`El Juego pulled the couch closer to and leaned his body diagonally on the armrest.
“I saw you sothing you shouldn’t have for a mont.”
“… No.”
“Don’t be too scared. Tiro here is a bit edgy right now. We need to gather our forces before the main unit lands, and if things continue like this, we’ll get a beating from the commander.”
“Speaking of which, that ‘war chest’ that was ntioned earlier, is it a bribe for the commander to cover up any failures?”
“Hey, businessman, you catch on fast! That’s right, exactly!”
El Juego easily affird it. Even though the word “bribe” ca up, El Tiro showed no signs of embarrassnt. For them, it was just a natural part of their thinking.
“About 4 million pesos should be fine, right? Think of it as the peacekeeping fee for this city. It would be even better if you paid it in dollars. The xican currency is very unstable these days.”
4 million pesos was roughly 200 million won. It was a manageable amount if you were going to give it, but it was best to avoid unnecessary waste. I rolled my head and asked a question that might be aningless to but would be natural for ‘Huan’.
“I can’t just give that amount of pesos or dollars without conditions. Earlier, you ntioned that the organization would provide so convenience to . What specific convenience can you offer ?”
‘Huan’ might see the risk in the business environnt more significantly or be scared enough to give up on this port, but in El Juego’s position, it would be difficult. He had already offered ‘concessions’ and talked about ‘my perspective.’ El Juego made the proposal.
“I’ll grant you a tax exemption for ten years, but only for the businesses you own in this port.”
“Tax exemption?”
“Yes, a tax exemption! ‘Derecho de Piso,’ in other words, the protection fee collected by the organization.”
“Well…”
“We usually collect 10% of your operating profit as a tax. Imagine how much of an advantage a 10% difference will be when you compete with businesses in the sa industry. Most competitors won’t even dare to do business! What I’m offering is practically a monopoly!”
“That… would indeed be advantageous.”
To be honest, the condition itself was quite favorable.
‘It’s not necessarily a promise that will be kept to the end.’
Once ‘Huan’ had a lot in this port, and thus couldn’t easily withdraw, El Juego would finally reveal his intentions. He would cancel the promise, make more and more unreasonable demands, and force the foreign businessman to spit out more profits. It was like raising livestock. Whether in a gambling den, a business deal, or the criminal underworld, the wisdom of surviving as a human being was ultimately quite similar. Could you really not see through this arrogant guy? El Juego’s temptation continued, transitioning from a rude attitude to a technically gentle one.
“Yeah, that’s right. And with connections to the organization, you won’t need to pay ‘express fees’ here and there, right? Within our cartel’s territory, no governnt official or cop will be able to ask you for ‘grease’ money. I’ll stake my na on it and make a clear promise.”
“Express fees” and “grease.” These two words summarized the business environnt in xico succinctly. In particular, “grease” was such a well-known concept in xico that there was even an idiomatic expression called “xican ointnt (Ungüento xicano).” Just as one applies lubricating oil to a machine, not greasing the bureaucratic wheels in xico ant that your business would continue to squeak.
Before becoming an idiomatic expression, “grease” (ungüento) originally referred to ointnt used as a salve or to the anointing oil applied to delay the decay of a corpse. The decay of a corpse and the decay of bureaucracy shared a common thread—the act of applying oil covered the stench of corruption.
I nodded and said.
“So, essentially, it’s about making one-ti paynts for all the unofficial expenses going forward, right? At a very steep discount?”
“That’s right! We understand each other.”
“…Okay.”
“Hallelujah!”
“In that case, I’ll make a larger investnt. I’d like to establish a good relationship with El Tiro this ti.”
“Perhaps because you’re of the yellow race, you’re very quick at calculating! So, how much are you willing to spend?”
“Under the condition that the agreents we’ve discussed so far will be notarized by the market owner, I’ll have $2 million in cash ready within four days. However, please ensure that the notarized docunt has three seals. Signatures alone won’t do.”
In three days, my ship would arrive. Since I wouldn’t be leaving anyway, I decided to call a large sum. Chellino, who had to guarantee a political suicide, looked very uncomfortable but would likely be in this position already. He’d collect a commission too.
“Wait a minute, three seals…”
Chellino tried to say sothing uncomfortable, but El Juego, who had risen to his feet with arms raised, blocked him. El Juego, who was rejoicing silently in his own world, suddenly turned to El Tiro like firing a machine gun and shouted.
“See that? Did you see it? This is how you have a conversation! Follow the example of El Juego! This muscle-bound guy! Two million dollars! Try to match that! Two… mil… lion… dol… lars!”
Despite El Juego’s explosive vulgarity, El Tiro surprisingly didn’t seem too upset. Of course, it was all because of the money. Two million dollars wouldn’t be a small amount even for cartel executives who frequently handle large sums of money.
“But four days seems too late. I’ll already be on my way when you return.”
“Until the expedition is over, you can leave it on my side. I’ll handle it. Besides, for the paperwork, you can add Chomo’s signature. Don’t worry.”
In context, “Chomo” would likely be a nickna for the “Double A” commander.
‘If his nickna is Chomo, his real na is probably Jerónimo.’
Due to Hugo’s reckless remark, Tiro gave a slightly suspicious look, and I pretended not to notice anything.
To civilians, this might seem surprising, but criminal deals often relied heavily on trust. This was especially true for transactions within criminal organizations. Deception could lead to facing off with the other party’s faction and potentially even loss of life. Establishing a faction to avoid being deceived was an individual’s ability. The one who got scamd was a fool.
“I suppose there’s no other way.”
El Tiro nodded to and said/
“Let’s do it this way. I’ll graciously accept the money. You won’t regret my favor.”
“I also hope this turns out to be a good investnt.”
Afterward, Chellino reluctantly prepared the notarized docunts.
“Sealing docunts seems quite unfamiliar. Is this absolutely necessary?”
“There’s no more certain proof than that. Think of it as part of Eastern culture.”
“…”
Chellino hesitated, looking uncomfortable with the stamp ink pad in front of him. Fingerprints were not entirely absent in xican culture, but they were not common. Leaving fingerprints as a governnt official was much more burdenso than cartel bosses.
As Chellino hesitated with the ink pad in front of him, El Juego got irritated and said a few words.
“Hey, Chellino. Why are you hesitating so much? As always, 5% is yours. Work hard, earn more, move to a bigger house, get promoted, and make so hot new friends, okay?”
Even the promise of a 5% commission didn’t seem to brighten Chellino’s mood. Dealing with the burden of this guarantee was bad enough, and seeing cartel bosses easily pocket large sums of money must have been painful.
However, as El Tiro’s gaze gradually turned fierce, Chellino’s resistance had its limits. In the end, four docunts, each with the signatures of four witnesses and four fingerprints, were completed and sealed in four envelopes. Ironically, the envelopes for official docunts had the logo and phone number of the federal governnt on them.
‘It’s convenient to have the ability to control water, even at tis like this.’
As the ink pad was water-based, I could distort the fingerprint shape by exerting a constraint force on it when stamping. I just had to press firmly and buy so ti. The precise control capability from my sophisticated circuits allowed for such accurate forgery.
Even manipulating fountain ink wasn’t too difficult. By exploiting the nature of water and oil not mixing, you could easily forge fingerprints. You controlled the moisture content to create a mold and simply mixed in the ink.
Having captured my share of docunts, I casually assud an unimportant attitude and asked the most important question.
“Now that everything’s done, I have a question. What would have happened if I hadn’t provided the military funds?”
El Juego replied with a counterquestion.
“Why are you curious about that?”
“It’s just curiosity. As a foreigner, I’m interested in the realities of xico.”
“Well, you seed to know quite a bit about the United States too.”
After being satisfied, Juego began to boast with a stern expression fitting of a cartel executive. The deal had been concluded, so he could confidently rattle off intimidating words. This allowed to generously record his statents, which I could use as material for editing.
“May I ask one more question?”
“Anything.”
“There seem to be a significant number of military and police forces in this city. Is it possible for cartel sicarios to gather here on a large scale? Do you exert influence over the navy, army, police, and defense forces as well?”
The Guardia Nacional, or National Guard, was a unique xican organization that combined military and federal police functions. It operated under the direct authority of the Minister of Security and Civilian Protection in the federal governnt. In essence, it represented the military force directly controlled by the President, López Obrador. However, even as a mber of the ruling party, an individual mayor could not cover for large-scale actions of a cartel’s combat forces unless they had used bribery.
‘But if bribes were used, it would be a loss-making business for the mayor.’
Chellino, the mayor, smiled and shook his head.
“This man wouldn’t go that far.”
“Then what?”
“It’s simple. For the sake of restoring order, the President has decided to tolerate the expansion of the Sinaloa Cartel this ti.”
Hmm, quite a ss. Even when Sinaloa controlled the dark corners of Guadalajara, on the surface, things were peaceful. This was indeed a political decision that could only happen in xico.
‘If the cartels are fighting each other, the cartels will take the bla first.’
Last year, during the battle in Culiacán against the Sinaloa Cartel, the governnt had to admit defeat due to the accumulating civilian casualties. The worsened public sentint continued to haunt the President. Therefore, what the President was attempting now was a very calculated political decision. The governnt would tolerate the Sinaloa Cartel’s expansion for the sake of restoring peace, as well as tarnishing the image of the Sinaloa Cartel in the process. During the process of expanding their influence, the Sinaloa Cartel would inevitably cause nurous civilian casualties. This would highlight the governnt’s incompetence but, given the President’s still-unrecovered image from the downfall last year, it seed like a gain rather than a loss for the governnt. anwhile, Sinaloa’s forces would be worn down.
El Juego played his part well, offering praise.
“Do you understand, Don Huan? This is how powerful our cartel is. It’s like another governnt in xico.”
It was a statent that could make a splash in the devil editing.
“I see. As an ordinary person, I’ll rely on the discretion of El Juego and El Tiro.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’ve grabbed a really good lifeline. Let’s do well from now on.”
I shook hands once again with the three daredevils with dreams.
With this, all I had to do was wait for the remaining three days to pass. Until it was over, I couldn’t let my guard down, but I had removed all the obstacles that could be dealt with through effort.
However, in life, there were things that could go wrong in unexpected places, no matter how ticulously you plan. What turned the smoothly operating plan upside down wasn’t the Sinaloa Cartel or the Los Caballeros Templarios Cartel. It was a decision by the xican governnt to secretly accept foreign support, and one of the countries involved was the Nation, the United Kingdom, which was the first in the world to establish a special forces unit composed entirely of superhumans.
In other words, the Masters of the Round Table had their eyes on the leader of the xican Holy Knights, El Maestre, a supernaturally powerful awakened individual from the Los Caballeros Templarios Cartel.
I found myself in a distant parallel world, closer to the front lines of the Round Table than ever before.
Author's Thoughts
Disclair:
This novel is a work of fiction! While it may incorporate elents inspired by our "real" historical world, including historical events, settings, and cultures, it is important to note that the story and characters are entirely products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to real persons, living or deceased, or actual events is purely coincidental. This work should be enjoyed and interpreted as a work of fiction and not as a representation of historical facts or reality.
Also, if you find so error in translation please do let know by tagging (@_dawn24) in our Discord server. Since this series is kinda hard to translate. But I'll try my best to make it at least readable :)
Enjoy reading~!
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