Empire of the Ring

Chapter 183: A Collaborative Business with Mafias (3)

The French freighter was sunken in the water to the point where the waterline was unseen above water. It was fortunate that the sea route from the Mediterranean, through the Sea of Marmara, and to the Black Sea had no heavy currents but it had taken quite a dangerous voyage. Taking such risk meant that the cargo it was carrying was very important.

The International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea strictly forbid such trip, so there must be a good reason for the freighter to violate the law.

The freighter did not unload their cargo yet. It seemed that the staffs of the freighter were still negotiating with Georgian officials at the port. It would be a pressure rather than a negotiation since Georgia was a weaker country and it was obvious that Georgia would yield to France’s pressure rather than keeping their agreement with Azerbaijan.

Youngho and his friends were certain that the cargo must be missiles going into Armenia.

If they were missiles, there was nothing Youngho’s group could do. Once the cargo leaves the port, since the radius of their explosion was not predictable, innocent civilians could be harmed by it. They had to act before the cargo went out for delivery.

“Let’s sink them in the water.”

“Sink what?”

Youngho was reminded of something by Jongil’s sudden suggestion.

“You know, while they are talking with the Georgian officials, we should put them in water at the port. That’s what we’re specialized in, don’t you remember? ‘Underwater Demolition Team’?”

“Where do we get the equipment?”

“We can get scuba gear anywhere if we have money.”

It was a piece of cake to get into the freighter. However, there were no technicians who could deactivate cutting-edge arms. Not to mention, if they exploded the missiles in the freighter anchored at the port, they would be putting numerous lives at risk. Thus, the only way to get rid of them was to sink them with the whole freighter.

Youngho’s group had never tried this to an intact vessel, but it was their first time to show off what they had trained for in their Navy time.

When they were in the Navy Special Forces, they had trained underwater as a daily routine. U.D.T. was a special force unit that dealt with any terrorism and special operations on the sea. Now the unit deals with a variety of missions but when Youngho was in the unit, the team was only renowned as an underwater demolition team. Since they were focused on underwater missions, the soldiers were as free as seals in the water.

Youngho’s group could easily attain scuba gear but they could not get underwater oxygen cutting machines since Batumi Port did not have a boat repair yard.

Michael the mafia inquired many people and found out that the machine could be bought at Poti Sea Port, which was reliving news since the port was only an hour away from Batumi Port by car.

Since there were many travelers who visited Batumi Port, the port had prohibited noisy ship repairing and loading and unloading of raw materials that were subject to make dust. Only finished goods were allowed to be traded at the port.

All of the members of Youngho’s group were now prepared and were investigating the freighter. A boat would not just sink even if a hole was drilled through it. They had to find a critical spot that would damage the freighter the most.

The group agreed on sending Youngho, Jongil, and two other security crews for the underwater operation. The rest of the group would be supporting them from outside.

The French freighter was big enough that would exceed 20,000 tons by far.

There were four cargo holds. The freighter was the latest model that the engine room was located at the stern of the ship and all of the holds were located at the front of the vessel.

Youngho’s group was going to drill near the screw at the stern of the ship but it did not look like it was going to be huge damage. After discussing with others, Youngho had decided to target the body below the center hold.

Considering the thickness of the body of the ship and the depth of their diving, they did not need scuba cylinders. Since the conventional air tanks lasted thirty minutes in twenty meters below water, they could last fifty minutes in ten meters below sea level. It would only be bothersome for the operation if they dived in with double cylinders.

The thickness of the body of the vessel was only twenty millimeters thick, so it would only take them about an hour to drill a ten-centimeter hole. There was no need to make the hole bigger since that size of a hole could break the balance of the freighter in a moment.

***

There were only two ways to approach a vessel that was anchored at the port, it was either to go through the gangway installed next to the vessel at a dock or to illegally get in the ship by tying a rope at a side of the boat from the seaside.

As for a vessel that was already anchored, the staff sailors would not watch around it but they only guarded the gangway tightly for the ship’s security.

Also, it was impossible for petty thieves to steal things from freighters since most of the freighters carried over-sized cargo and they were not movable unless the thieves used cranes to steal them.

However, Youngho’s team was approaching the freighter through an alternative way since they were swimming underwater to get to the ship.

It was still in the middle of the day but Youngho’s team had floated a little barge twenty meters away from the freighter and began their operation by laying a rubber hose under the water. The barge was full of different wastes scooped from the bottle of the sea, which was typically found at any port. They were creating a scene of a group of people in diving suits going in and out of the water to collect wastes and broken anchors thrown out by fishing boats.

Michael who was watching the scene at the waterfront smirked since Youngho’s group was carrying out their operation so boldly and shamelessly.

After about two hours, a barge that was filled with sea wastes was leaving away from the freighter. Soon, the emergency bell began to ring from the freighter. Within an hour, the French freighter began to sink into the water.

Batumi Port was a naturally formed port.

In many other man-made ports, people had put so much effort to make large vessels come alongside the pier since those vessels could come near the port only after digging out sands and rocks from the bottom of the sea at ports. However, Batumi Port had naturally secured optimum water level so even jumbo cruise ship could come along. In the port’s deep water level, the French freighter easily sunk.

After the body of the vessel had sunken completely and only the tip of the bridge could be seen above the water, it finally stopped sinking.

Not being able to hold the weight of the vessel, the rope tied at the quayside was pulled apart and the staff that has not been able to evacuate the ship in advance were swimming to the waterfront holding on the life rings.

Inattentive of what was happening at the waterfront, Youngho’s group who had changed into their normal attires were drinking hot coffee at a nearby café.

“Mr. Lee, it was such ridiculous operation and I was completely awestruck.”

Michael clenched his teeth trying to hold laughter.

“Well, you should doubt any ship that roams around other vessels at nights. This is how things are usually done in our world.”

At Youngho’s unaffected attitude, he finally roared with laughter.

“Hahaha...”

From then on, it was time for a show.

Youngho had already recorded the scene of the French freighter sinking. He quickly sent out the pictures of the sinking freighter, with some description attached, to a world-famous news agency.

In the description, he wrote that there was an incident that a French freighter that carried an over-sized cargo illegally sunk at Batumi Port. Then he added he had no idea why French military officials were mobilized when a mere freighter was sunken.

It was a matter of time before the broadcasting companies around the world crowd at the Batumi International Airport and France would have to come up with a good excuse to them.

The French military would have to collect a hundred millions dollars’ worth of weapons submerged at the port, but paparazzi would not let it go easily.

Since France could not neglect the freighter in the water, it would have to fill in the hole in the body of the vessel and bail water out of it to get it back. The engine room must have been already invaded by sea water, thus it would not be able to function as normal, so the vessel must be towed away to France.

All of the processes would be a nightmare to France.

The cutting-edge weapons that had been soaked in seawater for a long time would not function normally and France would have to supply new ones to Armenia, but now, the whole world’s eyes were on France.

France was now in huge trouble. Although it would find another way to supply the weapons, Youngho’s group would also act again upon their decision.

At the time, Youngho’s group that was responsible for the whole issue was landing at the runway of Zeynep Farm. As they unload their stuff, Youngho talked to the group.

“Did we go too soft on them?

Jongil looked at Youngho as if he was being absurd.

“Hey! I told you to drill only one hole but you went with two. My head still aches. Man, it’s been such a long time since I dived in water. I even forgot about the regulations. I’m afraid I’m going to get decompression sickness.”

Jongil was just exaggerating, he was an expert diver with plenty of experiences.

“Seniors! We’ve accomplished our job well today. Don’t we have any rewards?”

“You guys only picked up trash from the water. Your seniors had risked their eyes and drilled holes with welding machines.”

Jongil scolded the junior security crews.

“You have done such a great job today. Let’s have a lamb meat barbecue party tonight. I need to drink since I’m going to have to meet government officials here tomorrow. I need a boost,” Youngho said.

***

Youngho was smiling as he left the presidential palace.

President Aliyev had invited Youngho to a big lunch. He was very satisfied with the recent incident.

Although it was a mercenary company that played a key role in the sinking of the French freighter, it was Youngho who had introduced him to the mercenary company. Any high officials of Azerbaijani government knew that Youngho was a connection to the mercenary company.

Although Youngho was the mercenary who drilled holes on the vessel, he could not reveal the secret but he told the president that he was the one who reported to the famous news agency.

He intentionally let the government know about his doing since he wanted to give debt to the government. That way, even if he made mistakes in the future, the government would overlook his misdoings.

The government was willing to pay commission but Youngho refused it with an excuse that the mercenary could not be paid since the freighter’s cargo was not revealed yet. If it was really carrying missiles which had a hundred millions of value, he would regret receiving only a few million from the government.

Although what Youngho had slipped out to the press was an unfortunate sinking of a freighter, the incident was having an unexpected turn.

Azerbaijani government had lobbied the press and even the United States and Russia were pressuring France. Now, France was in a position that it could not get rid of the freighter at Batumi Port by itself. The appearance of French military officials at the port after the sinking of the freighter was not seen as usual.

This was what Youngho had in mind when he sent out the email to the news agency.

Russia and the United States who were directly involved with the major countries of the Caucasus insisted to investigate the freighter together. If the cargo was revealed to be weapons, France would be in big trouble. The country had participated in the Conference on Disarmament to decrease the number of weapons around the world but ironically it had supplied weapons to a disputed country. It was revealed to be true, France would have no words to say to the international society.

Everything seems to be going well as planned but France could also be watching for a chance when the public eyes were on the Batumi Port.

Youngho asked Michael to watch Poti Sea Port cautiously. If France really forces to deliver the arms supply through Poti Sea Port, he was willing to go further than sinking a freighter. He also asked Michael to prepare a rocket launcher since he would be exploding their freighter this time.

Batumi Port was where Arirang Hotel was being built and it was an international tourist spot so Youngho acted carefully but Poti Sea Port was different. If he shot the freighter down when it was still floating on the sea, it would not damage the port. There was no way for the freighter to defend itself since it would not know the direction the rocket is coming from. Youngho wanted to scare France, so it would stop trying to supply weapons to Armenia.

Youngho’s worry came true to life.

Michael had contacted Youngho from Poti Sea Port that the similar freighter from the Batumi Port had appeared.

“Please stand by until I arrive. This time they’ll be guarding and watching around the freighter, French intelligence bureau is a tough match. Also, could you please set what I asked for at a proper place?”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Lee. My men won’t even go near the freighter. I’m going to arrange a building nearest the port and place the thing in there.”

“Thank you. I’ll see you at the port.”

It had not been fifteen days yet since Youngho’s group had been to Batumi Port but as Youngho announced that they were moving again, everyone seemed to be nervous. They all knew that this operation would not be as easy as the last time.

At Zeynep Farm, Jongil was checking everyone’s attire again.

“Ilkwon, you’ve left North Korea a long time ago but why do you still look like a country boy?”

“Hyung, I think I look more modern than you.”

“What?! Did you guys hear that? He looks more polished than me?”

All the juniors answered unanimously.

“Yes!”

It was a way to relieve tension. At Jongil’s joke, everyone smiled showing their white teeth.

Since a rocket launcher would be used for this operation, Youngho was worried about the sailors of the freighter, it was because the freighter was still anchored at an outer port since there was no spot in the inner harbor. All of the indispensable crewmen would be still in the freighter. If only all the sailors luckily decided to go to a pub at the port to drink, Youngho would be relieved. He only wished that the Goddess of Fortune favored them.

Now it was the show time. There would be a huge firework in the fall’s night at the Poti Sea Port.

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