Free Web NovelA farm on the outskirts of Sinaloa.
Guzmán sat with a glass in hand, waiting for the other two men. frёeωebɳovel.com
“What’s taking them so long?”
“They should be here soon.”
Guzmán nodded.
“You prepared the sicarios?”
“Yes, Chapo.”
“Do we really have to go that far?”
Guzmán set down his glass and frowned.
“To be honest, Boss, we can’t trust anyone anymore. Even the cartels that used to be close to us are turning toward the committee.”
“What?! Ungrateful bastards! Worm-eating pieces of shit!”
As Guzmán exploded in fury, his lieutenant hurriedly tried to calm him down.
“Boss. We can’t completely trust El Mayo or El Azul either.”
“Those friends would never betray me.”
“You still need to prepare for the possibility.”
At that moment, the sound of a car came from outside.
“Looks like they’ve arrived. Go bring them in.”
“Yes, Chapo.”
The first to arrive at the farm was Zambada.
Seeing Guzmán alone, Zambada frowned.
“What the hell? That bastard Jose still isn’t here?”
“He’ll come. Long time no see, Zambada.”
Zambada nodded and sat down on the sofa to El Chapo’s left.
The moment he sat down, he poured himself a drink and emptied it in one shot.
As Zambada lowered the glass, Guzmán smiled and asked,
“So how’s the atmosphere lately?”
“How else? It’s a damn nightmare. I got attacked twice myself.”
“You were attacked?”
“Yeah. One of my sicarios betrayed me.”
With a bitter expression, Zambada kept drinking as he explained the situation.
“......That’s how it happened. Just yesterday. The longer this drags on, the more people like that will appear, Guzmán.”
“Whew.......”
Guzmán let out a deep sigh of frustration.
After a brief silence, Zambada — El Mayo — asked,
“The attacks in the city against unrelated civilians... were those your orders, Guzmán?”
“Yeah. They need to understand exactly who we are.”
“The more you do that, the smaller our footing becomes. The only reason the people of Sinaloa still support us is because they like us.”
The Sinaloa Cartel had a massive influence on Sinaloa’s economy.
El Chapo generously poured drug money back into the local community.
The people who benefited from him hid them, becoming their eyes and ears.
They were hidden allies.
The moment they lost public support, they could lose those allies too.
That was what Zambada feared.
“I know that too. But we have no choice if we want to warn the government. They need to understand that if they keep cornering us, hell itself will descend on Sinaloa.”
“Chapo, does it really have to be this way?”
“Then do you have another method?”
At the sharp question, Zambada shut his mouth.
It wasn’t like he had a perfect solution either.
Just then, another car engine sounded outside.
“Looks like Jose finally arrived. Why the hell is he so late?”
“Try getting along for once. Why are you always at each other’s throats?”
“I never liked that guy in the first place. You can’t tell what’s inside his head.”
“Still, he’s capable, isn’t he? In this business, ability is everything. Jose’s talent played a huge role in getting our cartel this far. Even you admit that.”
“......That’s true.”
A moment later, the door opened and Jose walked in.
“I’m late. My apologies.”
“It’s fine. Sit down first.”
Jose gave a small nod and sat to Guzmán’s right.
“Ismael. I heard you got attacked yesterday. You weren’t hurt, were you?”
At Jose’s words, Zambada’s eyes twitched.
“How do you know that?”
“I just heard about it here and there.”
“Even Guzmán didn’t know about that. Don’t tell me.......”
“Ah, so you’re suspecting me again? Ismael, am I really that suspicious to you? I think I’ve done more than enough.”
“Watching you crawl from Gallardo to Amado, then from Amado to Guzmán like a rat tells me exactly what kind of person you are.”
“What?”
Jose’s forehead bulged with veins at Zambada’s words.
He glared at him like he wanted to tear him apart.
“If you hate me that much, should I just leave?”
Zambada snorted.
“Hah! Since Amado’s back, you must want to run back to him, huh? You think that crazy bastard would take you back? Amado knows perfectly well you led the charge against the Juárez Cartel.”
“.......”
“Don’t even think about pulling tricks.”
“What are you idiots doing? Stop it already. What’s the point of fighting amongst ourselves? Have a drink and calm down.”
Guzmán hurriedly stepped between them and filled their empty glasses.
“At times like this, we need to stick together. That’s the only way we survive this crisis. So knock it off.”
After filling both glasses, Guzmán lifted his own.
“Come on. Let’s drink and let it go.”
The three glasses clinked together.
All three emptied their drinks at the same time.
When Guzmán lowered his glass, the smile had vanished from his face.
“Enough posturing. Let’s start the meeting. How are things?”
“Terrible. More and more people are deserting.”
“And the drug supply?”
“Like you said, Guzmán. We doubled it.”
Guzmán nodded with satisfaction.
“In the end, this war will be decided by money. Increase shipments even more. Lower the prices if you have to and bring in as much cash as possible. That way the soldiers won’t betray us. Double every sicario’s pay until the war ends.”
“That’ll cost too much money.”
“Money doesn’t matter right now. Preventing defections matters. Give the families of dead sicarios one year’s salary.”
Guzmán insisted they had to stop their forces from falling apart, even if it meant increasing compensation.
But Zambada disagreed.
“Guzmán. If we do that, over half our profits will disappear.”
“I said money doesn’t matter. If we need more money, increase the drug flow. We still have plenty to spare.”
The amount of cocaine held by Guzmán and the Sinaloa Cartel was enormous.
So was the money they made every year from it.
Thanks to that, the Sinaloa Cartel possessed staggering reserves of cash.
“At most, this lasts a year. We can survive that long.”
“Even so.......”
“Mayo. Follow my decision.”
Seeing Guzmán’s unwavering resolve, Zambada finally nodded.
“Fine. If it’s Chapo’s order, then we’ll do it.”
“Thank you. Once this war is over, we’ll make even more money.”
After speaking, Guzmán turned toward Jose.
“What about you, Azul?”
“My situation’s about the same as Mayo’s.”
“Then do the same. That’s how we survive.”
“I’ll do it. But Chapo.”
Jose hesitated.
Guzmán urged him on.
“What? If you have something to say, just say it.”
“What about surrendering? On the condition that our lives are guaranteed.”
“What?”
“Are you insane?”
Guzmán and Zambada shouted at the same time.
“Just hear me out first. Curse me or kill me afterward if you want.”
“Shut up! What kind of bullshit are you going to spew now—”
“Mayo. Enough.”
At Guzmán’s restraint, Zambada stopped talking.
The atmosphere instantly turned cold.
With icy eyes, Guzmán stared directly at Jose.
“Go ahead. Like you said, I’ll listen first before judging.”
Given permission, Jose began speaking.
“At this rate, all we can do is endure. As time passes, the committee will only grow stronger. You saw how they dealt with the traitors this time. They’ll keep tightening together while we keep falling apart.”
Guzmán and Zambada remained silent, focused entirely on Jose’s words.
“If the three of us stay alive, maybe we can hold out for one or two years. But during that time, the committee’s power will keep growing while ours shrinks. If even one of us dies, the organization will collapse immediately. Especially if you get arrested, Guzmán...... I don’t even want to imagine what comes after that.”
“So you want us to beg for our lives?”
“I’m saying we should take one step back for now.”
“Jose. By your own logic, the longer time passes, the harder it’ll become for us to turn things around. So you want us to surrender now and strike later? Does that even make sense?”
Jose answered immediately, as though he’d been waiting for the question.
“Then how about joining the committee instead? There’s an Eastern saying I heard once. If you want to catch a tiger, you enter the tiger’s den. What if we enter the committee and take control of it?”
“We take over the committee?”
“I think it’s possible with your abilities, Chapo. You’re the one who turned the Sinaloa Cartel into the biggest cartel in Mexico. At first it might be difficult. But given enough time, couldn’t you do it? Just like when you lowered your head beneath Gallardo and waited for your moment.” ƒгeewebnovёl.com
Guzmán felt a powerful temptation from Jose’s words.
“We take over the committee.......”
Seeing Guzmán hesitate, Zambada immediately stepped in.
“Don’t talk nonsense! You think that’s possible? Amado will try to kill us. Did everyone forget what kind of bastard he is? He killed his own boss and stole his position! And you think he’d let us live? Don’t be ridiculous!”
Knowing Amado’s ruthlessness and decisiveness better than anyone, Zambada opposed the idea fiercely.
He continued trying to persuade Guzmán.
“Chapo. Don’t waver. If you waver, the organization wavers too. Hold the center firmly.”
After thinking for a moment, Guzmán nodded.
“You’re right. I almost forgot what kind of bastard Amado is. Jose, don’t bring that up again.”
“Ha...... Fine. I’ll stop.”
Even Jose finally gave up trying to persuade them.
“Now let’s discuss what to do next.”
The three began discussing strategy.
“I’m going to the bathroom for a moment.”
Jose stood up as he spoke, and the other two nodded.
“So first, as an example, we kill the cartel boss who joined the committee and......”
Even after Jose left for the bathroom, the other two continued discussing plans.
How much time passed like that?
Suddenly, chaos erupted outside, followed by the sound of gunfire.
The lieutenant waiting outside rushed in urgently.
“Chapo! We’re under attack.”
“What? Which bastards are attacking?”
“The Juárez Cartel and the Milenio Cartel.”
“What? How the hell did those bastards find this place—”
Mid-sentence, both Guzmán and Zambada’s eyes turned toward the same direction.
The direction where Jose had disappeared after saying he was going to the bathroom.
“Don’t tell me? Azul, you son of a bitch! Find him! Find that fucking bastard Azul right now!”
“Yes, Chapo!”
The lieutenant grabbed several men and ran toward the bathroom area.
“Let’s escape first.”
At Zambada’s words, Guzmán shook his head.
“No. I prepared sicarios I can trust just in case. And if we call for reinforcements, we can hold out.”
“But we don’t know what could happen. We should evacuate first. If Black Bear mercenaries storm in, we won’t survive.”
“Wait. I’m tearing out that bastard Jose’s throat before I leave.”
Gunfire continued echoing outside, but Guzmán remained calm.
A little later, the lieutenant returned with a grim expression and lowered his head.
“Chapo. He’s nowhere to be found.”
“What? What the hell were you idiots doing while he disappeared?!”
“We definitely saw him enter the bathroom. But after that, there’s no trace of him leaving.”
Guzmán let out a hollow laugh.
“You were right. There really was a traitor among us. I should’ve listened to you.”
“No, Chapo. We need to evacuate first. We don’t know how long they’ll hold.”
“Fine. We’ll use the secret passage. Mayo, come with me.”
“Alright.”
The three carefully headed into the bathroom.
The lieutenant lifted the bathtub, revealing stairs leading underground.
“Where does this lead?”
“To another farm several kilometers away. Let’s move.”
Leaving the sound of gunfire behind them, the three entered the dark tunnel.
* * *
“They’ll come ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) out here?”
At my question, Manager Ma answered.
“Yes, Boss. We believe this is the secret passage.”
After receiving the meeting location through El Azul, the first thing we did was investigate every structure within a ten-kilometer radius.
Because if the man known as the King of Tunnels encountered trouble, he would obviously escape underground.
Sure enough, on one side of an abandoned farm, they discovered a hidden entrance leading below ground.
“There aren’t any others?”
“No, Boss. We searched thoroughly. There’s nothing else.”
“Really? Then I’m finally going to see that expensive face.”
I curled one corner of my mouth upward and waited for the rat to crawl out of its hole.
