Free Web NovelHow much time had passed?
The door leading into the underground tunnel suddenly creaked open, revealing a man’s face.
The moment he saw me, Manager Ma, and the armed mercenaries, his expression stiffened.
“What are you doing? Get up here.”
At my words, the man hesitated before climbing out first.
“Who are you?”
“.......”
When the man stayed silent, Manager Ma slowly approached him.
A massive fist slammed directly into the man’s face.
With a loud crack, his body rolled violently across the floor.
“Answer him. The Boss asked you a question.”
“......I’m El Chapo’s lieutenant.”
The man barely managed to pull himself back up before answering.
Despite all the commotion, nobody else had come out yet.
I asked again.
“Where’s El Chapo?”
“.......”
“Manager Ma. Tenderize him until he opens his mouth.”
“Yes, Boss.”
Manager Ma gave a light nod before getting to work.
Each swing of his fists sounded like a drum exploding, accompanied now and then by faint screams.
I turned to one of the mercenaries behind me.
“Shout into the entrance. Tell them if they don’t come out immediately, we’ll collapse the tunnel.”
“Yes, sir!”
One of the mercenaries hurried to the tunnel entrance and shouted loudly.
“If you don’t come out immediately, we’ll collapse the tunnel! I repeat, if you don’t come out now, we’ll bury this tunnel!”
At my slight nod, the mercenary stepped back.
But no sound came from underground.
After checking my watch, I spoke again.
“Collapse it. Contact the committee too and tell them to find the tunnel exit and destroy it.”
“Understood.”
While the mercenaries prepared explosives to destroy the tunnel entrance, Manager Ma dragged over the bloodied lieutenant.
“Who’s inside the tunnel?”
“......Chapo and Mayo. Just the two of them.”
“Any other exits?”
“There aren’t any.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
His speech was slurred from the damage inside his mouth, but communication wasn’t difficult.
I continued asking him questions, and he answered every one obediently.
“Keep him alive for now. He might be useful later when we clean up the Sinaloa Cartel.”
“Yes, Boss.”
The moment ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ I finished speaking, Manager Ma struck the lieutenant in the back of the neck, knocking him unconscious.
If there truly were no other exits, collapsing the tunnel and starving the two of them to death didn’t sound so bad either.
“Start collapsing it.”
“Yes, Boss!”
Just as one of the mercenaries moved, someone peeked out from the tunnel entrance.
It was El Mayo.
“What are you doing? Come up.”
After cautiously scanning the surroundings, El Mayo slowly climbed out.
El Chapo followed behind him.
At last, I was finally seeing the faces I’d only known through photographs.
“Seeing your face really was a pain, El Chapo.”
“......Who are you?”
“Who else? The person you tried to kill.”
As I answered with one corner of my lips curled upward, El Chapo glared at me.
Looking at the two men standing stiffly in place, I gestured with my chin.
“How long are you planning to stand there? Kneel.”
Even after hearing me, they didn’t move.
In the end, the mercenaries slammed rifle stocks into their legs before they were finally forced to their knees.
El Chapo glared at me like he wanted to kill me while I sat in my chair.
Meanwhile, El Mayo looked as though he had already given up on everything.
“I told you. If you’d agreed to meet me back then, none of this would’ve happened.”
“.......”
“Chapo. No, Joaquin Guzmán.”
The moment I spoke his real name, El Chapo ground his teeth and shouted,
“It was you! You framed me, didn’t you?”
“Framed you?”
“You killed Luna, didn’t you?”
“Me? Why would I kill Director Luna?”
“Because that bastard Luna gave me your information! So you killed him and pinned it on me, didn’t you?!”
So Director Luna really had been the one who leaked my location to El Chapo.
Still, I pretended ignorance and asked instead,
“What? Director Luna gave you my information?”
“Stop pretending! You leaked it intentionally so I could trace him!”
No wonder it had been so easy to catch Luna’s trail.
“Why make things so complicated? Luna was your last remaining connection.”
“That bastard’s greed had no limits. The more cornered I became, the more he’d demand everything I had. Killing him was better. I just never expected you’d pin it on me. If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve kept him alive.”
Guzmán seemed completely convinced I would kill Director Luna.
And he’d planned to exploit that.
The absurdity of it made me laugh.
“You really thought I’d collapse over something like that? Comparing me to people like you is insulting.”
Before Luna died, I had already finished all the groundwork.
There wasn’t a single piece of evidence linking me to his death.
And the ones who actually killed him weren’t me, but the drug cartels.
“I know. Every connection tied to me started looking down on me. That’s when I realized things had gone wrong. So I decided to take revenge another way.”
He really must have been furious.
Meeting Guzmán’s venom-filled eyes head-on, I spoke.
“Hand over every weakness you have on Mexican politicians and businessmen. If you do, I’ll let you die painlessly.”
“What? Hahahaha!”
Guzmán burst into loud laughter. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
After laughing for a while, he raised his eyes and shouted,
“That’ll never happen! Just kill me! You think I’d beg someone like you for my life?!”
Yeah. This one wouldn’t crack easily.
Swallowing a sigh, I turned toward El Mayo.
“Mayo. What about you?”
“......Is there no option where we survive?”
“Hey, Mayo! What the hell are you—”
“Chapo. We need to survive first. If it means living, I’d even sell my soul.”
To see them turning against each other right before death.
How pathetic.
Curling the corner of my mouth upward, I answered,
“Unfortunately, survival was never an option. Who knows what you’d start saying if I let you live? The only difference is whether you die in agony or cleanly.”
At that moment, the farmhouse door opened and several people entered.
They were the cartel leaders belonging to the committee.
All of them radiated hostility, but Javier — who had lost his brothers because of El Mayo — looked especially murderous.
“El Mayo. I’ve missed you.”
“.......”
El Mayo started to say something but immediately shut his mouth.
The moment he saw Javier, he seemed to abandon all hope of living.
“So many people here hold grudges against you two. Hand over the information, and I’ll send you off cleanly. I promise.”
El Mayo slowly looked around at Javier and the other bosses.
Not one of them objected.
Only then did El Mayo fully realize that I held all authority here.
“......There’s a bribery ledger in one of my safe houses. It contains detailed records of payments made to politicians from both parties, as well as police and military officers.”
“Where’s the safe house?”
El Mayo revealed the location.
I called out to El Mencho, who stood furthest in the back.
Quick to catch on, El Mencho answered immediately.
“I’ll contact my men and have them confirm it right away.”
“How long?”
“We already have people nearby. It won’t even take an hour.”
“Contact me the moment it’s confirmed.”
“Yes.”
El Mencho stepped back again.
Realizing the end had come, El Mayo let out a small sigh.
“It’s real. So send me off painlessly.”
I nodded.
Then I called out to Javier, who had been glaring murderously at El Mayo this entire time.
“Javier.”
“Yes, Charlie.”
“How would you like this handled?”
“Hand him over to me.”
“Even after I already made a promise?”
“......Then let me be the one who finishes it.”
He clearly disliked the idea of not being allowed to torture him, but at the very least, he wanted to personally deliver the killing blow.
That much, I couldn’t deny him.
“Fine. Take him away for now. Once everything’s confirmed, we’ll decide what to do.”
“Thank you.”
Javier gave me a slight bow.
“Javier. Leave Teodor here.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Javier left with his subordinates, dragging El Mayo away.
“Now only you’re left, Guzmán. What are you going to do?”
“Just kill me. I’m not afraid of dying.”
“Really? Hmm.......”
Guzmán looked at me calmly, though rage still burned in his eyes.
This one definitely wouldn’t break easily.
After thinking for a moment, I called for Teodor.
“Teodor.”
“Yes?”
“Was your nickname the Butcher of the Tijuana Cartel?”
“.......”
“What do you think of El Chapo’s skin? Would it peel nicely?”
“If you leave him to me, I’ll make him tell us even the things he doesn’t know himself.”
The calmness of the answer pleased me even more.
I nodded and stood up.
“Then I’ll wait outside. Just keep him alive.” fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
I walked out of the farmhouse with Manager Ma and the other cartel bosses.
“El Mencho. How’s the farm side?”
El Mencho approached me.
“They just finished cleaning things up.”
“Good. Then now all that’s left is taking over the Sinaloa Cartel after losing its leadership. Manager Ma, wake him up.”
At my order, Manager Ma woke El Chapo’s lieutenant.
“El Mencho. Use this man to clean up the remnants of the Sinaloa Cartel.”
The other cartel bosses immediately protested.
“The division of the Sinaloa Cartel should be decided by the committee.”
I turned toward Vicente, Amado’s younger brother.
“This has already been discussed with Amado.”
“We haven’t received any such message.”
“Then contact him. El Mencho will clean things up first, and afterward the territory will be distributed among the organizations belonging to the committee. Or would the Juárez Cartel or another cartel prefer handling this role instead?”
The moment they heard the territory would eventually be divided afterward, the other bosses backed down.
Even Vicente retreated a step.
“No. That won’t be necessary.”
Seriously, every last one of them was greedy.
Clicking my tongue inwardly, I looked back at El Mencho.
“El Mencho. You can do it, right? Your organization is the weakest one here. This is your chance to prove you deserve a seat in the committee.”
“I’ll carry out your orders. Thank you for trusting me.”
El Mencho bowed his head with a firm voice.
Then he disappeared with the now-awakened lieutenant.
Even while we spoke, El Chapo’s agonized groans and screams echoed from inside the farmhouse.
* * *
In the end, El Chapo revealed the location of his safehouses before meeting his death.
El Mayo ended up the same way.
After confirming the ledger, I told Javier to handle the rest himself and bring the bodies to Mexico City.
Without its leadership, the Sinaloa Cartel was systematically crushed by El Mencho.
El Mencho was ruthless.
Every member holding a high-ranking position was killed.
Any member who resisted was killed too.
Even the committee was horrified by his brutality and ordered him to tone it down.
But El Mencho never stopped.
In the end, it took him less than a month to seize all Sinaloa Cartel territory.
Absorbing the Sinaloa Cartel’s organization and territory far faster than expected dramatically elevated El Mencho’s standing within the committee.
El Mencho renamed the organization from the Milenio Cartel to the Jalisco Cartel and replaced the cartel leadership entirely with his own friends.
The report concluded with news that tomorrow’s committee meeting would determine how the Sinaloa Cartel territory would be divided.
After attending that final meeting, I planned to leave Mexico.
“Ramos. Your role becomes important from now on.”
I took Ramos with me to visit Chairman Carlos Slim’s home.
“Welcome, Charlie.”
Clearly in a good mood, Carlos Slim personally came out to greet us.
“Chairman. You know this man, right?”
“Of course. Isn’t he a DEA agent?”
“As of today, he’s resigned and will serve as an advisor to the committee. It wouldn’t look very good for you to attend committee meetings personally.”
“Hmm. I see.......”
“Or would you rather send someone else as your representative?”
Carlos Slim thought briefly before shaking his head.
“No. Let’s leave it to him. If Charlie trusts his judgment, then I can trust him too.”
Carlos Slim extended his hand toward Ramos.
“I look forward to working with you. I can trust you, yes?”
“My role is to prevent the committee from running wild. Leave it to me.”
Satisfied, Carlos Slim nodded and led us into the dining room.
During the meal, we discussed many things.
The next day.
To attend my final meeting in Mexico, I departed for Nuevo Laredo, where the committee summit would be held.
