance wave once before raising the Billion's Water Armor's ability to amplify force to its maximum.

Bzzzz-

Noises similar to a swarm of bees rumbled on.

Du-wooong-

The dimensional sight was activated next. The final design using the ancient crocodile fang was then engraved in his brain.

His brain controlled the Billion's Water Armor to bring the design to life. This process was pretty much identical to a CNC machine doing its job.

Sha-sasasak-

The Billion's Water Armor began sliding over the Sarcosuchus fang. Mu Ssang's hand began moving faster and faster. White bone powder was thickly blown around. It was as if the fang was clasped tightly on a milling machine and a bite was shaving it down.

Samdi exclaimed, "As expected of my master!"

Bonipas looked bewildered since he didn't know what's going on here, but Samdi's discerning eyes easily saw through the process of the fang gradually transforming into a dagger. Master's hand was like a plane precisely shaving away at a fang harder and tougher than steel.

The extraordinary demonstration ended almost instantly.

Whoosh-

A single whirlwind drove the bone powder swirling around in the room outside the windows, soon disappearing from view.

Du-dun-

And now, a bone dagger gleaming milky-white rested in Mu Ssang's hand. Its handle was about 150mm in length, while the blade portion was about 200mm. It resembled the simple and utilitarian Swiss PE90 bayonet.

Mu Ssang gripped the blade and focused his mind.