233: Chapter 234: The Controversy Over a Forced Buyout of $1.25 Billion! The "Operation Begins" Deep in the Alleyway

Following Washington, the administrative order to drop the charges was transmitted to Shanghai.

The frosted glass door of the conference room on the third floor of the embassy was pushed open unceremoniously.

Twelve members of the Jiyuan Technology multinational legal team, dressed in dark custom suits and carrying identical black hard-shell briefcases, filed in.

The lead lawyer walking at the very front pulled out a leather chair and sat down without any small talk.

The FBI official stationed in Shanghai, sitting across the long table, had completely lost the confidence he possessed half a month ago when he slammed the table to demand a confession.

The order to calm the situation, pressed down directly by White House, was like an invisible steel wire tightening around his throat.

His masseter muscles tightened imperceptibly, and then, forcibly controlling his facial nerves, he squeezed out a stiff and compromising expression:

"Since Washington has given the green light, let's handle this officially.

"Exactly how many of the two companies' chips did Jiyuan Technology reverse-engineer without authorization?

We need an accurate liquidation list."

The lead lawyer, expressionless, flicked open the metal latch of the briefcase in front of him.

"Click." A crisp sound with a distinct metallic texture.

He pulled a stack of forms over a hundred pages thick, stamped with logistics customs clearance and loss verification seals, directly from the bag.

With a "slap," he threw it onto the hard conference table.

"As of today, the total value of all chip equipment that participated in testing and suffered physical damage is 1.2 billion dollars."

The lawyer's voice was icy and devoid of emotion; this 1.2 billion dollars was just a meaningless, hollow symbol.

Before the other party could react to the heavy mountain of documents, the lawyer immediately pushed two pre-drafted settlement memoranda across the center line.

"Our final proposal is very simple."

The lawyer reached out to adjust his glasses, staring sharply at the American representative opposite him:

"Pay 1 billion dollars in cash compensation to Intel, and 250 million dollars to NVIDIA.

A total of 1.25 billion dollars, for immediate cross-border settlement.

Use this money to completely buy out all patent disputes and subsequent related liabilities for this incident."

Inside the conference room, the sound of heavy paper turning was amplified infinitely in the dead air.

The legal director of Intel and the senior representative of NVIDIA huddled together, their eyes scanning quickly over the dense rows of equipment procurement serial numbers.

A few pages were turned. The fingertips of the two men holding the paper uncontrollably turned a bloodless, pale white.

1.2 billion dollars in physical losses.

As long as their IQs were at a normal level, this group of top business elites could immediately piece together a suffocating objective fact behind these astonishing numbers.

This was absolutely not some laboratory-level "reverse engineering test."

Jiyuan Technology was clearly utilizing this batch of astronomical-priced chips to secretly build a massive, super-computing cluster matrix right under everyone's noses!

The FBI official and the representatives of the giants present felt as if someone had forcibly stuffed a handful of broken glass into their mouths.

Everyone clearly understood that this was a naked, completely undisguised chain scheme.

That young man who had sat on a hard bench and suffered through half a month had long ago precisely calculated the lead time for every step:

First, use public opinion and the betrayal of European capital to force White House to back down, then backhand and smash out this 1.25 billion dollar cash barrier.

This money, nominally compensation, was actually Shen Du using a tough stance to forcibly buy a technological development window and an absolute security agreement for Jiyuan Technology.

But even if they saw through this open conspiracy, so what?

Facing the death order issued by White House to quell global public opinion, and this massive cash flow before their eyes, enough to instantly fill the quarterly financial report gaps of the two giants.

They had no power or confidence to refuse.

The legal director of Intel bit down on his back molars, the muscles in his cheeks twitching violently.

He silently pulled out his Montblanc fountain pen from the inside of his suit and signed his name heavily on the last page of the settlement memorandum.

The force of the pen tip was so great that it even tore through the carbon paper underneath.

With the completion of the final agreement, less than five minutes later.

Within the SWIFT international settlement system on the other side of the ocean, a huge offshore fund of 1.25 billion dollars instantly bypassed all cumbersome freezing and review processes.

It was precisely and neatly deposited into the overseas corporate accounts of the two semiconductor giants.

The dull sound of metal gears engaging echoed heavily at the end of the underground corridor.

The thick, bulletproof iron door that had been tightly locked for half a month slowly slid open to both sides.

Under the strict escort of several fully armed national security agents, Shen Du and the twelve suit-clad members of the legal team stepped out of the cramped detention area filled with the smell of disinfectant and mold.

The moment he walked out of the embassy building, the cool air of Shanghai rushed toward him.

Shen Du took a deep breath. The cold, fresh oxygen instantly flooded his lungs, which had been in a suppressed state for a long time.

Causing his chest to expand slightly, involuntarily.

He stopped, turned around, and cast his gaze toward the lead lawyer beside him.

Behind this negotiation, which seemed to involve tossing out documents and signing compensation lightly, were twelve top legal elites, earning an eight-figure hourly wage.

In the past seventy-two hours, relying on black coffee and anti-fatigue pills, they had forcibly smashed through the complex cross-border negotiation process between China and the United States, which would have originally taken more than half a month to drag out.

The interest exchanges and clause wrangling involved were by no means as light and breezy as signing a few words on the surface.

Shen Du extended his right hand and shook hands firmly with the other party. "Thank you all for your hard work during this time."

Shen Du's voice was slightly hoarse from not drinking enough water for a long time.

The lead lawyer's eyes were bloodshot with alarming dark red veins, and even his originally stiff shirt collar had a wrinkle.

But the hands holding Shen Du's were steady and forceful. The astronomical legal fees were in the most precise proportion to the risk and efficiency.

"High risk corresponds to high return; having taken the money, this is all part of our job."

The lawyer held Shen Du's hand with both hands, bowed slightly, his attitude full of absolute respect: "If you have any needs in the future, please contact us, Mr. Shen, at any time. We are always at your service."

As soon as he finished speaking, a pure black Rolls-Royce Phantom glided steadily to a stop on the asphalt shoulder outside the embassy.

The heavy door was pushed open, and Shen Du's mother and Hong Yun stepped out of the car quickly.

Before Shen Du could step forward to speak, Hong Yun trotted over in her high heels, unreservedly throwing her arms tightly around Shen Du's neck.

Her whole body pressed tightly against him. The woman's slender body trembled violently, unable to stop due to lingering fear.

Warm tears instantly welled up, soaking through the shirt fabric on Shen Du's shoulder.

Through the thin clothing, Shen Du could clearly feel the frantic and rhythm-less heartbeat thumping in her chest.

Shen Du made no extra comforting gestures. He only raised his hand, patted Hong Yun's back lightly and restrainedly twice, and then slowly let her down from his body.

He turned his head and looked at his mother standing aside, her eyes already completely red.

Facing this scene of surviving a disaster that would make anyone lose control of their emotions, Shen Du's expression remained without a ripple.

His tone was so flat, as if he had just been to a perfectly ordinary business meeting: "Mom, I told you I was fine."

Shen Du casually straightened his suit collar, which had been wrinkled, his voice filled with absolute rationality and cold hardness: "It's just spending money to buy peace. As long as the real gold and silver are smashed into their accounts, they have to release me obediently."

He turned around, pulled open the heavy rear door of the Rolls-Royce, and his gaze quickly swept across the surroundings of the street: "Get in the car; this is not the place to talk."

The heavy door closed with a "bang," completely cutting off the noise and chill of the outside world.

This pure black Rolls-Royce Phantom slowly drove away from the asphalt shoulder. The car body steadily cut into the main road, merging into the endless, brilliant traffic of Shanghai.

Across the street, in a dim alley entrance, Shen Hong sat astride his all-black heavy motorcycle with one foot supporting him on the ground.

The twin-cylinder engine kept a low-idle roar. The fine vibrations of the machine's operation were transmitted along the metal frame to the soles of his tactical boots on the ground.

Making a few rough pebbles nearby bounce slightly.

He was hidden in the deep shadows of the alley, his deep gaze crossing the overlapping car shadows, staring fixedly at the two dark red taillights of the Rolls-Royce until they completely dissolved at the end of his line of sight.

Shen Hong slowly withdrew his gaze. His right hand, wearing a half-finger leather glove, reached into the inside of his leather jacket and pulled out a special satellite phone with a thick, shockproof case.

His rough thumb moved quickly over the old-fashioned physical keys, blindly pressing out a pure numeric number with no alphabetical notes with one hand.

Only half a second of faint electronic dial tone came from the receiver before it was immediately connected.

There were no questions or small talk on the other end of the radio wave.

Shen Hong lowered his head slightly, facing the cold night wind blowing into the alley, and coldly spat out six words into the microphone: "The action can begin."