Chapter 45

Chapter 045: A Path Different from One's Intentions (4)

The product had been made by Hee-soo practically grinding away his own life.

Naturally, its level of completion was high.

Just remembering that process made Hee-soo shudder.

Haah. I can't keep doing that.

President Oh continued.

"It's the same for most of the companies that came today."

"Most of them have annual revenue between ten billion and one hundred billion won."

"Even so, you can assume almost none of them properly operate a research institute."

At those words, a flash of inspiration seemed to strike Hee-soo.

"Then what about establishing a joint research institute?"

"We'll provide the research funds and labor costs."

"A joint research institute?"

"Wouldn't it be easier for Suseong to simply establish its own research institute?"

"You could do the research there and give us orders."

"Then we'd manufacture the products on our lines."

"That would work too."

"But I don't know the core technologies each company possesses."

"And I can't simply demand that you hand those technologies over."

President Oh's expression hardened at Hee-soo's words.

It was understandable.

Large corporations openly stealing technology from smaller companies was hardly unheard of.

Naturally, Hee-soo's words made President Oh wary.

His answer immediately became defensive.

"Reverse engineering probably won't be easy."

"I put a great deal of effort into preventing that."

Hee-soo smiled.

"If I wanted to take your technology, it probably wouldn't be difficult."

"Suseong could place one large order with Tails Electronics and demand that you attach detailed technical specifications."

"That would be the end of it."

"That's the standard method."

"You probably couldn't refuse either."

"There's no way every supplier Tails works with is completely separate from companies that do business with Suseong."

"Even here in the Daebul Industrial Complex, Suseong can exert influence."

"Is that a threat?"

Hee-soo shook his head.

"No."

"I'm saying it would be easy for us to take Tails' technology, but I have no intention of choosing that road."

"If we establish a research institute, won't Suseong take all the research results anyway?"

"Why not look at it from the opposite direction?"

"What do you mean, the opposite direction?"

"Instead of Suseong taking your technology, think of it as Suseong protecting technology that other companies might otherwise steal from you."

"Suseong would protect our research results?"

"Yes."

"If another company steals your technology during a business relationship, you won't have to fight them."

"Suseong will fight them."

President Oh's eyes shook noticeably.

Hee-soo did not miss that reaction and continued.

"And we'll fight in the opposite situation too."

"The opposite?"

"There may be technology from another company that Tails wants to use, right?"

President Oh closed his mouth.

Of course he wanted that badly.

But he had always been afraid of becoming trapped in a massive lawsuit.

Hee-soo continued.

"Of course, fighting a huge company like Aiple or a massive country like the United States would be difficult."

"But against most other parties, Suseong has fairly strong legal infrastructure."

"We can cover you."

President Oh knew that very well.

If Suseong decided to take Tails Electronics' technology, Tails could end up fighting a civil lawsuit against Suseong for more than ten years.

Even if Tails eventually won, there was no guarantee the company would still exist by then.

That was why small companies often could not sue even when their technology was stolen right in front of them.

And now Suseong's successor was sitting in front of him offering to provide exactly that kind of protection.

Hee-soo's smile almost looked like the smile of a devil tempting him.

But the offer was too attractive to reject.

President Oh stared blankly at Hee-soo for some time before asking,

"Then, regarding intellectual property rights..."

"For work commissioned by Suseong, the rights will belong to Suseong."

"For work commissioned by the industrial complex, we'll use joint ownership."

"If Suseong wants to use those rights, we'll seek your consent and share the profits."

"We won't need your consent to use them ourselves?"

"Correct."

"However, if you transfer the technology itself, you'll need our consent."

"So selling products that use the technology is fine, but you want control over actual technology transfer."

"Yes."

"We want to prevent the technology from being transferred to competitors."

"How do we divide profits?"

"We'll contract separately for each case."

"The conditions may differ from project to project."

"Why are you willing to go this far for us?"

"To save time."

"I don't have much of it."

President Oh gave a hollow laugh.

"Hahaha. I see."

"But I have one condition."

"What is it?"

"Suseong operating the research institute is fine."

"But you need to directly dispatch research personnel."

"What?"

"We have to send our own research personnel?"

"Unfortunately, I don't have time."

"As you know, I'm busy working as a firefighter."

"But is that really okay?"

"It's a Suseong research institute, and you're asking us to send the staff?"

"I need to learn the technology here."

"Wouldn't it make sense for the companies themselves to send technical researchers?"

"So the research institute will operate only with personnel dispatched from these companies?"

"No."

"I'll also need to organize my own staff."

"How could I run a research institute solely with dispatched people?"

"It almost sounds like we're sending hostages."

"Suseong taking hostages from you would be ridiculous."

"Besides, regardless of whether it's officially recognized as your company's research institute, if you want to use the research results, shouldn't you contribute at least that much?"

President Oh finally looked as though he understood.

"All right."

"We're hardly in a position to refuse an offer like this."

"We clearly benefit from it."

"Can I assume everyone who attended today's meeting will also send personnel?"

"I'll pass your proposal on first."

"After that, each company can decide whether to send people."

"Let me know once they've decided."

"I'll prepare accordingly."

"Understood."

Once the discussion seemed settled, Chief Jang handed over a document.

President Oh looked between Chief Jang and Hee-soo.

"What's this?"

"We're not at the stage of signing a full contract yet, are we?"

"It's an MOU."

"Read it carefully, and if everything looks right, sign here."

"When did you prepare this?"

Hee-soo answered President Oh's question.

"An AI has been listening to our entire conversation."

"It created the MOU based on what we've discussed."

"Oh! That's possible?"

"Using AI saves time."

"Which company's AI do you use?"

"It's internally developed."

"Suseong has its own AI?"

"Ah. I made it myself."

"The group isn't using it yet."

"Oh. I see."

"Then let's see how well it organized everything."

President Oh carefully reviewed the memorandum of understanding.

"I think it contains everything we've discussed."

"The AI is good."

"I'll sign."

President Oh took a fountain pen from his inner pocket and signed the document.

Hee-soo responded with a smile.

"I hope this becomes a good relationship."

After signing, President Oh said,

"If Suseong really decides to swallow our company, we can't resist."

"We can't compete with that amount of capital."

"Among companies, anything can happen according to power as long as it stays within the law."

"And being absorbed might actually be advantageous for you."

"Do you think so?"

"There's no need to worry too much about that."

"If I wanted to do that, I wouldn't have needed to come all the way down to Mokpo myself."

"True..."

"I suppose I thought too highly of my own company."

President Oh started to stand, then sat down again.

"Our company can cooperate with you."

"But don't expect too much from the other companies."

"Understood."

Hee-soo gave only a light smile and stood.

After leaving the Chamber of Commerce, Hee-soo asked Chief Jang,

"Chief Jang. Do you know what happened at the accident site?"

"The accident site?"

"You want to go there?"

"Yes."

"It looked like a major accident."

"The local fire department will handle it."

"I'm uneasy."

"There were a lot of people in critical condition at the emergency room earlier."

"It's already been an hour since then."

Chief Jang looked into Hee-soo's eyes.

He could see his determination to go no matter what.

"Fine. Let's go."

"But only if you promise not to interfere with the operation."

"I promise."

The car arrived at a shipyard near Mokpo North Port.

White smoke could be seen rising in the distance.

"Looks like they extinguished the fire."

"Really? How can you tell?"

"While something is actively burning, the smoke is usually black."

"I see."

As the car got closer, Hee-soo's expression became grim.

They stopped at a fairly large shipyard right beside North Port.

Chief Jang failed to notice Hee-soo's expression.

He watched vehicles leisurely leaving the scene.

"Looks like everything's finished."

"Finished? This doesn't look like the time to say that."

Ambulances and rescue vehicles were beginning to leave the scene one by one.

Hee-soo got out of the car and hurried toward the accident site.

However, outsiders were still not allowed inside.

A police officer stopped him.

"You cannot enter the accident site."

"I'm Firefighter Choi Hee-soo from Dobong Fire Station in Seoul."

"They shouldn't withdraw yet."

"What? W-what do you mean?"

While Hee-soo was arguing with the officer controlling the scene, someone came out from inside.

"Are you perhaps Director Choi Hee-soo?"

"Yes."

"Ah. The mayor asked us to let you inside."

Only then did the police officer move aside.

Even as Hee-soo entered, the deployed firefighters were gradually preparing to withdraw.

The accident had occurred inside a dry dock where a 600-ton car ferry was under construction.

The entire scaffolding structure on the right side of the ship had collapsed.

Workers had been working on the exterior of the vessel, which was more than thirty meters high, when the scaffolding collapsed.

People had been buried beneath it.

The scaffolding had been made of steel plates and pipes, so it was normally difficult for the structure to collapse.

However, instead of using cross clamps, the workers had loosely tied sections together using mild steel wire.

That had caused the accident.

Once the scaffolding began to collapse, it did not topple outward.

It sank straight down and remained as a horrifying pile of wreckage.

A fire had broken out at the same time.

However, suppression teams arrived three minutes after the accident and extinguished it.

By the time Hee-soo arrived, they were already putting out the remaining embers.

Hee-soo became anxious.

He asked the person escorting him,

"Is everything here already finished?"

"Yes. All rescue operations have been completed, and the fire has been extinguished."

"The fire department is withdrawing."

"There are still victims here."

"You can't withdraw everyone yet."

"One team, no, even just two teams are enough."

"Can you delay the withdrawal a little longer?"

"What?"