After all matters were handled, everyone went home; as for keeping vigil, they naturally didn't need to worry about it.
However, the police behind the scenes started to get a headache. The Goldmoon Group was not an ordinary gangster organization; it was a nationwide violent organization, a Mafia group jointly formed by the Horang-pa, Il-pa, and Jung Chung factions.
Chairman Shi was the former leader of the Horang-pa. Under his iron-fisted leadership, the Mafia group had grown into a medium-sized enterprise involved in eight major fields. If left unchecked, it might spiral out of control like the Mafia in some countries.
Chairman Shi's sudden death provided an opportunity for the police. Chief Go and Section Chief Kang wanted to control the Goldmoon Group by manipulating the election of its new chairman.
The police also had a clear understanding of the candidates' situations.
The first candidate was Ding Qing, an executive director of the Goldmoon Group, the former boss of the Jung Chung faction, originally from Yeosu, and also an overseas Chinese.
Ding Qing had a keen business mind and now managed the Goldmoon Group's main businesses, which were the legitimate industries, and was also responsible for liaising with other gangs.
Although he ranked third within the group, Chairman Shi had already been grooming him as his primary successor.
The second candidate was Lee Joong-ku, who was also Ding Qing's biggest rival. He primarily managed the Goldmoon Group's illicit industries such as private loans, multi-level marketing, and entertainment, and was once Chairman Shi's most formidable subordinate.
However, with the corporatization of the gang, the hot-headed Lee Joong-ku lacked business acumen and was therefore pushed aside by Ding Qing.
Despite this, he remained the main supporter of the Goldmoon Group's largest faction, the Horang-pa. His relationship with Ding Qing could be described as irreconcilable.
The last candidate was Vice Chairman Zhang Shouji, who nominally ranked second but held no real power.
Zhang Shouji was once the boss of the Il-pa faction, but in the internal struggles of the group, he was beaten so badly by Lee Joong-ku of the Horang-pa and Ding Qing of the Jung Chung faction that he couldn't recover. Even his own Il-pa faction was forced to disband, and he had been in a semi-retired state, with no real competition to speak of.
All the information was laid out before the Chief, without omission, and he had a thorough understanding of their personalities and whereabouts. But what good was that?
To infiltrate their ranks, someone had to step forward.
"Hey, I'm asking you brats, do you have confidence?" Director Li, wearing glasses, dressed in white, and with two police stars on his shoulders, asked the two men in front of him.
Facing the Director's question, Chief Go merely replied calmly, "Even if we don't have a guarantee, what then? At most, we all die together."
Seeing such a response from his subordinate, Director Li could only sigh, "Do as you please, but one thing, I know nothing about this matter."
Clearly, the difficulty of this operation, its impact, and its severe consequences were beyond what Chief Go could bear.
Even if he authorized it, he still had to distance himself as much as possible. Whether there was credit or no credit, he wanted no part of this muddy water.
Facing his superior's words, Chief Go naturally understood, "Yes, of course."
Director Li nodded in satisfaction and then prepared to turn and leave, but suddenly, as if remembering something, he turned back to Chief Go and asked, "Oh, what's your operation name this time?"
Chief Go said calmly, "New World!"
Then, his expression brightened, and he looked up at Director Li, saying, "It's called the New World Operation Plan!"
Meanwhile, in a Go parlor on the street, Li Zicheng was playing Go with a woman in a black uniform.
"I didn't expect to have played Go with you for eight years. You were still very young back then, and so was I."
Li Zicheng, who was playing Go, felt quite emotional. For him, Seok Dong's death was a good thing, as he had spent a full eight years there.
Every time he thought back, he always felt that time flew by and years were unforgiving.
In fact, even he himself hadn't expected that after eight years of playing Go, he had risen from a small street thug to a Mafia boss.
As the good brother of the Goldmoon Group's second-in-command, he was no different from a Mafia boss.
But Li Zicheng had long grown tired of this life. He had thought that with Chairman Shi's death, he could return to a normal life.
However, the woman playing Go with him remained expressionless. After placing a white piece on the board, she said calmly, "You can't come back yet."
The woman's words made Li Zicheng pause, and then he asked in confusion, "Why?"
He didn't quite understand. Seok Dong was already dead, and the Goldmoon Group was entering a period of power transition. Why couldn't he go back?
"Although Seok Dong is dead, the Goldmoon Group is still here."
The woman merely spoke lightly. Although she was also tired of this life, what could she do?
Hearing this, Li Zicheng immediately became angry, "You said one year, then another year, and another. I've already gone from a street thug to the group's third-in-command. How much longer do you plan to keep me here?"
Li Zicheng's tone became very unfriendly, "Are you planning to make me the group's top leader?"
The woman playing Go with him paused. In fact, even she hadn't anticipated Li Zicheng's rapid development, in just eight years.
"Wait a little longer. There are new instructions from above."
As the liaison, she could only say this. What else could she do? After all, the decisions weren't hers; she was just a messenger.
But Li Zicheng didn't think that way, and he grew angrier the more he thought about it, "Do you know how I've spent these eight years?"
The more Li Zicheng thought about these things, the angrier he became, and in the end, he violently overturned the Go board.
The woman was stunned. She hadn't even placed her white piece yet.
"Even if you overturn the board, you were still about to lose." The woman was very calm, not at all choosing to gloss over it just because Li Zicheng had overturned the board.
"Heh heh, shibal! To hell with Go!"
Li Zicheng tugged at his tie, then stood up and looked down at the woman.
"Since you're unwilling to speak for me, then I'll go find him myself!"
With that, Li Zicheng turned and left directly. After getting into his car, he drove out of the city.
The woman looked at the scattered black and white pieces on the floor, a complex expression flashing in her eyes, "Yes, it's been eight years. What have we accomplished?"
She didn't know if what he had done all these years had any meaning, nor did she know what Li Zicheng's persistence and actions all these years could represent, but there was no doubt that every step Li Zicheng took was fraught with danger.
From a penniless, nothing street thug to his current position, to say it was all luck or their help was unrealistic.
Some things she understood clearly, but did the people above really understand them clearly?
Or rather, did the people above ever treat them as human beings?
She didn't know, and with Li Zicheng's furious departure, she no longer had the heart to care.
She just squatted down, silently returning the black and white pieces one by one. Looking at the tidied board and pieces, she finally sighed.
"Things have ultimately become complicated."
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