81: Wang Peng, a good friend, has transformed into the leader of a trillion-dollar business empire!

When Lu Chen’s declaration—the one filled with “open conspiracy” and “blackmail”—to “trade technology for it” echoed clearly through the global broadcast into the Oval Office of the White House, Burns and all the Western Alliance bigwigs felt as if an invisible giant hand had brutally gripped their throats!

Their faces were ashen, and their bodies shook violently like chaff as they stared at the “innocent”-looking Xia Country youth on the screen, their eyes filled only with endless rage and powerlessness!

An open conspiracy!

This was the goddamn, naked, undisguised ultimate open conspiracy!

They knew perfectly well this was a massive trap set by the people of Xia Country, yet they had no choice but to bite the bullet and jump into it!

Because they had no other choice!

On one side was a humiliating future where they would forever live under the shadow of Xia Country’s technology, their necks perpetually choked!

On the other side were tens of millions of angry constituents back home, suffering from cancer and ready to tear them to shreds!

This was a death sentence question!

...Just as the Western Alliance completely plunged into internal chaos and arguments over this unsolvable “death sentence question,” our protagonist Lu Chen once again became the most carefree “hands-off boss.”

He tossed all the tedious negotiations concerning “technology exchange” to Long Weiguo and a group of diplomatic bigwigs who were smarter than monkeys.

He himself quietly left the Kunlun Mountain Base and arrived at the most bustling CBD center in Jinghai City, standing before a five-hundred-meter-tall skyscraper brimming with a sense of future technology.

At the top of the building hung four dazzling, golden characters written in a vigorous, ancient, mythical style—[Pangu Technology]!

This was the headquarters of the business empire Lu Chen had built for himself using the first wave of “leeks” harvested from the Western Alliance! An entity destined to grow into a terrifying behemoth capable of making all capital worldwide tremble!

“Holy crap! Chen Zi! You finally showed up!”

As Lu Chen stepped into the futuristic, sci-fi lobby, a familiar yet slightly unfamiliar voice drifted over from not far away!

Lu Chen raised his head.

He saw a stout man wearing an expensive, custom-made Armani suit, his hair slicked back perfectly. Although there was still a hint of childishness on his face, his eyes were already filled with the confidence and shrewdness characteristic of a business magnate!

The man was striding toward him with a look of “resentment”!

It was none other than his long-unseen best friend... Wang Peng!

“My esteemed Chairman!” Wang Peng walked up to Lu Chen and bowed with an “exaggerated” flourish. “You still remember you’re the boss of this company? I thought you had already ascended to immortality with the nation!”

His words were sarcastic, filled with the deep-seated resentment of a “left-behind child” toward a “faithless man”!

“Heh heh.”

Lu Chen chuckled.

He reached out and heavily punched Wang Peng’s chest, which was noticeably more solid than before.

“Not bad, Fatty.”

“Haven't seen you in a few months, and you don’t look like... ah, no, you’re looking more and more like a Crown Prince.”

“Get lost!” Wang Peng cursed playfully, but his small eyes were full of the immense joy of a long-awaited reunion!

He threw an arm around Lu Chen’s shoulder, walking arm-in-arm toward the CEO's office on the top floor, just like they used to do in school.

“Let’s go!”

“Let me show you the empire your brother here has built for you over the past few months!”

...Top floor, CEO's office.

Standing before the massive floor-to-ceiling window, Wang Peng spread his arms wide like a monarch surveying his territory, his face filled with irrepressible pride and self-satisfaction!

“Do you see it, Chen Zi!”

He pointed at the bustling, incomparably prosperous financial center outside the window! His voice was full of passion!

“This is the future territory of our [Pangu Technology]!”

“While you were secluded doing research over the past few months, I haven't been idle!”

“Using the one trillion startup funds you gave me, I established three wholly-owned subsidiaries!”

“Jinwu Energy! Responsible for the global production and sales of graphene batteries!”

“Kuafu Automobile! Responsible for the R&D and manufacturing of our own brand of super electric sports cars!”

“And…” A fervent flame flashed in his eyes! “Nuwa Biology! Responsible for the clinical trials and subsequent commercial promotion of that world-changing targeted cancer miracle drug!”

“Now! The market value of our [Pangu Technology] has already exceeded ten trillion! Surpassing the combined value of Apple and Microsoft!”

“I, Wang Peng! Have transformed from the useless fatty who only knew how to play games, into the business prodigy who commands a trillion-dollar business empire, as everyone calls me now!”

His speech was impassioned, filled with the unparalleled sense of accomplishment a young man feels after achieving massive success!

However, after listening to his “grand ambitions,” Lu Chen merely shook his head calmly.

“The scope... is still too small.”

That... that sentence again?!

Wang Peng's smug face, which clearly said, "Praise me! Praise me!" instantly fell flat!

He looked at Lu Chen with a resentful expression.

“Chen Zi, you shouldn’t crush my spirit like this!”

“I’m practically the richest man in the world! And you still think my scope is small?!”

“Then tell me, what constitutes a grand scope?!”

“A grand scope?”

Lu Chen smiled.

He walked to the massive floor-to-ceiling window and looked at the prosperous yet minuscule concrete jungle outside. His dark eyes, vast as the cosmos, shimmered with a profound light that Wang Peng couldn't comprehend.

His voice was soft, yet it was like a divine oracle splitting heaven and earth! It echoed clearly in Wang Peng's ears, and it echoed in the hearts of every mortal about to be swept up by the torrent of history!

“Peng Zi.”

“Have you ever considered...”

“What if, one day, all our business transactions are no longer conducted on this tiny, pale blue planet?”

“What kind of magnificent and spectacular sight would that be?”