I quickly scanned my surroundings. There were still a lot of people nearby.

It wasn’t a suitable place for a conversation.

“Let’s move somewhere quiet first.”

“Sounds good.”

I gave an order to Manager Ma.

“Take him to the house. I’ll finish up with Carlos Slim and head over.”

Manager Ma called over several bodyguards and instructed them to escort the man back.

In the meantime, I headed toward Carlos Slim.

“Chairman.”

Carlos Slim, who had been watching the funeral procession, turned his head toward me.

“I’ll be taking my leave now.”

“I see. Don’t worry about shaping public opinion. The Sinaloa Cartel won’t be able to set foot in Mexico anymore.”

I nodded.

“But turning Garcia Luna into a hero still doesn’t sit right with me.”

“It’s a necessary step to turn the Sinaloa Cartel and El Chapo into devils. If one side is the hero, the one who killed him becomes an even greater villain.”

“Even so, I don’t feel good about it. I lost one of my people because of him.”

Just because Garcia Luna was dead didn’t mean I could forgive him.

“Once the Sinaloa Cartel is completely erased, I’ll expose what Garcia Luna really was. Don’t try to stop me then.”

“......Please, at least wait until after the presidential election.”

I nodded as I watched Carlos Slim let out a quiet sigh.

“I can wait that long. Then I’ll be on my way. Ah, I’m planning to gather all the cartels except the Sinaloa Cartel soon. You should attend.”

“Understood.”

“Then I’ll see you next time.”

Just as I greeted Carlos Slim and turned to leave, a man stepped out of a car and approached.

“You’re Charlie.”

He suddenly called my name and held out his hand.

I took it and spoke his name.

“Yes. Nice to meet you, Candidate Calderón.”

“I like the sound of that—candidate.”

The man who had approached me, Felipe Calderón, let out a hearty laugh.

“I’ve wanted to meet you.”

“Me? Is there a reason you’d want to meet me?”

“You’ve thrown all my plans off. If I became president, I intended to wipe out the cartels from Mexico. Even if I had to use every power granted to the presidency.”

Was Felipe Calderón a dreamer, or an ambitious man?

I couldn’t tell what his true intentions were, but I knew the future of the war on drugs he would start.

Even after twenty years, the war wouldn’t end, and aside from Mexico City, no city would be safe.

The cartels would fight the government to survive.

And corrupt officials and politicians would help the cartels.

Mexico would become a country where violence and corruption coexisted at their worst.

“I don’t think it’s possible to eliminate the cartels. If it were, Colombia wouldn’t have ended up the way it did.”

A crease formed between Calderón’s brows, clearly displeased. I continued.

“Dreaming is fine. But isn’t a politician someone who has to hear the blood being spilled and the cries of the citizens in pursuit of that dream? Do you really think the world will change just because you change? That’s nothing but a fantasy.”

“......”

“I’m someone who knows how to compromise with reality. That’s why I chose to work with Carlos Slim on this plan. If I had been greedy, I would have taken control of the drug cartels myself.”

Calderón let out a low groan. He roughly knew what I had done—he couldn’t doubt my words.

“You’re aware that drug trafficking has a massive impact on Mexico’s economy, aren’t you? It’s not the cartels who grow the raw materials—it’s the citizens. They supply them to the cartels. If that chain is cut, those people could starve to death. Can the government take responsibility for that?”

“It can be replaced with various welfare policies.”

“That might be possible. But with countless trials and backlash, it won’t be easy. And in that time, the ones who die won’t be politicians like you, or businessmen like Carlos Slim. It’ll be the people struggling to survive day by day.”

At my words, Calderón’s expression turned strange as he sneered.

“You sound more like a politician than I do.”

“Maybe. I simply chose the easier path. What happens to Mexico has nothing to do with me. I won’t be living here. But I do know that the choice I made will be more beneficial for Mexico.”

“If the cartels continue to act violently, I will respond with force.”

“Do as you wish. I won’t be here by the time the presidential election takes place.”

Our conversation ran in parallel, tense and unyielding.

But unlike me, who was firm, Calderón could only issue warnings.

Without Carlos Slim backing him, he couldn’t become president. And since Slim and I had already reached an agreement, he had no way to overturn it.

“I’ll be watching you closely.”

“Same here. If you’re done, I’ll be on my way.”

After giving Carlos Slim a light farewell, I headed toward my car.

I could feel a sharp gaze burning into my back, but I ignored it and got inside.

Right now, the man who had approached me earlier was far more important than Calderón.

“Have them gather all information on Carrillo Fuentes.”

“Yes, Boss.”

The man who had revealed his identity to me earlier was none other than Amado Carrillo Fuentes, the boss of the Juárez Cartel—who was supposedly dead after dying during plastic surgery.

* * *

Amado and I sat facing each other.

“I didn’t expect you to be alive. Didn’t they even hold a funeral?”

Amado’s face was full of smiles.

“That’s what everyone believes.”

“Aren’t you on bad terms with the Tijuana Cartel? Then how could you attend their family meeting and be at the place where you met me?”

It was widely known that the biggest reason Amado underwent plastic surgery was an assassination attempt by the Arellano brothers of the Tijuana Cartel.

He had narrowly survived the attempt, but it left him deeply disillusioned.

The threats from the DEA and the Mexican government, along with constant assassination attempts from rival cartels, had worn him down.

In the end, he decided to start a new life entirely through plastic surgery.

But something had gone wrong during the operation, and he never woke up.

The doctor who operated on him was also found dead months later—killed by the Juárez Cartel.

“That was all part of the plan.”

“The assassination attempt?”

“Yes. Others might see it differently, but the Arellano brothers and I are practically family. They willingly helped me with my plan.”

“That’s unexpected. Feelings like that tend to change over time.”

He shrugged and continued.

“I was business partners with their uncle, Gallardo. After Gallardo was captured, I was the one mediating conflicts between cartels. To the other bosses, I must have been a thorn in their side. In the end, I decided to live a new life. The Arellano brothers helped me make that happen.”

“Does the Juárez Cartel know about this?”

“My brothers do.”

Amado spoke casually, maintaining a relaxed attitude.

I found his story extremely interesting. The boldness of deceiving both the U.S. and Mexican governments at once was impressive.

But I could hear the rest later. First, I asked why he had come to find me.

“I see. Now, can you tell me why you came to see me?”

“What else would it be? I came to propose we do business together. I figured someone like you could guarantee me a life where I don’t have to hide anymore.”

“You seem to have a lot of faith in me.”

Amado grinned confidently.

“I’ve got a pretty wide network. I’d say I know more about you than anyone else in Mexico.”

“That makes me curious. How much do you think you know?”

How much could he have uncovered through his network?

Even Carlos Slim didn’t know my true face.

There was no way Amado’s network surpassed his.

“Most of my secret assets are managed on Wall Street. They don’t know I’m Amado, of course. And I’m well connected—not just with the American mafia, but with people in the shadows all over the world.”

“Your assets are managed on Wall ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) Street? Is that even possible?”

“I’m already dead, after all.”

So that was why the Mexican government couldn’t find his hidden assets, no matter how hard they searched.

Still, there was a contradiction in his explanation.

“If you’re already dead, wouldn’t it be difficult to investigate me through your connections? Wall Street alone wouldn’t be enough to know everything about me.”

“I still have a proxy.”

“Now I’m curious about that proxy.”

Amado raised an eyebrow and shook his head. He was more expressive than I expected.

“I’ll tell you when we get to know each other better. Anyway, I know both your bright side and your dark side, Charlie. And we want to be part of the order you’re creating.”

“The order I’m creating...”

“You’ve built a massive alliance—Russian mafia, Japanese yakuza, Chinese triads, and even the underworld of Korea, all under one system.”

He knew more than I expected. I couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh.

“That’s impressive. To know that much.”

“I just got lucky. But after learning that, I wanted to meet you. So I asked the Arellano brothers to let me be there. Though... you were more ruthless than I expected. I didn’t think you’d wipe out Los Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel.”

“I haven’t even started with the Sinaloa Cartel yet.”

I answered calmly, and Amado tilted his head in confusion.

“Haven’t you already made it impossible for the Sinaloa Cartel to survive in Mexico?”

“This is just the beginning. Unlike Los Zetas, the Sinaloa Cartel has thousands of members.”

Even as I spoke, my thoughts grew heavier.

Los Zetas didn’t have that many members.

But Sinaloa was different.

They were based in Sinaloa, but their influence stretched across northern Mexico.

Among the four major cartels, they controlled the largest territory and had the most members.

“If there were a way to shorten that time, what would you do?”

“Shorten it?”

“Even for you, wiping out the Sinaloa Cartel completely like Los Zetas won’t be easy.”

“It’s possible. It’ll just take time. I’m not planning to fight alone this time—I intend to mobilize the other cartels as well.”

I planned to bring down the Sinaloa Cartel by turning all the other cartels against them.

No matter how powerful they were, they couldn’t fight every cartel at once.

And with Black Bear added to the equation, their collapse would be inevitable.

But Amado didn’t seem to think so.

“Even then, it won’t be a war that ends in one or two years.”

“Sounds like you have a method. Amado, what’s your way of shortening that time?”

Amado smiled as he answered.

“Just eliminate El Chapo. Then bring the Sinaloa Cartel into the alliance you’re building.”

“......Do you really think that’s possible?”

The Sinaloa Cartel had already become a public enemy in Mexico.

There was justification to destroy them. No—there was a necessity.

“The organization may be dismantled, but its core manpower will remain. Or... don’t tell me you’re planning to unite the cartels while letting each keep their own power? That will fail without exception. Even Gallardo failed because of that.”

It wasn’t something I hadn’t considered.

But if a unified cartel grew beyond control, there would be no turning back.

Someone I could trust... someone the cartel bosses would accept and follow...

My thoughts halted.

“Amado. Are you saying you want to become the godfather of a unified cartel?”

“That’s right.”

I wasn’t sure if I could trust him, but he certainly fit the role of someone the other bosses would follow.

After Gallardo was captured, the man known as the drug lord of Mexico wasn’t El Chapo—it was Amado.

That was before he was declared dead, of course. But it meant he was a boss acknowledged even by other bosses.

“...Ha. So that’s why you came to me.”

“I’m not asking you to trust me. Trust doesn’t form overnight. But it’s also true there’s no one more suitable than me. Or... is there someone else?”

Amado’s confident voice sank deep into my ears.