The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 348



Only Krnovel

348. Two Track (2)

Permian Basin located in southern Texas.

It was home to the largest shale gas oil field in the United States, and Austin’s ranch was located in the center of the area.

How huge is the ranch site?

After driving for several hours, I was finally able to reach his mansion.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Minjae Kim from Taewo Group.”

“You are the kid who took over GM. Why do you keep bothering me? So what are you going to say today?”

“Can we come inside and talk for a moment?”

“Still, since you’re a guest who came a long way, I’ll at least give you a cup of coffee.”

Austin opens the door to the mansion and goes inside.

Seeing that, David gave a thumbs up.

“When I came, they gave me a hard time, but when the boss came, they even gave me coffee. I guess the boss has definitely become famous.”

“Let’s stop talking nonsense and go inside quickly.”

I went into Austin’s mansion with David.

Although he was one of the most famous local residents in Texas, his mansion was frugal.

The building itself was made of wood, and all the furniture, including the dining table, looked like Austin had made it himself.

widely!

Austin serves coffee as we enter.

He leaned against the table and put a cigarette in his mouth.

“Hurry up and go. I have no intention of turning the ranch into an oil field.”

“Shale development is necessary for America’s economic development and security.”

“Aren’t you Korean? Why do Koreans talk about America’s economic development and security? Hehe!”

He ripped off the end of his cigarette with his mouth and spit it out on the floor.

Then, the moment you pick up the lighter and try to light it.

Boom! A vehicle was heard approaching his residence.

“A lot of customers are coming today. Are they the guests you invited?”

“You invited a guest without asking permission from the owner.”

“It looks like you’ve called a politician again. What are you looking at me for? Do you think I’d even blink if a politician came to visit me!”

He opened the door roughly with a cigarette in his mouth.

Any guest who came was likely to start swearing at them.

However, the moment I see the face of the customer who got out of the car, I can’t even stutter a word, let alone curse.

“Shrub? Is that really you?”

“Austin! It’s been a long time. I met you when I was governor of Texas, so it seems like 10 years have passed.”

The person who got out of the car was President Bush.

President Bush’s nickname was Shrubb, which means small bush.

Bush meant a big bush, and Austin called President Bush, who succeeded his father as president, a small bush.

“How did you come all the way here? Could it be that someone named Mr. Kim called you here? How can a man who was the president of the United States be run by a Korean businessman and not the United States!”

“It’s not polite to leave a friend you haven’t seen in a long time standing like this. Let’s go inside and join us for more details. It’s been a while since I wanted to drink the coffee you made.”

President Bush patted Austin on the shoulder and entered the mansion.

Then, quite naturally, he sat down next to me and waited for Austin to serve him coffee.

Austin looked at President Bush blankly for a moment, sighed, made some coffee, and placed it in front of him.

“I’m here. I haven’t heard from you until now. Why did you suddenly come to see me?”

“It looks like you haven’t heard Mr. Kim’s story yet. Let’s hear his story first.”

Austin looked at me.

It meant that I should quickly finish what I was talking about.

This was the exact opposite of his behavior just a few minutes ago when he refused to listen to anything I said.

“Let me reiterate from the beginning: Shale gas development is essential to America’s economic development and security.”

“Why is that so? Developing shale gas may lead to economic development, but what does it have to do with security?”

“The United States has invested a lot so far to control oil. However, it has not been able to completely control oil-producing countries, including the Middle East.”

“Does this mean that if we develop shale gas, we can control oil-producing countries?”

It was Austin who showed interest.

Perhaps because he is a conservative to his core, his eyes changed when the story of the Middle East came up.

“Oil-producing countries have a monopoly on oil and are making a lot of profit. The United States also produces a lot of oil, but it cannot compare to Russia or Middle Eastern countries.”

“It’s such a big leap. The United States is the world’s third-largest oil producer after Russia and Saudi Arabia.”

“Although we are ranked third in the world, we import oil for various reasons, including consumption.”

The United States was the world’s largest oil consumer.

Therefore, they were willing to go to war when it came to oil, and they always reacted sensitively when it came to oil.

“Does developing shale gas mean that we no longer need to import oil from other oil producing countries?”

“Yes, we can even export it. If that happens, we will have the power to control other oil producing countries and it will be a great help to the economic development of the United States.”

It wasn’t just something I said.

In fact, the United States has achieved tremendous growth since the shale revolution.

Before the shale revolution, the United States was behind in the battle for leadership against OPEC, a group of oil producing countries, but the situation changed after the shale revolution.

From an oil importing country to an exporting country.

It was literally a revolutionary event that would change the policy stance of the United States at once.

“It means that the United States can definitely take the initiative.”

“It’s not just about taking the initiative. Once shale development begins in earnest, the United States will no longer have to worry about high oil prices. The oil it produces itself will be enough to meet demand.”

Austin nods.

He seemed to be somewhat persuaded by my words.

But he wasn’t completely over it, and he asked one crucial question.

“But I don’t know why you, a Korean, are worried like this. Aren’t the United States and the Middle East something you should worry about?”

“Mr. Kim is an American citizen. I personally issued him an honorary citizenship.”

“Honorary citizenship? What did that person do to give you something like that?”

“Tsk tsk tsk.”

President Bush clicked his tongue.

Then he looked at Austin as if he was pitiful and continued speaking.

“There’s nothing you can’t say to the person who saved your son’s life.”

“What does that mean? Does Mr. Kim know my son?”

“Think of 9/11. Didn’t your son work in the Twin Towers?”

“That was true. But luckily, the owner of the Twin Towers approved for interior design work, so I was able to work somewhere else.”

“The building owner is right in front of you.”

This was a fact I didn’t know.

I first heard from President Bush that Austin’s son was working at the Twin Towers.

“That person was the owner of the Twin Towers?”

“Is that all? Taewoo Group was the first to begin the rescue operation when a terrorist attack occurred. So why wouldn’t I have awarded honorary citizenship to Mr. Kim?”

Thump!

Austin held my hand and looked at me intently.

Before, they looked at a stranger, but now they looked at me as if they were a friend or family member.

“I didn’t know you. I was so blinded by the news of the world that I didn’t recognize you. Thank you so much.”

“I just did what I had to do.”

“And I would like to add one more thing: my greatest supporter is Mr. Kim. It would not be wrong to say that I was able to win the presidential election thanks to Mr. Kim.”

“Mr. Kim. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.”

Is this why we use full honors?

Is there a higher honor for military honors than a former U.S. president?

With just a few words from him, Austin’s seemingly impregnable heart was able to melt in an instant.

* * *

We drank all night at Austin’s mansion.

Dozens of bottles of Lone Star beer, representing the Texas region, were lying around on the floor.

President Bush had already left and was nowhere to be seen.

“Has the Vice President gone already?”

“How can a young person use alcohol so weak? He said goodbye to you at dawn and left.”

“It’s because I mixed it with alcohol. The beer was fine, but when I drank the tequila, my head hurt so much, like I had a boxing match.”

“Come here and have hangover.”

I sat at the table thinking about the hot soup.

But the table was filled with food that was completely different from what I expected.

Bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, hash browns, biscuits and more.

There was a collection of foods that made you choke just by looking at them.

“Is there any soup?”

“Do you think you can use up your strength if you eat something like soup? A good breakfast will help you sober up quickly. Come and eat everything you can.”

Kkuyeok kkuyeok.

How could you leave food behind as a guest?

At least the taste wasn’t bad, so I was able to force myself to empty the bowl cleanly.

“I will entrust you with the ranch land I own. But make me one promise.”

“I will promise you anything. And I will promise you at least 50 times the cost of renting the ranch land.”

The cost of renting a Texas ranch was quite affordable.

There may be no reason to rent land where there is nothing, but even if you did, it was less than $50 per acre.

However, if it was used as a shale gas development site, rental fees could range from at least $5,000 to $10,000 per acre.

“You can give me the money yourself. I have no intention of being greedy. How can I be greedy for money when it is for the development and security of the United States? Just don’t pollute the land too much.”

“You may have heard that environmental pollution is serious due to shale gas development. If development is carried out by a small or medium-sized developer or a place with insufficient technology, environmental pollution becomes serious, but if the development is carried out by a company with sufficient technology, such problems do not arise at all.”

Taewo Group did not yet possess shale gas development technology.

From the beginning, this plan was intended to be carried out through collaboration with large American oil refineries, and David had already contacted several oil refineries with outstanding technology.

“Then that’s good. But can we properly develop shale gas with our ranch?”

“We have already signed contracts with many places.”

“Are you not interested in purchasing the land other than signing a lease?”

“If there is a suitable property for sale, we are always welcome. However, since Texans are unwilling to sell the land, we are proceeding with a lease agreement.”

The site where shale gas was produced was a land that laid golden eggs.

Who would want to sell such land?

In addition, the local residents of Texas did not want to sell their land because they had settled here for more than several decades.

“I’m telling you because I have a good property for sale. It looks like the ranch with the largest acreage in Texas will be up for sale soon. If you want, I can make arrangements for you to make contact first.”

“How big is the largest lot?”

“It’s bigger than LA. It’s probably about 500,000 acres. There are a lot of oil wells, so if you just dig the ground, oil will come out.”

500,000 acres?

Calculated in terms of pyeong, the area was a whopping 600 million pyeong.

A land larger than Jeju Island has been put up for sale, so how can you stay still?

In particular, it was said that oil would be found if the ground was dug, so it had to be purchased unconditionally.