123: Chapter 124 Macroeconomic Control and the 45% Survival Threshold! The Last "Auditor" Summoned

Shen Du's first reaction was that someone was secretly engaging in large-scale malicious short-selling or a massive invasion.

But when he calmed down and saw the newly divided power color blocks on the Geomantic Map, he suddenly realized the truth, and an indescribable sense of awe rose in his heart.

This was simply not an "encroachment" that any single financial conglomerate or competitor could achieve.

This was macro-control and intervention from the national level! The authorities had made their move.

As this irresistible, grand will intervened, the entire economic foundation of Shanghai was forcibly subjected to a physical-level balancing reshuffle.

The current power landscape was firmly locked by the system at a delicate equilibrium point:

The white camp, representing the Shen Family and the local business circle, held 45%; foreign financial conglomerates entrenched in finance and high-tech fields held 35%; and the remaining 20%, absolutely unshakable and like a stabilizing needle in the sea, was forcibly taken over and frozen by the national level!

Looking at these three iron-wall-like figures, Shen Du's brain raced.

Why did the required points for the previous task fluctuate along with all the camps?

It was because at that time, Shen Du had not yet seriously determined his own camp choice.

Therefore, the system automatically chose the camp fluctuation points.

He finally realized that there was a fatal misunderstanding in his previous understanding of the system rules.

The so-called "10% change in camp points" was definitely not something where one could just scrape by for rewards through casual, natural fluctuations.

The system's threshold for task completion was harsh, and could even be described as hell-level difficulty!

Today, with the authorities personally stepping in to control the market, if he wanted to claim the reward, he had to, within the terrifying cracks between state regulation and foreign blockades, forcibly pull the points belonging to his own camp back from 45% to the absolute holding line of 60%!

Only by solidly reaching this near-monopoly value could he truly trigger and claim the "Swallow Mountains and Seas" reward.

In this game where the city or even the national destiny served as the chessboard, the system did not allow for any opportunism.

Just as Shen Du was secretly calculating how to break the deadlock within this terrifying macro-crack, a few familiar chuckles suddenly came to his ears.

Shen Du calmly retracted the system light screen on his retina and turned to look.

He saw Su Yunjing, the leader of Shanghai's medical and pharmaceutical industry, and Li Jianfeng, a heavy industry tycoon, already sitting naturally in the empty seats on his left and right.

After the baptism of that last bloody business war, the heavy industry supply chain under Li Jianfeng's name had not only fully recovered its vitality, but its production capacity had also reached an unprecedented peak.

At this moment, he was beaming and appeared exceptionally enthusiastic.

He glanced around, lowered his voice, and spoke with undisguised amazement in his tone:

"President Shen, I really didn't expect this! I just scanned the front row, and even those internet giants like Tencent and Alibaba Group, who are usually so boisterous, didn't even qualify to get in. The authorities actually invited a big shot like you here!"

Facing his ally's flattery, Shen Du just smiled soberly, shook his head slightly, and denied it:

"You flatter me, President Li. I think that the authorities letting me sit here today probably isn't because of how big Jiyuan Technology's current scale is."

Hearing this, Su Yunjing, who was sitting on the other side and had always been steady and introverted, couldn't help but turn his head and ask in confusion:

"Oh? How so?"

Shen Du looked deeply at the distinct venue in front, lowered his voice, and slowly began to analyze:

"Look at who is sitting in this room today. They are all, like you two, large entities genuinely engaged in hard-core underlying manufacturing and heavy industry.

To be honest, Jiyuan Technology's little bit of internet entertainment and food delivery business, logically speaking, shouldn't have qualified for this invitation at all."

He paused, the corners of his mouth curling into a smile that seemed self-deprecating but was actually watertight.

He threw out a perfect excuse that fit his current identity:

"I reckon the reason I was able to get an invitation this time is just because some time ago, we joined forces to win that defensive battle against the Beijing Circle capital.

The authorities, in order to appease and commend us, this batch of local capital that fought to the death without retreating, gave me, this 'business war hero,' a 'special invitation' auditor's pass as a matter of courtesy."

Leaving aside Shen Du's secret Shen Family lineage and that chip laboratory running crazily underground, this calm, humble, and politically and commercially logical self-analysis sounded simply impeccable.

Li Jianfeng and Su Yunjing looked at each other and felt that this analysis was highly logical and completely consistent with the authorities' style.

They nodded deeply in agreement, completely accepting this "official appeasement" explanation.

How could they know that the "auditor" in front of them, who seemed to have been dragged in to make up the numbers, was holding the ultimate nuclear bomb capable of overturning the tables of all the hard-tech giants present!

After the pleasantries, the atmosphere in the hall gradually underwent a subtle change.

Just as these business elites present had expected, that superficial mass mobilization and policy briefing were nothing more than a formality.

The main event that the authorities really wanted to investigate was the upcoming "closed-door interview" session.

An official in a dark jacket with a cold expression walked out from the thick, closed mahogany door at the back.

Holding a top-secret list, they began to read out the names of the companies one by one.

The company representatives whose names were called all immediately put away any slackness and stood up with solemn expressions.

They adjusted their attire and followed the staff into the meeting room, which had excellent soundproofing and possibly even completely shielded signals, to conduct one-on-one private talks.

Huawei's representative went in, the person in charge of SMIC went in, DJI, BYD...

Even Li Jianfeng and Su Yunjing, who were sitting next to Shen Du just now, were called away one after another.

As time passed, company representatives went in one by one.

After ten minutes at the shortest, or more than half an hour at the longest, they would come out with different expressions, and then be directly arranged to leave through another secret passage.

The number of people in the entire conference hall was decreasing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

However, throughout this long and psychologically oppressive process, Shen Du was never called.

He sat quietly in his inconspicuous corner like a silent sculpture.

He did not play with his phone out of boredom, nor did he show even the slightest bit of anxiety or unease because of being "snubbed" by the authorities.

As an ambitious schemer with the blood of top-tier political and business games flowing in his bones, Shen Du knew all too well these seemingly torturous tactics of the authorities.

On the chessboard of power, the order of appearance often represents one's true weight.

This deliberate delay and "cold treatment" precisely indicated that he was by no means an "auditor" dragged in to make up the numbers, but rather the target in today's game who the authorities truly wanted to single out and spend a lot of time to "specially care for"!

Finally, until the sun slanted westward outside the window, the entire huge venue had mostly cleared out, and the hall was almost empty.

Only Shen Du and General Manager Chen Shengqiang, who was responsible for carrying the bag behind him, remained.

"Creak—" The mahogany conference room door slowly opened again with a dull sound of bearing friction.

The official responsible for summoning walked out.

He scanned the empty hall.

His gaze passed over rows of empty seats and finally fell precisely on Shen Du in the corner.

He slapped shut the folder in his hand, which he had read to the end, and broke the deathly silence of the venue with a low and majestic voice:

"The last one, Jiyuan Technology, Shen Du. Please, this way!"