Empire of the Ring

Yamal’s second project that Putin proposed was the same scale as Yamal’s first project.

Yamal’s second project was to develop a gas field worth about 30 billion dollars buried on the Gydan Peninsula opposite the Yamal Peninsula.

Given that more than 200 million tons of gas was buried in the primary oil field, as an amount that could be drilled for more than the next 50 years, assuming that both regions would produce about 500 million tons each.

Since it was a gas field of this level, Russia took the risk of national luck on the first and second Yamal projects.

If Putin suggested jointly developing the Yamal 2 Project if the Kazakh royal family participates in the pipeline construction.

Putin suggested to co-develop the second Yamal project if the Kazakh royal family would participate in the pipeline project.

With this under the table deal with Putin, Youngho wanted to get major oil companies’ involvement. It was because the project required at least 15 billion dollars in capital.

Youngho had already confirmed how attractive the pipeline project was, and was making it a fait accompli to participate in the second Yamal project.

He wanted to check the situation in Siberia himself, but he was forced to send Cha In-soo to Siberia due to the dissuasion around him.

Sergeenko confirmed that field conditions were okay to take a survey because it was winter.

Now was the best time to explore the tundra area, as it would turn muddy in the summer.

Sergeenko, a Siberian local mafia boss, was eager to help hearing that a new job would be available.

A total of 40 members of the field survey team, headed by Cha In-soo, were made up of officials from major oil companies and the employees of Zeynep Security Service.

Arriving in Yamal by an icebreaker, the group met with Sergeenko and Evenki guides who were waiting there.

The team traveled along the expected pipeline route, divided into eight civilian amphibious armored vehicles.

Eight armored vehicles were mobilized because they had to carry food, fuel, and camping equipment.

The Evenks were a great help in the Siberian region as there were no roads and it was safer to use the path that reindeers usually used.

They sometimes had to cross a small river and met a blinding snowstorm, the veteran Evenki guides made it relatively easy to move.

After five days of struggle since they set off from Yamal toward the Yenisei River, they were able to meet the Yenisei River.

“Mr. Cha, it would be convenient to lay pipelines along the Yenisei River, but there is a risk of exposure to early summer floods. You’ll have to make sure that the engineers who came with you are aware of it.”

Sergeenko explained the local situation to In-sooo.

“Isn’t there a multi-purpose dam upstream of Krasnoyarsk that serves as flood control?”

During the thaw, the Yenisei River was flooded every year as snow or ice melted all at once.

Although there was no problem with flooding because there were no people living in the taiga forest or tundra areas in the lower stream, the Russian government was controlling the flow rate by building a dam upstream for hydroelectric power and Siberian development.

“Recently, abnormal temperatures have caused the flow rate to explode, and even with a dam, flood control is not available unless the weather goes back to the way it was.”

Building pipelines along the riverside was advantageous in many ways, but it was impossible without the flood control capability.

When Cha In-soo was deep in thought, Sergeenko offered his own alternative.

“Isn’t it necessary to have temporary port facilities and roads for construction materials and workers whether you build the pipelines along the river or inland? In some cases, construction conditions are better inland. It’s not that muddy even in the summer. I don’t think it’s a bad idea to have roads inland to link them to the development of the Krasnoyarsk region anyway.”

Sergeenko said that it was not a big deal to get out of the river a little bit.

In order to develop the Krasnoyarsk region, roads should be constructed anyway, so building pipelines inland could reduce development costs.

“What’s the range of the flood?”

“The flood range downstream of the Yenisei River is about ten kilometers from the riverside.”

The river was tens of kilometers downstream, and the flood range was about ten kilometers from there.

As the landmass was large, natural phenomena beyond common sense were taking place in Siberia.

“We can take that much distance as long as we can use the Yenisei River. We can carry pipes made at a steel mill in the city of Krasnoyarsk along the river.”

“The problem is that after the flood, swamps, and lakes are created everywhere, making it difficult to open roads from rivers to construction sites.”

“We can cover that with modern technology. By the way, Mr. Sergeenko, I heard that there are more and more Evenks who don’t raise reindeer anymore. What are they doing to make a living?”

As the development was taking throughout Siberia, it reached the level that threatened the survival of the Evenki people, who had continued their lives as reindeer nomads.

They also could not afford to raise reindeer as freely as they used to because of the abnormal temperature.

“Most of them have stopped the nomadic life because of their children’s education, but they don’t have any specific skills, so they’re barely making ends meet.”

Although the Russian government had long carried out a policy of assimilation of minorities, the Evenki people who moved to cities were no more than strangers.

As they were not properly educated, all they could do was simple labor to survive.

“If pipeline work starts, would they try to come back to the tundra?”

Sergeenko, who was a descendant of the Evenks, awoke at Cha In-soo’s words.

It seemed that there would be work for the Evenks, who were treated as a nuisance in the city. It was because no city people would volunteer to work in rough Siberia no matter how much money was offered, except for the Evenks who used to live in the tundra and taiga regions as their home.

“They’ve felt the difficulties of living in the city, so they wouldn’t refuse if you promise to treat them properly. There are no other people that knows Siberia as well as our people, the Evenks.”

***

On the campfire, the reindeer meat was being cooked.

It was a wild reindeer caught by the Evenki people who were in charge of guiding the exploration team.

Despite the biting weather, the group, equipped with winter clothes, was enjoying the winter of Siberia, eating reindeer meat and drinking vodka

“There are quite a bit of wolves around here.”

Security guards fired threatening shots at wolves hovering around them, but the wolves, who were infatuated with the smell of grilling meat, did not leave the area.

As wolves larger than wolves in Kazakhstan’s plains showed up, the group was on high alert.

“They smelled the meat. They don’t rush into people recklessly, so don’t worry.”

As if it was insignificant, Sergeenko chewed on his reindeer meat.

The Siberian wolf was about 150 centimeters long and weighed 75 kilograms, and was characterized by its white fur all over its body.

The wolves usually lived in groups of seven to ten and rarely to 20 wolves with each wolf’s lifespan usually up to ten years in the wild. Usually, they hunted reindeer or walruses.

“Wouldn’t a wolf pack of that size attack people when they don’t have enough food?”

“There is no Siberian wolf that attacks the Evenki people. They just want to hunt tamed reindeer. They think of the Evenks as symbiosis.”

It was nonsense, but in Siberia, where all kinds of strange things could happen, such a story could not be dismissed as absurd.

It seemed the wolves would survive on Evenki people’s tamed reindeer if they could not even catch a wild reindeer. One reindeer would feed the whole pack the power to endure a few days.

“You mean the Evenks are special.”

“It’s the only people who have survived in Siberia.”

It was still not clear exactly where the Evenks originated.

It was even more difficult to find their origins because there were few relics or artifacts left as they lived nomadic life following the reindeer.

Since it was a living environment where people could not stay in a specific space for a long time, it was inevitable to live as a clan or family unit, so there was little culture to them.

There were numerous hypotheses, but some scholars argued that the similarities between the Evenki people and Korean people’s appearance and body shape, and the languages indicated that they were somewhat related to the origin of the Korean people.

All that had been revealed so far was that they had been distributed intensively in the ancient Baikal River and the Amur River regions.

“I don’t understand, but the wolves must recognize the Evenks since they survived in this environment.”

“But there’s one strange thing. I was quite surprised by the fact that the Evenks and Koreans are so similar that it was hard to tell each other apart. I was very astonished when I first saw His Royal Highness of Kazakhstan. I thought he was an Evenk.”

Cha In-soo had also heard such a story from Youngho, and he could not help but nod his head as he was looking at the Evenki people who followed the team as guides.

Only their costumes were unique, but if they spoke Korean, he would have thought they were Korean.

Sergeenko looked a little different because he had the blood of the Slavic people as well.

“I have to admit that you are right. The origins of the two peoples must be related to each other. If we share the same origin, I won’t have to be afraid of Siberia as a Korean.”

“Even if we don’t share any blood, we, the Evenks, will help the Kazakh royal family. We’ve been immensely helped by the Duke.”

Since the Evenki population in Siberia was about 100,000, if only some percentage of them participated, the pipeline construction of tundra would be easy.

There were only a few people on earth who could endure rough work in this cold.

In-soo was enjoying his conversation with Sergeenko, but the wolves, unable to withstand their hunger, started approaching the camp to break the fun.

After suffering from wolves all night, the group began to clean up after having a late breakfast.

It was because the wolves messed around the camp while eating the reindeer meat the group had left behind.

Because of the Evenks, they could not kill the wolves and had to sleep uncomfortably in the armored vehicles.

They could not hunt after learning that the Evenks and wolves coexisted.

Everyone looked tired, but as a comfortable bed was waiting at a distance of two more days, they hurried the way.

At the midstream of the Yenisei River, an icebreaker belonging to Arirang Shipping was waiting for the group.

Although the area could be thoroughly identified by satellite without having to conduct due diligence on the site, there was a reason why they came to the site.

And in addition to conducting due diligence on the site, the purpose of the expedition was also a kind of production to show to Putin.

It was like silent pressure to keep the verbal promise of Yamal’s second project, not to mention the pipeline construction.

Major oil companies were looking forward to winning the second Yamal project by the Kazakh royal family as its involvement was a guarantee for a safe and successful business.

Cha In-soo’s group, that suffered from the cold for two more days, was able to meet Arirang Shipping’s icebreaker, which was waiting on the riverside of Yenisei.

“Look at your face, Mr. Cha. You don’t look like a person who suffered in the cold at all.”

Choi Sun-kil, who was waiting for the exploration team on the icebreaker, joked when he saw Cha In-soo and his party.

“It was bearable because I ate reindeer meat. But didn’t you say you’re going straight from Yamal to the royal territory?”

“The Duke asked me to pick up some stuff from Krasnoyarsk.”

If it was Youngho’s errand, it would be diamond or gold.

In Krasnoyarsk’s black market, gold and diamonds were still pouring out.

In the meantime, diamonds and gold obtained from Krasnoyarsk had been enormous.

It was abundant that most of the net profit of the Siberian business came from both gold and diamonds.

“I guess the amount is quite a lot this time again.”

“It’s about 60 kilograms of gold bars.”

Although this amount seemed insignificant compared to the amount produced from a single gold mine owned by the royal family, it was also a huge amount to collect in the black market for months.

Its market price would be over 30 million dollars.

“Mr. Cha, did you find anything this time?”

“What do you find in the frozen land? It won’t be noticeable until the thaw season.”

One of the reasons why the Evenki guides were hired was to find a place where many shiny stones were distributed.

What the Evenki people called as shiny stones were none other than diamond gemstones and lumps of gold.