48: Chapter 48 Rejecting the Long Family's Investment to Their Face (Part Two)

“Boss, the in-depth background analysis of the Long Group has been completed.” Xiao Zhi pulled up a dense data map.

Chen Fan stared at the main screen. “Give me the highlights.”

“On the surface, the Long Group is a national enterprise started from scratch by Long Zhentian, but there are major anomalies in its equity structure.” Xiao Zhi zoomed in on the chart. “The Long family's direct holdings only account for 31% of the group's total share capital, while the remaining 69% is held through a seven-layer offshore company architecture.”

On the screen, a complex equity relationship diagram unfolded like a spider web.

“Within these seven layers,” Xiao Zhi highlighted several lines in red, “it eventually traces back to three private equity funds registered in the Cayman Islands. And the actual controllers of these three major funds... all point to the same ‘Alpha Global Capital’ headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.”

Chen Fan's eyes narrowed. “Foreign capital?”

“More accurately, it is ‘transnational hidden capital.’” Xiao Zhi pulled up new information. “‘Alpha Global Capital’ has very little public information. What is known is that it is deeply involved in energy, military, and high-tech monopoly industries in thirty-seven countries globally. Over the past twenty years, its investment focus in the Southern Hemisphere has been to foster ‘local proxy enterprises’ that can control industry standards and technological lifebloods.”

The development timeline of the Long Group popped up on the screen:

· 15 years ago, the Long Group was just a medium-sized trading company on the verge of bankruptcy.

· One year later, mysterious foreign capital was injected, and the Long Group secured its first national-level infrastructure project.

· One year after that: the Long Group expanded at an alarming speed, swallowing seventeen competitors and establishing a complete industrial chain.

· To date: Transitioning to the high-tech field, annual R&D investment exceeds ten billion, but the number of patent applications is seriously inconsistent with the investment... “The irrational part is here.” Xiao Zhi marked several time nodes. “The Long Group's breakthroughs in frontier fields such as materials science, bioengineering, and quantum computing have almost all been ‘leap-style’—lacking the necessary preliminary technological accumulation before directly producing mature products.”

“Even more suspicious is that in the past five years, over 6% of the Long Group's ‘independent R&D achievements’ had their core patents registered overseas first, then were ‘authorized’ to the Long Group for use. And these overseas patent holders... are all linked to ‘Alpha Global Capital’ through complex paths.”

“Agents for foreign capital to control the domestic technological lifeblood?” Chen Fan sneered. “No wonder the Long family acts so overbearingly—they have a master backing them up.”

“There is one more discovery.” Xiao Zhi switched the screen to satellite imagery. “This is the Long Group's ‘Special Materials R&D Base’ in the Northwest Gobi Desert. By reverse-calculating from public logistics data, certain rare metal raw materials consumed by this base annually far exceed what its public production capacity requires. And three of these metals—Rhenium, Iridium, and Palladium—are key materials for aerospace and cutting-edge weapon systems.”

The image zoomed in, and the security level at the base's perimeter was clearly abnormal: triple walls, an air defense identification zone, and even electromagnetic signal characteristics suspected to be from an anti-missile system were detected.

“A private enterprise needs this level of security?” Chen Fan narrowed his eyes.

“According to limited signal interception analysis,” Xiao Zhi said, “the base has regular encrypted data exchanges with overseas locations, with the signal pointing to... a certain area in the high seas of the Pacific Ocean.”

Chen Fan was silent for a moment. “So the Long family is not only controlled by foreign capital, but might also be... helping overseas forces transfer technology and stockpile strategic materials?”

“That is the most reasonable inference.” Xiao Zhi's mechanical eyes flickered. “Boss, if this speculation is true, then the Long Group is not just a commercial competitor, but...”

“But a Comprador feasting on the nation's technological lifeblood, perhaps even a hidden danger.” Chen Fan finished the sentence, his voice cold. “No wonder they are so anxious for stardust material—their masters behind the scenes must want this kind of technology that can subvert multiple industries.”

“If the Long family really has such a background, your refusal of their acquisition... the consequences could be very serious.” After finishing the analysis, Xiao Zhi began to feel a bit worried for Chen Fan.

“Precisely because of this, we can't hand the technology over to them.” Chen Fan turned around, his gaze firm. “stardust material was developed by us; if it's going to benefit anyone, it should benefit our own country. Give it to the Long family? It would just become someone else's bargaining chip in the blink of an eye.”

——

Long Zaitian stared at Chen Fan. In those eyes, only cold scrutiny and... a hint of offended rage remained.

Since he was a child, he had always gotten whatever he wanted. In Magic City, in the tech world, the Long family's name was a gold standard, a passport. Countless people begged for the Long Group's investment, and he wouldn't even spare them a glance.

But today, he had personally extended an olive branch and offered a sky-high price of five billion, only to be... rejected to his face by a young brat?

And rejected so bluntly, so mercilessly!

“Chen Fan,” Long Zaitian slowly stood up, the previous politeness gone from his voice, replaced only by a chill, “do you know what it means to refuse the Long family?”

“I do.” Chen Fan actually smiled. “It means I have to be careful when walking in the future to avoid being hit by a car. It means I have to be more cautious when discussing business to avoid being cheated. It means... I have to constantly watch out for someone stabbing me in the back.”

He walked up to Long Zaitian. The smell of gunpowder between them brought the atmosphere in the VIP room to a freezing point.

“Young Master Long, that intimidation tactic doesn't work on me.”

“...”

Long Zaitian's face turned completely livid.

He stared fixedly at Chen Fan, his chest heaving, clearly beyond furious. He suppressed his rage with great effort, barely managing to hold back the urge to lash out on the spot.

“Good, very good.” Long Zaitian squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth. “Chen Fan, you've got guts.”

He turned abruptly and walked toward the door.

Reaching the door, he stopped, looked back, and threw out one last sentence:

“In Magic City, no one can refuse the Long family.”

“You, just wait.”

With that, he slammed the door and left.

“Bang!”

In the VIP lounge, only Chen Fan and Lin Hao were left.

“Phew...” Lin Hao let out a long breath, slumped back onto the sofa, and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. “Fan Zi, you were... too fierce just now. Five billion! You just rejected it like that?”

“What else?” Chen Fan walked to the window and watched as Long Zaitian got into a car and left, surrounded by a crowd. “If we give him a controlling stake, we'll have to live by his whims from now on. If we give him the patents, we'll truly just be working for him.”

“But...” Lin Hao was somewhat worried, “if the Long family really retaliates...”

“Soldiers to block, water to cover.” Chen Fan turned around, his eyes showing no hint of fear. “Hao Zi, our technology is solid, and we built the market ourselves. No matter how powerful the Long family is, they can't cover the sky with one hand.”

He walked over to Lin Hao and patted his shoulder:

“Besides, we aren't soft persimmons that can be toyed with anymore. We have military orders in hand, and we have a connection with Old Master Qin. If the Long family wants to move against us, they'll have to weigh the consequences.”

Lin Hao thought about it and agreed.

Although Star of Fortune was not yet large in scale, its foundation was stable. The technological barrier for stardust material was extremely high, and the market prospects were vast. More importantly... behind them, there was already a hint of a more powerful backer.

“So what do we do next?” Lin Hao asked.

“Business as usual.” Chen Fan checked the time. “Prepare for the Investment Fair as planned, and R&D cannot stop. Also...”

He paused, his eyes turning slightly cold:

“Have Xiao Zhi keep a close watch. After taking such a big hit to his pride, the Long family certainly won't let this go. We have to guard against them playing dirty.”

“Understood!” Lin Hao nodded heavily.

The two left the VIP lounge and returned to the bustling venue.

No one knew that in that quiet room just now, a conflict capable of influencing the future technological landscape of Magic City had quietly occurred.

But many keenly noticed that the Third Young Master of the Long family left with a terrible expression, while the recently famous Chen Fan remained composed, even with a faint smile playing on his lips.

For a time, various speculations began to circulate within small circles.

Meanwhile, Chen Fan stood by the floor-to-ceiling window with a wine glass, looking out at the glittering night view of Magic City.

Long Zaitian's last words were still echoing in his ears: “You, just wait.”

Wait? Fine. Chen Fan tilted his head back and drained the glass in one gulp.

I'm waiting. Let's see what tricks your Long family can play.

At this moment, Chen Fan had one more goal in his heart: to bring down the Long Group!