185: Chapter 185 Devastating Victory

The top-floor private room of the Magic City Club was deathly silent.

General Manager Xu Wanshan stared fixedly at the blood-red zero on his phone screen. He blinked hard and refreshed the page again.

Still zero.

The CFO collapsed onto the floor, clutching his hair desperately.

"General Manager Xu, it's over. The group's accounts are completely wiped out," the CFO shouted, his face twisted in despair.

General Manager Xu kicked over the mahogany coffee table in front of him. The wine bottles and fruit platter shattered into pieces.

"Stop wailing like a mourner," General Manager Xu said, his face ashen. "We still have thirty percent of our floating shares on the A-share market. Contact the traders immediately and dump them. Liquidate some cash to fill the hole."

The CFO shook his head repeatedly.

"We can't dump them," the CFO said, handing over his tablet. "In the last minute, countless unknown offshore accounts have directly crashed the market. They didn't even look at the ask price. They've been aggressively buying everything at double the premium. All of our floating shares on the market, along with the three-year corporate bonds we issued, have been swallowed up in one go."

General Manager Xu felt his scalp tingle.

The tablet screen lit up red. A bolded, forced pop-up window appeared.

"System Notification: The transfer of sixty-five percent absolute control of Ocean Shipping Group has been completed. The largest shareholder has been changed to Chenguang Holdings. The current Chairman is removed from their position effective immediately."

General Manager Xu slumped onto the sofa. Where on earth did this small factory director from Jiangcheng get such terrifying cash flow? This completely defied the basic logic of the capital market.

He scrambled to his feet, grabbed the encrypted phone on the table, and pressed the redial button.

At the same time, on the highway from Jiangcheng to Nanchang.

A black SUV was speeding through the torrential rain.

Da Biao gripped the steering wheel tightly. His mechanical Exoskeleton rubbed against the seat, emitting a muffled metallic sound.

Lu Chen sat in the passenger seat. He lowered his head and lit a double happiness cigarette.

Old Zhou sat in the back seat. He was tightly clutching a bulging black canvas bag in his arms.

The spare phone on the SUV's center console lit up.

Lu Chen glanced at the caller ID and pressed the speakerphone button.

"Boss Lu. Lord Lu." General Manager Xu's hoarse voice echoed in the car, carrying a distinct tremor. "I was wrong. I truly know I was wrong. Please show mercy and loosen the financial stranglehold."

Lu Chen exhaled a puff of white smoke, offering no response.

General Manager Xu was breathing heavily on the other end.

"I shouldn't have worked against you," General Manager Xu pleaded loudly. "Those foreigners promised me port throughput rights in Australia. I was momentarily blinded by greed. Give me five minutes. I'll notify the chief dispatcher to release the shipment immediately. I will personally lead the convoy to deliver the special steel into Jiangcheng. I won't take a single cent."

"It's too late," Lu Chen said calmly.

"Boss Lu. I'm giving the order to dispatch the trucks right now," General Manager Xu screamed, sounding near-hysterical.

"No need to trouble yourself with dispatching them," Lu Chen said, crushing his half-smoked cigarette in the car's ashtray. "As of now, all the truck heads and cargo ships of Ocean Shipping belong to Lu."

Lu Chen hung up the phone directly. He tossed the phone back onto the center console.

The SUV drifted and came to a steady stop at the Nanchang highway toll station.

On the pitch-black national highway ahead, hundreds of heavy-duty trucks emblazoned with "Ocean Logistics" were blocking the road completely.

Rain poured down. Large groups of drivers were squatting beside their tires, smoking in gloomy silence.

A dark-skinned man stood up and flicked his cigarette butt into a puddle.

"What the hell is this all about?" the dark-skinned man cursed. "Our meal cards are disabled. Our fuel cards are frozen. The dispatch office is just giving a busy signal. Hundreds of us are just standing here in the rain, starving."

A tall, thin driver beside him wiped the rain from his face.

"I heard the higher-ups are doing a system upgrade," the tall, thin man sighed. "We're carrying military-grade special steel. If the higher-ups don't give us the command, who can take responsibility if something goes wrong?"

The dark-skinned man spat on the ground.

"When bosses fight, they use us at the bottom as pawns. I won't even be able to pay my truck loan next month," the dark-skinned man said, covering his face with his hands.

The door of the black SUV was pushed open.

Da Biao stepped out of the vehicle first.

His hydraulic mechanical legs, with two tons of thrust, stepped into the accumulated water, emitting a chilling metallic clanking sound. The dark gray Exoskeleton armor glowed with a faint blue light in the night.

The drivers were startled and scrambled to their feet, backing away.

Lu Chen got out of the car. He didn't use an umbrella and stood directly in the rain.

Old Zhou ran over, carrying the black canvas bag. With a "whoosh," he unzipped the bag.

Bundles upon bundles of red banknotes were exposed to everyone's sight.

The drivers stared, dumbfounded.

Lu Chen took the military loudspeaker handed to him by Da Biao.

"Everyone," Lu Chen said, pressing the switch. "Ocean Shipping has gone bankrupt. Your General Manager Xu has already been kicked out by the Board of Directors."

Hundreds of drivers stood frozen in place. There wasn't a sound in the crowd.

"I am the director of Chenguang Factory in Jiangcheng, Lu Chen," he continued, holding the loudspeaker. "From this second on, all assets of Ocean Group, including the trucks you are sitting on, are under my management."

The dark-skinned man gritted his teeth and mustered the courage to take a step forward.

"Boss Lu," the dark-skinned man shouted. "Since you've taken over, what about the wages that General Manager Xu owes us? We can't drive the trucks without fuel money."

"Good question," Lu Chen said, lowering the loudspeaker and turning to look at Old Zhou.

Old Zhou understood immediately. He cleared his throat.

"We are signing contracts for Chenguang Factory right here on the spot!" Old Zhou roared at the top of his lungs. "As long as you are willing to work for Boss Lu, your base salary will be doubled. We will pay three months' salary in advance right now. We provide full social insurance and a housing fund. Five days on, two days off."

The crowd instantly erupted.

Dozens of drivers rushed forward but didn't dare to get too close.

Lu Chen pointed to the black canvas bag on the ground.

"Those signing the contract, line up to receive your cash," Lu Chen's words were clearly heard by everyone. "Once you get the money, go to the gas station ahead and fill up your tanks. Before dawn, deliver the cargo to Jiangcheng for me."

The dark-skinned man didn't hesitate at all. He was the first to rush to Old Zhou, grab a ballpoint pen, and sign his name on the labor contract.

Zhang Qiang.

Old Zhou counted out a thick stack of banknotes and slapped it heavily into Zhang Qiang's hand.

"Boss Lu is generous," Zhang Qiang said, his voice trembling as he clutched the money. "From now on, my life belongs to Chenguang Factory."

The drivers behind them went completely wild. Everyone was pushing and shoving to get to the front.

Da Biao took a step forward. The hydraulic pump let out a low roar.

"Don't push!" Da Biao shouted sternly. "Line up and come one by one. Whoever dares to cause trouble here, I'll take their bones apart myself."

The pressure exerted by the mechanical Exoskeleton was intense. The drivers immediately lined up obediently into four long queues.

Stacks of cash were handed out. Piles of labor contracts stacked up.

Half an hour later, all the heavy trucks on the national highway started up. Bright headlights tore through the night, and the convoy roared as it drove toward Jiangcheng.

The logistics defense line of the twelve financial tycoons of Jiangnan collapsed across the board.

Jiangcheng. Dark clouds rolled.

The storm lashed violently against the concrete-poured surface of the eight-thousand-acre construction site.

Inside the Underground Level 3 quantum clean room, the lights were blazing.

Wei Jianguo's eyes were bloodshot. He stared fixedly at the quantum gravity smelting furnace modification that had just been assembled in front of him.

A large batch of amethyst raw stone slices and special raw materials taken from the No. 3 safe had been completely pushed into the pressurized chamber.

"Old Song," Wei Jianguo shouted, turning back. "Have you set the temperature values? The high-density energy shaping liquid that the boss wants has extremely strict temperature requirements. If it deviates by even 0.1 degrees, this entire batch of materials will be ruined."

Song Changming stood in front of the main console, his hands typing rapidly on the keyboard.

"Parameters set," Song Changming said, looking up and wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. "But I just calculated the peak power."

Song Changming swallowed hard.

"Old Wei. It won't work," Song Changming said loudly. "The instantaneous ignition electrical energy required to prepare this thing is ridiculously high. The dedicated municipal power line we are currently connected to can't even power the startup unit."

Wei Jianguo pushed Song Changming aside. He leaned in to check the data on the screen.

The ignition requirement was displayed as 100,000 megawatts.

This far exceeded the limits of conventional industrial electricity usage. If they were to force the power draw, the power grid of more than half of the East China region would be paralyzed instantly.

"How are we supposed to do this?" Wei Jianguo said, slapping his thigh in anxiety. "The boss ordered that we must see the finished product before dawn."

Song Changming took a deep breath. He reached out and pointed to the ground beneath their feet.

"Municipal power isn't enough. We have our own electricity," Song Changming said, lowering his voice.

Wei Jianguo looked in the direction he pointed.

Directly below the eight-thousand-acre construction site. In the deep underground foundation pit.

The miniature controllable nuclear fusion reactor, which had been ignited not long ago, was emitting an unusual low-frequency roar. It caused the metal walls of the entire clean room to tremble faintly.

Wei Jianguo gasped. He took out his walkie-talkie and tuned it directly to Lu Chen's exclusive channel.

"Boss," Wei Jianguo said, holding down the talk button, his voice trembling. "All raw materials are in place. But we lack power. This machine consumes a lot of power."

The sound of howling wind and rain came through the walkie-talkie.

"How much is missing?" Lu Chen's voice was calm.

"Municipal power is useless," Wei Jianguo gritted his teeth. "We must forcibly redirect the output port of the underground fusion reactor. Connect it to the smelting furnace at full power."

There was silence on the other end of the walkie-talkie for two seconds.

"Then connect it," Lu Chen replied with only three words.

Wei Jianguo's palms were covered in cold sweat.

This operation was dangerous. If the pressure-resistant valve couldn't withstand the instantaneous shock of the fusion energy, the entire underground defense line would be blown to pieces.

But he didn't waste any more words. He turned around and inserted a high-level authorization card into the main console.

"Old Song. Pull up the fusion pipeline distribution map," Wei Jianguo commanded. "Unlock the maximum energy limit gate. Prepare for the backflow."