Chapter 29
# Negotiation (1), Camp Roberts
Heishehui, the most powerful faction in Camp Roberts, wasn’t a single monolithic organization. It was a coalition of several small and large organizations such as the Triads, the Anliang Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Zhili Hall, and Henan Manor operating under one banner. (Nis: By the way, Heishehui means Black Society, but we decided to keep it like this.)
From what Gyeoul knew, the Triads were the most influential among them, thus Dragon Head, the leader of the Triads, served as the leader of Heishehui too. And it was also the executive of the Triads who came to negotiate with Gyeoul. Only, their appearance was quite different from what he’d expect.
“Hello, my name is Li Ailing. It’s truly an honor to meet someone of great feats such as you, Mr. Han,” said a young and strikingly beautiful woman. Looking at her in a bright-colored qipao dress and the fur coat draped over her shoulders, it reminded him of a flamboyant flower blooming on a soulless concrete block. All the men around her looked at her in a daze and the women were jealous.
The woman was accompanied by five men, presumed to be the 49ers, the henchmen. One of them stepped forward and translated her greeting to Korean with a slightly awkward accent. ‘Must be a Chaoxianzu (Descendants of Korean immigrants with Chinese citizenship),’ thought the boy.
Gyeoul already had level 6 「Chinese」, a level which allowed him to converse in Chinese without much inconvenience, with the exception of local dialects. But knowing how important this meeting could be, he spent some of his leftover experience points to raise it up a level.
The boy then answered back in Chinese, “I appreciate your consideration in bringing an interpreter, but I presume it’ll be hardly necessary, miss. And pardon me for asking, but may I ask who I’m speaking with?”
Ailing put on an amused smile.
“Oh my. I have heard about your proficiency in Mandarin, but I didn’t know you’d be so fluent. It’s a little different from what our comrades informed me.”
The woman then curtly waved the interpreter away before answering the boy’s question.
“I assume it is my position you’re curious about, correct? I am the Incense Master of our faction, Heishehui, and I serve as our leader, Dragon Head’s assistant. So, anything that is negotiated through me, you may consider it done.”
This time, it was Gyeoul’s turn to be startled by the opposite party’s words. Because what she said basically meant that there were only two people—the Dragon Head and the Second Marshal—above her in terms of hierarchy. From her age he thought she’d be a Straw Sandal—a liaison officer—he didn’t expect he’d be visited by one of the big shots.
‘I’ll have to pay attention to the way I talk to her.’
“May I ask if you are related to the Dragon Head or the Second Marshal by blood, Li Xiansheng (Mr. Li)?”
The boy immediately changed the way he addressed her. Xiansheng was usually used to address men, but it could also be used as an honorable title for a woman of eminent virtue… was what the Controlled AI notified Gyeoul of.
“Is it because of my age?” Ailing asked as she cast a vague wondering look.
“To be honest, yes. But I didn’t mean to offend, I’m sorry if I did.”
“It’s okay. It wasn’t something to take offense at. Your guess is correct. Grand Master Dragon Head is my father. But I am not just occupying this position without having any ability, so I hope you aren’t under the wrong impression.”
“Your boss wouldn’t have sent you here if you were of little ability. There’s no reason I would misunderstand, Li Xiansheng.”
Ailing once again smiled broadly at Gyeoul, perhaps his eloquence had bought her favor.
“Please address me as Miss, as you did before. It feels a little awkward for a woman to be called Xiansheng. It makes me feel old, too.
“Sure, I will.”
As Gyeoul spoke, Yura brought in some tea and light refreshments. They were things he had never seen before in the camp.
‘Where did this come from?’ When the boy looked at the direction of the door, Wangi was standing there pointing at himself, silently muttering something at him. ‘Dignity… and modesty.’
Realizing his intention, the boy followed, “I’m sorry we cannot be much of a host to you. Hope you understand.”
“Please don’t be. We all are going through hard times,” said Ailing, as she poured the tea into her teacup. There was a sense of elegance and simple dignity in the way she handled the tea.
It was when Gyeoul was done pouring his tea that Ailing suddenly asked a question.
“Do you know about tea ceremony?”
“I’m afraid I don’t.” Gyeoul shook his head.
“Let me teach you a little. The quality of the tea doesn’t depend solely on the tea leaves. No matter how good the tea leaves are, if you swallow them in a hurry, it’s no better than sewage. In that respect, we can say that a tea ceremony is a form of propriety.”
She then closed her eyes and took a sip of tea.
“And it is this propriety that makes us what we are. For we humans exercise due courtesy towards each other that we are different from brutes.”
Such fine yet puzzling words befitting her appearance. But it wasn’t hard for Gyeoul to prepare an answer.
“Indeed, the tea tastes much better with that knowledge in mind. This must be propriety.”
There was a brief moment of silence. In the meantime, Gyeoul had received several Viewer’s Quests telling him to spend a night with her. The boy ignored all the requests, but it only aggravated the viewers, compelling them to send more requests with higher rewards.
The silent war continued until Ailing decided to open her mouth.
“Now that we are through with propriety, I’d like to discuss righteousness.”
“Go ahead.”
Ailing once again paused for a moment. Gyeoul noticed a lot of thoughts crossing through her eyes.
“Join the 「Triads」, or submit to 「Heishehui」. These are the only choices I can give you,” she said, resolutely.
A clear threat. But instead of showing hostility, Gyeoul expressed his admiration.
“That was very honest of you.”
“Because I think you deserve it,” she answered with a pretty smile.
Ailing mentioned the Triads and Heishehui as if they were two different factions. This meant that there was internal strife taking place within their faction. She had revealed a fact that would work against her. That fact alone gave Gyeoul a clue as to how she was assessing him.
“I’m Korean, and so are my people. Do you think we’d be welcomed?” Gyeoul asked, tilting his head.
“Chaoxianzu had also become a part of China. Above all, you don’t have any other choice if you think about your future. Because 「Heishehui」 is strong.”
It was an arrogant, and also a provocative remark. The confidence of one in power. But there was a gap.
‘Let’s think about it. Right now, I’m ahead in terms of position. But that alone cannot be the reason for her to disclose such important information. Why would they want to make us part of them? It’s clear that what they want is me, but they should also know I’m just a ‘billboard’… Wait, they are splitting…?’
When his thought reached that point, Gyeoul asked Ailing.
“The strongest candidate isn’t from the Triads, is it?”
“Correct.” Ailing nodded.
“This might be a meaningless question… but may I ask where are the others from?”
“The Anliang Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Zhili Hall are currently competing for the position. We, the Triads, also fielded three Red Poles and one White Paper Fan, but they all got into accidents within a week.”
Red Pole, the enforcer, and White Paper Fan, the administrator, were both managerial positions. It meant that these incidents had given the Triads quite some damage.
“Was it their work?”
“Missing in action, that’s what they reported.”
A note of anger crept into her composed voice.
“So that’s why you want me to join your faction. You want to draw me, who has the approval of the US military, in and use me as your candidate…”
What they wanted was Gyeoul’s position as a second lieutenant, namely the right to organize units and the right to lead external activities. With that in their hands, they wouldn’t have to worry about losing their ground within Heishehui.
So the two choices she had given Gyeoul were a mixture of a suggestion, ‘we are currently in a tricky situation, so if you help us, we’ll accept you as our brothers’, and a threat, ‘if not, you will be trampled by Heishehui under their new ownership’.
「Insight」was a skill that predicted fragments of the future based on the information the user had. However, these predictions didn’t always show the right path. Two prophets could predict two opposite outcomes and offer a reasonable basis for both paths, so the choice was always up to the user.
Optimism and pessimism. The signpost of the future that stood in front of a forked road leading to two ends. After a moment of contemplation, Gyeoul decided to follow one of them.
“I’m afraid I’d be thrown out like an old shoe when everything’s done.”
When one’s art of conversation reached its peak, it became easier to fool people with words. Like the woman in front of Gyeoul. Her words were surprisingly soft and pitiful.
“The members of Heishehui are bound by vows. The price of betrayal is always death. Your faction 「Winter Alliance」 will be treated as an affiliated faction of Heishehui, and will always be respected equally by our comrades. As for you, Mr. Han, you will be ennobled as a Vanguard.”
Vanguard and Affiliated Faction were both the best positions they could offer to foreigners.
“I’m sorry, but I still can’t trust you on this offer.”
“Why…”
“It’s not you nor your boss that I don’t trust. It’s the rest of the people that I distrust. Chinese people are known for their enormous egos. There are a lot of people that look down on Korea as a small country, and it has probably become even worse now. So, are you really sure there will be no discrimination and insults?”
“Once again, the vows we have sworn are not something to be taken lightly. This is one of the codes we keep: ‘We will not drive a wedge between comrades. Those who violate this will pay with their lives.’ Once your faction joins us, neither you nor your people will be ridiculed for your ethnicity. If there are offenders, I will punish them with death. This I swear.”
There was a firm conviction in her words.
However, Gyeoul rejected her once again.
“Well, what if I put it like this? I not only don’t trust your people, but also my own people.”
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