Chapter 45: Starving Port (7)

Chapter 45: Starving Port (7)

`El Juego pulled the couch closer to me and leaned his body diagonally on the armrest.

“I saw you something you shouldn’t have for a moment.”

“... 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 mentioned 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 affirmed it. Even though the word “bribe” came up, El Tiro showed no signs of embarrassment. 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 Mexican 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 meaningless to me but would be natural for ‘Huan’.

“I can’t just give that amount of pesos or dollars without conditions. Earlier, you mentioned that the organization would provide some convenience to me. What specific convenience can you offer me?”The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.

‘Huan’ might see the risk in the business environment 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 same 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 government official or cop will be able to ask you for ‘grease’ money. I’ll stake my name on it and make a clear promise.”

“Express fees” and “grease.” These two words summarized the business environment in Mexico succinctly. In particular, “grease” was such a well-known concept in Mexico that there was even an idiomatic expression called “Mexican ointment (Ungüento mexicano).” Just as one applies lubricating oil to a machine, not greasing the bureaucratic wheels in Mexico meant that your business would continue to squeak.

Before becoming an idiomatic expression, “grease” (ungüento) originally referred to ointment 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-time payments 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 investment. I’d like to establish a good relationship with El Tiro this time.”

“Perhaps because you’re of the yellow race, you’re very quick at calculating! So, how much are you willing to spend?”

“Why are you curious about that?”

“It’s just curiosity. As a foreigner, I’m interested in the realities of Mexico.”

“Well, you seemed 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 me to generously record his statements, 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 Mexican 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 government. In essence, it represented the military force directly controlled by the President, López Obrador. However, even as a member 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 time.”

Hmm, quite a mess. 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 Mexico.

‘If the cartels are fighting each other, the cartels will take the blame first.’

Last year, during the battle in Culiacán against the Sinaloa Cartel, the government had to admit defeat due to the accumulating civilian casualties. The worsened public sentiment continued to haunt the President. Therefore, what the President was attempting now was a very calculated political decision. The government 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 numerous civilian casualties. This would highlight the government’s incompetence but, given the President’s still-unrecovered image from the downfall last year, it seemed like a gain rather than a loss for the government. Meanwhile, 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 government in Mexico.”

It was a statement 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 meticulously 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 Mexican government 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 Mexican 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

Disclaimer:

This novel is a work of fiction! While it may incorporate elements 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 some error in translation please do let me know by tagging me (@_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~!