I Became a Scoundrel of a Chaebol Family-Chapter 268

“It can’t go on like this.”

At the words of the party leader, connected via hologram, Choi Cheol-kyu furrowed his brows sharply.

“I’m just as cornered. If the party doesn’t move, how the hell am I supposed to stop that lunatic’s tyranny?”

“You’re a politician. Why are you trying to fight? You should talk. Compromise. Negotiate. That’s who we are—not people who fight.”

Words.

Those shiny, polished words—who can’t say that kind of crap?

Choi Cheol-kyu also wanted to talk, compromise, and negotiate, just like the party leader said.

But it takes two hands to clap.

When the other side won’t even play along, what kind of negotiation can there be?

“You call that talking? You’ve been briefed on everything going on, haven’t you?”

“Yes. I’ve received the full report. It’s a dire and urgent crisis. That’s exactly why I rushed to contact you—so you wouldn’t make the wrong decision.”

It was Choi Cheol-kyu who had reached out first.

But the party leader hadn’t shown any meaningful response until now, and so he’d been forced to make up his mind.

Now, sensing that change in resolve, the party leader was reaching out like this.

Choi Cheol-kyu felt his rage steadily boiling over.

“Eight district heads are dead. Eight! A lawmaker who attended the banquet is dead too. That bastard kills people over the dumbest fucking reasons. He’s a psycho. How the hell do you negotiate with someone like that?”

“If you don’t negotiate... what, are you going to start a war? You know that’s not something we can allow.”

“That’s exactly why I’m asking the party to make a move. Sure, we’re a national party, but if we lose our base in Incheon, the damage will be enormous. That bastard’s planning to take the whole city for himself. Are you really going to just sit back and let him do it?”

The party leader went silent.

As Choi Cheol-kyu said, losing Incheon outright would be a massive blow.

But that didn’t mean they could blindly oppose Go Muyeol under the excuse of protecting Incheon.

The opponent was throwing everything at them, even going as far as massacring district heads—meanwhile, the party wasn’t in a position to respond with that level of extremity.

In the end, the best option—whether they liked it or not—was still a smooth negotiation.

“The opposition lawmakers... I heard they went to the Young Master’s island to beg for forgiveness.”

“...”

“And, by some miracle, the Young Master graciously forgave every last one of them.

He might not be as insane as you seem to think.”

“That’s not—”

“Go and apologize.”

“!!”

“After that, if anything else is needed, the party will do everything in its power to help you.

Isn’t it time for you to return to the mainland, Mayor?” freeωebnovēl.c૦m

“...”

The mainland.

In political terms, it meant South Korea—not Incheon.

For someone like Choi Cheol-kyu, the mayor of Incheon, a mega-city with a population of thirty million, there were only a few positions higher than this one.

And among those, there was only one so tempting it could stir real ambition.

President.

The ultimate seat of power over all administrative authority in South Korea.

Every politician’s dream.

Choi Cheol-kyu, too, was ultimately aiming to become the president of South Korea.

“If this matter is resolved smoothly...

If you restore relations with the Young Master and solidify your influence in Incheon...

Who could possibly be more suited for the next presidential election than you, Mayor?”

“...”

Choi Cheol-kyu wanted to argue.

Deep down, he believed Go Muyeol’s “forgiveness” was just a performance.

A calculated act to shake the ruling party by pretending to forgive the opposition.

But to push back now meant turning down the card the party leader had laid out.

“And the mainland’s ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) already in chaos, too.

If someone like you came up and brought order, things would fall into place.”

In the end, Choi Cheol-kyu couldn’t voice a single rebuttal until the party leader cut the hologram connection.

If I say, he’ll never accept my apology,

that it’s impossible,

then the dream of becoming president might vanish right there.

If someone were to say, “How can someone who can’t even manage that become president?”

there would be no coming back from it.

“Chief.”

“Yes.”

“Our lawmakers... None of them have gone to the island yet, right?”

“Yes. They’re shaken, but they’re still standing firm together.”

Choi Cheol-kyu stayed silent for quite a while before finally speaking.

“We’ll have to gauge his reaction... Pick a female lawmaker. One he might like.”

“...Understood.”

“And just in case... have the flaws and loopholes of the Emergency Special Prosecutor Act compiled. Ready for announcement at any time.”

“M-Mayor!!”

The chief gasped in shock, but Choi Cheol-kyu simply waved his hand like he was telling him to get out.

The chief secretary wore a face full of concern but let out a long sigh and left the room.

Choi Cheol-kyu pulled out three cigarettes and stuck them in his mouth.

The smoke felt especially harsh today.

+++++

“The world’s really changed. How long has it even been since we broke ground, and already it’s like this.”

As soon as I stepped out of Ha Eun-young and Ma Yeon-joo’s temporary housing, I found myself admiring the scenery.

This whole site was designated for the prison, and construction was already underway. Even though it hadn’t been that long since we’d started digging, you could already see the buildings going up clearly.

“As I mentioned before, since we’re using cutting-edge 3D printing techniques, once construction begins, it progresses extremely fast. For a 30-story building, it could be completed in six months. The prison is more complex, though, because it’s a wide, spread-out structure, and it requires a lot of special materials. Plus, it’s on an island.”

“Mm.”

Right, I had heard something like that before.

‘If we actually get approval, we could put up the unified Namdong Industrial Complex HQ in no time too.’

Well, that one has a mountain of permits and authorizations to get through, so the real goal there is just to break ground sometime this year...

“When do you think operations could start?”

“If we push things fast, maybe June or July.”

“That’s seriously fast.”

My original plan was to start receiving inmates in August.

Complete construction on Building 1 by June, spend July on prep, and then start bringing inmates in August.

That was already an optimistic estimate, and honestly, I’d mentally prepared to push it into Q4.

Compared to that, this pace was damn decent.

“What about them? The entertainers who paid for favors.”

“We’ve temporarily set up a tent village to house them.”

“Mhm.”

There were quite a lot of female entertainers who got blacklisted after being exposed for sex-for-favors scandals. I swept them all up.

Well... “swept up” sounds nice.

Realistically, calling it kidnapping wouldn’t be that much of an exaggeration.

But no one cares.

They were already exiled from society, holed up in their homes like shut-ins.

Even if they disappeared, no one would even realize they were gone.

Sure, in time, once their families or acquaintances start noticing, it might come out—but that’s a problem for later.

Anyway, I’ll be using them as the first batch of inmates.

I’m going back to the original purpose of running my entertainment agency—operating squads of celebrity soldiers stuffed full of implants.

Secret soldiers the world never gets to see.

“Now that I think of it, should we take a little tour?”

“Let’s do it.”

I was already fired up thanks to Ma Yeon-joo.

Sure, we did one blowjob and one vaginal, but that’s hardly enough for me.

To move quickly, I returned to the mansion and boarded the AV.

The island’s pretty big, and walking would be a damn nightmare.

‘I’ll need to get vehicles for internal use soon.’

I should probably leave that to either the AV management company or the Muyeol Land management firm.

“Oh, Master.”

It was while I was lazily fantasizing about stripping celebrities.

“A ruling party lawmaker has requested permission to visit and apologize.”

“If she’s serious, tell her to leave the party fir—wait, is it a woman?”

“Yes.”

“Then...”

A good idea came to mind.

“Push all the male lawmakers scheduled to visit this afternoon to tomorrow. Bring in the female lawmakers who said they’d come tomorrow—today instead.”

“? Understood.”

“And call that ruling party lawmaker in too. Don’t say a word. Just tell her to come. That’s it.”

“Y-yes...”

Soo-ah looked puzzled but carried out my orders.

“How much humiliation can our high-and-mighty lawmaker endure, I wonder? Hope she turns out to be a fine specimen.”

While I was receiving some minor reports, we arrived at the tent village.

From above, you could see an endless stretch of tightly packed tents—okay, maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but still.

All of that was full of the entertainers I had quietly collected.

As the AV landed, the secretaries managing the place rushed over in a swarm.

“Welcome, Young Master!!”

“Everything being handled properly?”

“Yes, sir!”

A few of the entertainers peeked their heads out from their tents to look over here.

I spotted one who made eye contact with me and started walking toward her without a word.

“?!”

She panicked and ducked back inside her tent, zipping it shut in one go.

‘What, you think this is some “I’m not here!” cartoon bullshit? Like that means anything.’

Unbelievable. I was genuinely dumbfounded.

“Tell the lawmakers to come here.”

“Understood, Master.”

After issuing one last order, I stood in front of the tent.

Soo-ah came over and pulled the zipper down.

“Heeek...?!”

“Who said you could hide?”

I undressed and stepped into the tent.

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