Empire of the Ring

Chapter 161 - Light and Shade (2)

Chapter 161: Light and Shade (2)

In Yaniv’s standard, the Central Asian region below Volgograd was his area as well as regions from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan part of South Russia, and other mafias respected that and never touched those regions.

He was now more into legal businesses but he was a mafia boss to the core, but he just heard terrible news that a Chinese assassin organization had intruded his territory. It did not matter who was their instigator but normally those kinds of assassin requests were done through mafias.

There were Yaniv’s mafias in Azerbaijan too.

They only kept their low profile because Youngho, who was close to Yaniv, was actively engaging in businesses in Azerbaijan. Knowing that other organization had dared to take action without their permission had made a scratch in their pride.

Yaniv was, of course, furious. He even claimed that he would move mafias in Kazakhstan to root out the intruders. It was a territorial battle.

Sergey began his research about the Chinese organization. Youngho and Yaniv agreed on cooperating in the mop-up operation once Sergey’s research was completed. The reason why Youngho gave the intruder to Sergey, not to the police, was that the intruder might have a connection to other mafia organization.

Sergey found out that China’s Gold Group Corporation held a grudge against the mine owner for reducing the amount of tungsten production, and requested to kill him to Chinese assassins organization based in Kazakhstan. Yaniv had no idea that the Chinese organization was growing its force in Kazakhstan.

Sergey sent a video clip of interrogation of the assassin and Youngho sent it to Sevan.

At the news, the Azerbaijani government was alarmed.

For the next few days, the government criticized the Chinese government that a Chinese assassin had attempted an assassination of a country’s mine business owner. The Chinese government claimed that it was the Gold Group Corporation’s independent doing and said that it would punish those who were involved but it was just an open secret. As a result, the furious Azerbaijani government had stopped tungsten trade with China.

Because of the incident, Asian travelers’ visa issue was now more difficult in Azerbaijan.

Youngho thought that his company’s reputation would be hurt by the incident but rather, the company was gaining more popularity. It was because the public had heard about the guards who protected their client until the end risking their own lives.

It was different from Korea.

When incidents happen, Korean companies were busy stopping the spread of word and competitor companies would be busy hurting other companies’ reputation but people in Azerbaijan seemed to give credits for completing the duty.

They valued the company by how the guards reacted to dangerous situations in an effort to protect their client. Service requests were skyrocketing for Zeynep Security Service.

***

Cha Insoo began to change the whole security company’s system.

He called experienced guards from Vladivostok and sent new crews there since the security at the warehouse complex was doing pretty well now. Also, he picked the swiftest and skillful Serbian descendants and gave them supervisor positions. They had only been trained for a short period of time but their natural abilities of judgment, power, and swiftness exceeded Korean crews. Their best strength was their language skills. The clients loved them since they spoke not only Azerbaijani but also Russian in a fluent manner.

For duties of guarding facilities, Youngho assigned one supervisor and local security guards and for private guarding duties, one Serbian and one Korean crew were assigned together as a team.

The fundamental matter was not resolved even though the company regained its reputation. Youngho still felt insecure about the Central Asian Chinese organization. He would be backstabbed if he did not root them out.

Living in Azerbaijan for long, Youngho was now absorbed into the Azerbaijani culture. The revenge culture of ‘eye for an eye’ of Azerbaijanis was now his motto. People here always got even with others who insulted them. That idea especially applied to men. Same as the old time, manliness was important in the culture and if one did not take revenge, it was shown as his weakness.

Other security companies in Baku were watching Zeynep Security Service, they were waiting when the company would take action for revenge. Those companies did not hesitate to fight against local mafias if necessary. European security companies also frequently battled against local gangsters.

Instead of calling the police, they liked to take care of their own matters. By fighting back boldly, they were showing that they were not the ones to mess with.

That was why Youngho, his friends, and the whole security crews now trained together at the farm to make their bodies and improve their combat skills before the battle against the Central Asian Chinese assassins organization. Although the security crews were beaten up in individual combat lessons with Youngho and his friends, they still came back for more since they felt that their skills dramatically improved after those lessons. They were learning about their weaknesses and finding ways to cope with them.

***

In case Zeynep Farm was affected in the fight against Central Asian Chinese assassins organization, the boundary of the farm was reconsidered.

Because the border zone was too vast, security could not be efficient. Therefore, Youngho and his friends decided to build stone walls around the wine factory, storage unit, and the mansion. Now that there were many visitors at the farm’s reservoir, there was a need to separate the residential areas and the farm’s core facilities from the common areas.

Landscaping work was also needed since high walls might harm the grape farm’s view. It would be way easier to make concrete walls but they were not a pleasant view, so the granite stones which were thrown out from Baku’s Old Downtown would be used for the walls. Those faded granite stones would give a great antique look to the farm.

If stone huts were built at important points of the stone walls, they would be used as playhouses for children in times of peace and covers in possible battles.

Serbian descendants volunteered to work on the stonewall construction because they were master craftsmen their skills came at handy. Since many of them commuted from the ranch village to Zeynep farm, Youngho assigned a minibus for their use. Although they spent two hours for the round trip, they enjoyed spending time on the road. They were excited as if they were going on a picnic.

They also loved the fact that they could see their Archduchess and the little prince, Leon, closely. Fatima was also fond of serving them with treats and foods. She now did not feel uncomfortable being worshipped as the Archduchess. The people’s loyalty had changed her heart toward them even though she still did not understand their unconditional affection for her. She loved their love and pureness dearly.

It was like many European countries where the royal families still exist. Many people would love their monarchs even though they are merely symbolic in the present age. They still are proud of their royalties and Fatima was that symbol for the Serbian people.

***

Although the security company work was stressful, there was great news too.

Youngho originally planned on opening Zeynep Wine’s direct store in Austria or Netherlands but many people advised him to find a bigger city for the company’s sake. That was why Youngho decided to open a store in Frankfurt.

He had been to Frankfurt many times but he did not know anything about the local situations. He asked Michael to look for a good site for the store, and Michael gladly did the favor. Because he loved drinks, he seemed to expect free drinks from Youngho.

There was a nice building across the Main Central Station of Frankfurt. The price of the store was high because it was a highly crowded area but Youngho decided to buy the building. The building could be a great base in Europe for the future. Another reason for buying the building was the leasing cost was too much. The yearly cost to lease the first floor of the building was more than a hundred million Korean won. It was definitely better to buy the property in the long run.

It was a three-story stone building. The first and second floors would be used for an office and the store, and it seems that the third floor could be a residential lounge for Yunsuh and Sangchun’s family since they would be the one in charge of the wine store.

“How do you like it?”

With a proud face, Michael asked Youngho.

“How can I complain about it? I know you picked the best place for me, chief. Since it’s one of the most crowded places in Frankfurt, It’d be a great place for the store.”

“You should have great-tasting wines. The location is not that important.”

He never tasted Zeynep Wine before.

“For you, everything is free. You can have as much wine as you want.”

“Lee, I only have a wine brand I like. I only drink that one. Besides, your wine is only aged for three years.”

“So, you won’t even taste it even if it’s free?”

“Nope. Not even if it’s free. I have a particular taste. If it’s really that great, I’ll buy it myself.”

“You’ll regret what you just said.”

Youngho smirked since he was confident with his wine’s taste.

He could buy the building at the right price because the owner was Michael’s acquaintance, although it still was expensive. The three-story building of 10700 sq. ft. of floor size was about 3.5 million dollars.

According to a source, the cost of the building would be increasing in the future. It was because the European Central Bank was in Frankfurt. Many financial corporations were crowding into the city and there were not enough office spaces.

Also, the construction law of Frankfurt was one of the most strict laws in the world. It was almost impossible to build new buildings. An unbelievable law stated that all buildings should be designed so that all the office desks should be able to get natural sunlight.

To Youngho, it only felt like the government had come up with an intricate plan to raise the land price.

In a month, Zeynep Wine’s European branch direct store would be opening in Frankfurt.

Youngho thought it would be great if he could open Arirang Hotel in there too in the right timing. Since world-wide financial corporations were flocking in here, hotel business would be an immediate success. Moreover, it would be great if he had a base in Frankfurt for many reasons: he came here often for the CIA’s European chapter, Szechenyi would be entering Goethe University soon, and Zeynep Wine’s direct store would be here too.

Frankfurt’s sky route was connected to all major cities in the world and its land route worked as a hub of European transportation.

It did not sound bad at all to dream about having a second start of his life in Frankfurt.