Chapter 25: The Wish of Fifty Million Citizens, An Oil-Producing Nation
But how?
The real problem was simple.
I can't use Laser No. 1 right now.
Shadow Dagger was useful.
But it wasn't ideal for farming Contribution Points.
Is there anyone who'll sell Highest-Grade Magic Stones cheaply?
I browsed the HunVen trade board.
Then...
[For Sale!]
[Title: Urgent Sale - Highest-Grade Magic Stones]
[Author: Agent]
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Selling urgently due to personal circumstances. Large quantity available. Much cheaper than market price. Message me. Verification photo attached.
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[Photo: Five Highest-Grade Magic Stones]
My eyes widened.
"...!"
Someone was conveniently selling exactly what I needed.
And at a discount.
Could this be...?
Bragging?
Maybe.
No harm sending a message.
Messages were free.
[Title: How Much for the Highest-Grade Magic Stones?]
[Sender: DivineMan]
·
Title says it all.
·
[Message sent.]
How cheap will they be? If he says "make an offer," I'm not buying.
Even thirty percent below market would save sixty million per stone.
If I buy in bulk...
My hand stopped before opening the calculator.
Wait.
I have no money.
I'd invested seventy-five billion into oil.
Then spent everything else on Highest-Grade Magic Stones.
My available cash was effectively zero.
Can I ask for credit?
Just as that thought crossed my mind...
Bzzzt.
My smartphone rang.
CEO Park.
"Hello?"
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It's me. Oil exploration starts tomorrow.
·
"Really?"
I shot upright.
·
Yeah.
·
"Finally!"
·
We need to board early. Prepare yourself. I'll send the location.
·
"Okay."
I ended the call and grinned.
The day has finally come.
Forget Magic Stones.
Oil first.
Ding!
A HunVen reply arrived.
I ignored it and prepared for the East Sea.
The next day.
A port near the East Sea.
"Mr. Choi?"
Several foreigners approached while waving.
One stepped forward and handed me a business card.
[Trident Oil - Drilling Supervisor Robert Howell]
"Korea National Oil Corporation told us about you. Trident Oil will be handling this drilling project."
The interpreter beside him immediately translated.
CEO Park even arranged this.
Definitely the right decision to leave things to him.
So it's a foreign company.
Apparently Trident Oil was a globally famous offshore drilling specialist.
There probably weren't many Korean companies with experience in offshore drilling at this scale.
"CEO Choi, over here."
CEO Park waved.
"CEO Choi?"
"We're meeting business partners. We should use proper titles. Call me CEO Park."
CEO Park and I were co-CEOs of F&C Oil.
"Ah. Okay."
Following Supervisor Howell, CEO Park and I boarded a massive drilling ship.
Standing on deck, I felt sea wind strike my body.
Refreshing.
So this is a drilling ship.
It was far larger than I imagined.
Complex equipment covered every part.
Workers carried tools and moved constantly.
This really looked like a project worth hundreds of billions.
"These are the exact coordinates."
Supervisor Howell unfolded a map of the East Sea and pointed.
"We'll begin exploratory drilling here."
"Are you sure there's oil?"
"We can only confirm actual reserves by drilling."
For a moment, his expression darkened.
It almost looked like he was thinking:
These young fools are about to lose everything.
I approached the railing and looked down.
Dark blue waves stretched endlessly.
Fish jumped between patches of white foam.
The oil will come from beneath there.
Fifteen billion barrels.
The vast reserve hidden on Floor 25.
"CEO Choi. You're sure, right?"
CEO Park came beside me.
"Why?"
"The supervisor doesn't look optimistic. He probably thinks there's nothing there."
"That's his opinion."
"Convincing Trident Oil's executives wasn't easy. They only agreed after I guaranteed they wouldn't lose money."
"What's the point of worrying now? The money is already gone. The workers and drilling ship are here. All we have to do is watch the oil come out."
He had said he trusted only my word.
Yet now that the moment had come, even he was nervous.
CEO Park closed his eyes.
Then looked at the ocean.
"I put everything I have into this project. If this fails, I have no future."
"Will you die?"
"Yeah... No. Honestly, dying might be better."
"It won't happen."
Rrrrrr.
The drilling ship vibrated.
The drill was descending toward the seafloor.
"Beginning well at Site One!"
Howell's voice rang across the deck.
Site One was Trident Oil's best geological prospect.
No reason to drag this out.
The moment drilling began, I quietly muttered.
"Open the Floor 25 oil Gate beneath the sea."
Maybe there really was oil naturally at Site One.
But I doubted it.
Why?
If there really was oil here, someone would've extracted it already.
Simple logic.
But anyone would think the same.
[Opening a Gate connected to the crude oil deposit in Tower of Fate Floor 25, "Endless Desert," beneath the designated seabed coordinates.]
A faint vibration seemed to travel upward from deep below.
Maybe that's just the drill.
There was no visible change.
It opened properly, right?
CEO Park's nervousness was contagious.
While the drilling crew inspected equipment...
I stared at the sea and waited.
Please.
Please let black gold gush out from below.
"Spud-in!"
At Howell's signal, a massive drill pipe slowly descended.
Looks like it started.
I leaned against the railing.
Honestly, I had no idea what they were doing.
I didn't even know what "spud" meant.
Still, it definitely felt like progress.
"We'll drill the surface section using a twenty-six-inch bit. Then we'll install casing and cement it."
The interpreter translated diligently.
They drilled the upper layer first.
Inserted pipe.
Filled the gap with cement.
Then repeated the process while narrowing the bore and going deeper.
More complicated than I expected.
I thought you just drilled a hole.
Work continued day and night.
While I wandered around the ship killing time...
