267: Chapter 267 No Procedures Required, I Am the Rule

Da Biao stood before the console and slammed his hands heavily against his chest armor, creating a dull, metallic thud.

"Understood! I'll go teach them a lesson right now!"

Da Biao shouted his acknowledgment.

"Daring to throttle the Boss—these bastards must be tired of living!"

Da Biao strode out of the master control room, the sound of his heavy combat boots echoing through the corridor.

Two hours later, at the top-floor luxury conference room of the Northeast First Heavy Industry Base.

This was the brain center of the entire Northeast heavy industry sector; a solid wood conference table occupied half the room, and the climate control system blew cold air.

Chairman Hu sat at the head of the table, flicking ash from a thick cigar.

The directors of the four major factories sat on either side, the room thick with smoke.

"Old Hu, uh, the official red-headed document from the capital has been issued..."

A bald factory director beside him kept wiping sweat from his forehead.

"The higher-ups have directly authorized military-grade jurisdiction. If we keep dragging our feet and refusing to see the people from Jiangcheng, and the higher-ups decide to blame us..."

"Blame my ass!"

Chairman Hu crossed his legs and cut him off.

"A powerful dragon can't crush a local snake. That document in Lu Chen's hand is useless; without our signatures, he can't even mobilize a fitter to tighten a screw."

Chairman Hu took a fierce drag of his cigar and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.

"The Northeast First Heavy Industry Base is the Guan family's property. For thirty years, with tens of thousands of pieces of equipment and hundreds of thousands of workers, everyone inside and out is our person."

Chairman Hu snorted coldly.

"That red-headed document? It's too stiff even for wiping my ass. If the sky falls, Old Guan and Department Head Zhang in the capital will hold it up."

The bald factory director nodded repeatedly.

"Old Hu is right. That brat Lu Chen doesn't know the first thing about industrial management. He has no chance of taking over."

"Tell the guards to weld the main gate shut. Nobody gets in."

Chairman Hu crushed his cigar into the ashtray, sending sparks flying.

"If the people from Jiangcheng call, just say there's a network failure or the leadership is in a meeting. If Lu Chen knows the rules, he'll obediently bring a thirty percent equity stake and come to pay his respects in person. Maybe then I'll let him take two machine tools."

Several people let out a burst of sycophantic laughter.

Crash.

A massive shattering sound abruptly cut off their sycophantic laughter.

The thick, explosion-proof glass on the exterior wall of the conference room shattered instantly. Cold wind rushed in, sending the red-headed documents on the table flying everywhere.

Twenty massive figures descended from the sky, slamming into the middle of the conference room with the force of their descent.

The million-dollar solid wood table snapped into three pieces on the spot, with wood splinters flying everywhere.

A shockwave rippled out, and the ten-ton impact kicked up dust all over the floor.

Chairman Hu was flipped over along with his chair, and the boiling water from his teacup poured all over his thighs.

The four factory directors were knocked off their chairs and lay on the ground, wailing in pain.

Da Biao, wearing dark cyan Sky-Dome heavy armor, stood up straight amidst the pile of broken glass. Twenty Death Squad Soldiers clad in heavy armor leveled their weapons and quickly fanned out into formation.

Hearing the commotion, thirty elite bodyguards outside the corridor burst through the conference room doors, reaching for the pistol grips at their waists.

"Death wish."

Da Biao didn't even turn his head.

The twenty Death Squad Soldiers pushed off the ground, cracking the marble floor beneath them.

The Death Squad Soldiers charged into the crowd; without any superfluous or flashy moves, they relied entirely on raw brute force to grab, lift, and smash.

Crack, crack, crack.

A dense series of crisp bone-breaking sounds rang out.

In three seconds, all thirty elite bodyguards were on the ground. The Death Squad Soldiers had precisely crushed the right wrist bone of every single one of them, leaving pistols scattered everywhere.

The conference room was filled only with screams and the sounds of people writhing in pain.

The few factory directors huddled together, trembling in fear, their hands clutching their heads tightly.

Da Biao took a step, his heavy metal combat boots grinding against the marble floor with a harsh screech, leaving a trail of cracks.

He walked up to Chairman Hu.

A massive metal foot stepped directly onto Chairman Hu's chest, causing his sternum to emit a dull thud.

"Ah... ow, my ribs are broken!"

Chairman Hu let out a shriek.

Da Biao didn't even remove his mech helmet.

He reached out and pulled out that crumpled, zero-numbered red-headed document.

The surface of his metal gauntlet still retained the extreme heat from the micro-thrusters, radiating an oppressive wave of warmth.

Da Biao roughly slammed the ball of paper against Chairman Hu's cheek and grabbed his head, rubbing it forcefully against the paper.

Sizzle.

The high-heat armor pressed against his skin, instantly searing a dark red burn mark, and the smell of scorched flesh filled the air.

Chairman Hu struggled frantically, his hands clawing desperately at Da Biao's metal shin in an attempt to move the foot, but the metal leg didn't budge, snapping his fingernails instead.

Da Biao looked down at Chairman Hu on the floor, his helmet speaker emitting a cold, harsh, mechanical voice.

"The Boss said, from now on this place belongs to the Lu family. No need for procedures; if you don't sign, you sign your life away."

Da Biao's voice wasn't loud, but it carried immense pressure.

Chairman Hu's crotch was soaked; pale yellow liquid trickled down his high-end suit onto the marble floor, giving off a pungent odor.

Tears and snot streamed down his face from the pain.

"You dare touch me?"

Chairman Hu screamed in terror.

"I have the entire Guan family and Guan Zhenshan behind me! We have life-or-death connections with the management in the capital. If you dare mess around, we'll seal off your Jiangcheng by tomorrow!"

Da Biao looked at the filth beneath his feet with disgust.

He didn't even respond.

Da Biao turned around and powered up his right fist.

Boom.

A heavy punch with ten tons of thrust slammed directly into the half-meter-thick load-bearing pillar nearby.

Large chunks of reinforced concrete exploded outward; the pillar was punched through, leaving a half-meter-deep hole with thick, twisted, and broken steel bars exposed.

The entire building shook violently, and plaster fell from the walls.

The factory directors huddled in the corner screamed repeatedly, shielding their heads and not daring to open their eyes.

Da Biao backhanded the ultra-high-frequency vibrating combat blade from the side of his thigh. The blade electrified, emitting a high-frequency hum that made the surrounding air tremble.

He turned and walked back to Chairman Hu, lowering his wrist and pressing the tip of the blade directly against his carotid artery.

The sharp blade instantly sliced through the skin, and fresh blood flowed out along the blade's groove.

"I'll count to ten. Anyone who doesn't hand over the underlying permissions will meet the same fate as this pillar."

Da Biao's voice was devoid of any emotion.

"Ten."

Da Biao began the countdown.

"Nine."

The combat blade pressed down another inch, and the blood flowed faster.

"Don't kill me! I'll sign, I'll sign everything! Whatever you want, I'll give it to you!"

Chairman Hu completely broke down, screaming with tears and snot streaming down his face.

He realized that in the face of absolute violence, all his political schemes and connections in the capital were just a pile of waste paper; the other party simply didn't care about reason.

"Take him to the master control room and make him enter the password."

Da Biao lifted his chin.

Two Death Squad Soldiers stepped forward, grabbed Chairman Hu by the back of his collar, lifted him off the ground, and dragged him roughly toward the master control terminal.

Three minutes later.

"Captain, the underlying firewall has been handed over. The Jiangcheng master brain has taken over all machine tool permissions."

One Death Squad Soldier reported.

Da Biao sheathed his combat blade.

"Get lost. Go back and tell Guan Zhenshan to behave himself for the next two years."

Da Biao kicked Chairman Hu.

Chairman Hu scrambled out of the conference room, not daring to look back, while the few factory directors followed behind, losing their shoes as they ran.

The communication channel lit up, and Zhang Qiang's voice came through.

"Da Biao, did you crack that hard nut in the Northeast? The other eleven bases are all done. The representatives of several conglomerates caught flights and ran away overnight."

Zhang Qiang laughed heartily.

"Cracked it. Those bastards were so scared they pissed their pants."

Da Biao pressed the communication button, and his helmet visor glowed with blue light.

"All units, withdraw."

The scene cuts back to the underground master control room in the Jiangcheng base.

On the massive electronic screen, the twelve red dots representing the heavy industry bases instantly turned green.

The icons representing supreme control were all illuminated.

Old Zhou stared at the tablet in his hands, his fingers trembling violently.

"Boss, all twelve national-level heavy industry bases are fully integrated into the network."

Old Zhou reported loudly, his voice sounding dry.

"Three hundred and sixty large-scale manufacturing workshops and forty thousand heavy-duty CNC machine tools are fully connected to our artificial intelligence hub."

Wu Dong took his hands off the keyboard and let out a long sigh of relief.

"All authority for the old-guard management has been completely locked out, and network security has been severed. Now, no one can enter their system doors except from the master control room."

Wu Dong stared at the data stream on the screen.

Lu Chen leaned back in his boss chair, holding a tea mug with the words "double happiness" printed on it.

He took a sip of tea and placed the mug on the table.

"What about the people? How many?"

Lu Chen looked at the big screen.

"1.8 million skilled workers currently on the job."

Old Zhou quickly scanned the data spreadsheet.

"Adding the 2.2 million workers from outsourced enterprises and related material industries, that's a total of 4 million basic employees."

Old Zhou swallowed hard.

"Boss, all 4 million people are now under our name. Now, with just one word from you, these 4 million people can be directly mobilized for production scheduling by the master control room."

A population of 4 million, anywhere, would be a force capable of crushing any resistance.

Lu Chen closed his eyes.

Deep within his mind, the system's electronic voice erupted, and the notifications fell into a state of frantic, stuttering, spam-like scrolling.

[Ding, detected that the Host has completed a large-scale, full-chain industrial merger, meeting the hidden upgrade conditions.]

[Number of registered employees has surpassed the 4 million mark; population milestone achievement unlocked.]

[Million-level basic cashback module overloaded; recalibrating calculation nodes.]

Lu Chen felt his brain buzzing; this was the first time he had seen such a fast notification scroll.

[Calibration complete. Daily capital pool cashback has exceeded 10 trillion RMB; cash flow successfully locked.]

10 trillion, every day.

The curve of Lu Chen's mouth widened; with this endless pool of funds, he could buy out the world's mineral resources.

The notifications continued.

[Full-value loyalty production critical-hit module activated. Detected a massive employee base facing a doomsday survival crisis; loyalty and cohesion have reached the ultimate peak.]

[Daily tech points production increased by 500%; advanced store areas fully unlocked.]

An unprecedented, massive production empire had officially taken shape in Lu Chen's hands.

Twelve major heavy industry bases, 4 million workers, 10 trillion in daily cashback.

This was the foundation of absolute power; the 300,000 nuclear warheads in the sky were no longer a dead end.

Lu Chen opened his eyes, his gaze filled with ambitious fervor.

"Old Wei."

Lu Chen called out.

Wei Jianguo strode forward, the smell of machine oil still clinging to him.

"Here, Boss. What are your orders?"

Lu Chen pointed to the big screen, which was split into two images: on the left was the distribution map of the 4 million workers, and on the right was the countdown for the 300,000 nuclear warheads.

"4 million people, two years of time."

Lu Chen stared at the screen.

"You can mobilize all heavy industry machine tools as you please; I've granted you top-level authority. If you're missing any materials, tell Old Zhou to throw money at it. You can buy any resources on Earth; if they won't sell, have Da Biao take people to seize them."

Wei Jianguo's breathing was heavy, and his eyes shone.

"I've sent the blueprints for the Great Wall Dome project base to your dedicated workstation. I sent them three minutes ago."

Lu Chen tapped the table.

Wei Jianguo turned and rushed to the console, pushing aside a technician to open the encrypted file.

The high-dimensional energy matrix blueprints appeared on the screen. Wei Jianguo took one look, clutched his head with both hands, and let out an excited, low roar.

"Old Zhou."

Lu Chen turned his head.

"I'm here, Boss."

Old Zhou straightened his back.

"Start coordinating logistics on a national scale. Expand the production lines for high-energy nutritional bars for 4 million people by ten times immediately. If that's not enough, keep building. Money for the dead is meaningless; convert all the money in the capital pool into hard currency and stock up all underground warehouses."

Lu Chen issued the instructions.

"Understood. I'll arrange for a transport fleet to go out and sweep up supplies overnight."

Old Zhou hurried off to make the call.

Lu Chen pulled out a pack of double happiness, tapped one out, stuck it in his mouth, and lit the tip with a plastic lighter, the ember flickering.

"Old Wu, it's time to do some real work."

Lu Chen lit the cigarette with the lighter.

Wu Dong leaned in.

"Who is the Boss going to deal with?"

Lu Chen took a drag of the cigarette and exhaled slowly. He then pulled open a drawer, took out a sheet of white paper, and slammed it down on the table.

"Check if the account balance from the United States Department of Defense has been settled."

Lu Chen pushed the white paper outward with his finger.

"We just smashed one of their hypersonic Ghost fighter jets the day before yesterday. These foreigners signed the treaty but haven't paid me the depreciation fee yet."

Wu Dong was stunned.

"Boss, those nuclear warheads in the sky will hit in two years. Are we really asking them for money at a time like this?"

"One thing at a time. Paying off debts is the only rule."

Lu Chen tapped his fingers on the table.

"Not a single cent of the money on the bill can be missing."

Lu Chen stood up straight, his black jacket looking crisp under the lights.

"Check their coordinate database."

Lu Chen stubbed out the cigarette.

"If they don't pay on time, we'll send the Aerospace Carrier over to Washington again to collect the debt."

Wu Dong stared at the computer screen and typed the last line of code.

He looked up and swallowed hard.

"Boss, the funds haven't arrived. Moreover, the base of the Department of Defense system shows that old guy Smith is activating the highest defense mechanism of his underground bunker, intending to default on the debt."

Lu Chen grabbed the red communication microphone beside him.