Closed Beta That Only I Played Chapter 515: Juyoung Hong (42)

The owner didn't respond.

But I ignored him and continued because I didn't co here for coffee.

"Enough. Just tell them to co out. You guys were anxious to see , right? Oh, since the shop has a coffee shop sign, you must have coffee ready, right? Give an iced coffee."

"Sure."

Less than a minute after I ordered a cup of coffee, a woman in her 50s, who seed to be the real owner, ca to serve coffee.

"Here you are. And the one who wants to see you is also here."

"Really? Have a seat then."

"Thanks for coming here. In fact, I was a little worried because I thought you might not turn up even though I wanted to et you."

"Well, it's good that you acted carefully. I don't like people coming to see all of a sudden. People like that are not good, generally speaking."

That was true when I looked at my experiences.

"Phew! I'm glad to hear that. Since those at the top are being impatient, I'm really hard pressed."

"Alright. Tell why you want to see ."

"Man, I'm being absent-minded at the mont. Let introduce myself. My na is Sojung Han, deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, and I'm the head of the 3rd Bureau in charge of foreign affairs."

"I'm Juyoung Hong."

She must already know who I am, but I introduced myself briefly anyway.

She imdiately responded, "It is very unfortunate that I did not know your na sooner. By the way, as an NIS mber, I am very grateful to you."

"Why?"

"Because Myongjin Refinery Oil has stabilized oil prices by importing a large amount of crude oil from the United States without being overcharged like a certain company. At the sa ti, Myongjin has saved Mirae Oil Refinery, Daesung Oil Refinery, Hanil Energy and Maseok Caltex."

I could easily figure out which company she referred to when she ntioned 'like a certain company.'

The rumors were already widely circulating that Daesung Oil Refinery had bought crude oil at five tis the normal price in the futures market.

Deputy Director Han continued, "Besides, you cleaned up the waste called Chaesan Lee this ti? In fact, it was really hard to get rid of him because he bribed so many governnt officials and politicians. What's more, he didn't hesitate to serve as Japan's puppet to make money. That's why I felt so happy as if a rotten tooth had finally fallen out when I watched him get ruined."

"Hmm, I didn't do it to please you guys, but it's good anyway. By the way, you are not here to praise , right?"

"Hahaha! Of course not! I ca here to help you and receive help in return. Oh, let be clear on one thing. I'm not here to ask for your help to promote my personal interests or for sobody else's benefits."

"Tell then."

Since I didn't have to decline her request, I responded while holding my iced coffee.

As soon as I replied, she said, "First of all, our governnt has decided to recognize everything you took from Chaesan Lee as your own property. You must have gotten a lot while sorting out his assets."

I frowned a bit at that.

Then she quickly added, "As you know, Chaesan Lee amassed his wealth through illegal ans. In other words, most of his assets are criminal in nature, and in principle, any criminal funds should be returned to the state. I don't want to force you to follow the law because there are loopholes in any law. From my perspective, the law should be applied to everybody flexibly. I just said this because I wanted you to understand the governnt's considerations for you. So…"

"Good. What's next?"

Since she didn't want to make an issue out of my intrusion into Chaesan Lee's mansion and taking his assets, I didn't ask her anymore.

She continued, "You must have gotten quite a few account books or ledgers. We will make every effort to recognize the validity of the docunts or account books and at the sa ti we will make sure that his financial obligations are properly executed."

"So, you want to collect the money for ?"

Even though she beat around the bush, that was her point in the end.

In other words, her point was that the governnt would collect the money for .

She said, "Yes, that's right. Our guys at the NIS will collect the money for you. By the way, our President has said on the record that the governnt will provide various conveniences to you because there is nothing more important than good human resources like you in this country where we don't have many natural resources."

"Hmm... I'm not so bad as to refuse soone else's recognition. Oh, don't worry. I don't feel offended, and I'm not that narrow-minded."

She hardened her face at my words, but I spoke to her with a relaxed voice to shake off her worries.

Aside from the first and third points, I was attracted to her second point.

At first I recalled Arica, but I felt uncomfortable about leaving such a trifling matter with the United States because it happened in Korea.

But the National Intelligence Service, or the Korean governnt, wanted to solve my problem.

I didn't think it was that bad.

So I quietly said, "Good. Tell what kind of favor you want to ask ."

"Sure, the thing is…"

Deputy Director Han finally started to bring out the main topic, which was related to Japan. She explained to about it for a long ti.

***

The land where we live is so important in many ways.

In our land, we build houses, harvest grains, and provide most of the food, clothing, and shelters to maintain our lives as human beings. That is why the three elents of a state include land, along with the people and sovereignty.

But these days, there is sothing that is more important than land.

It's the sea because 71% of the Earth is ocean.

So land occupies less than 40% of the Earth, and it is surrounded by the ocean.

As national economies develop, and trading among countries becos more active, there are all kinds of transportation ans such as trucks, trains, or planes, but they are no match for ships.

In fact, comrcial ships are responsible for more than 80% of the global transport volus. Moreover, seafood only used to be caught near the coastlines in the old days, but nurous large fishing boats catch a huge amount of seafood in the middle of the ocean these days.

Besides, there is sothing more, naly, the enormous resources under the deep sea. Iron, nickel, and other very expensive and rare elents as well as enormous amounts of natural gas and crude oil are buried in the sea.

Of course, nobody could ever dream of drilling them in the past due to the limitations of technology.

However, with the passage of ti, technology has gradually improved, so it's possible to obtain various resources from the depths of the ocean.

As a result, it has been quite so ti since crude oil was extracted from sea beds, ranging from the North Sea oil fields, to the oil fields in the Gulf of xico and the Persian guild, which exceeded 30% of the total crude oil production on the Earth.

As technology continues to advance in the future, it is obvious that oil production will only increase as the oil fields in the deep sea beco more accessible.