63: Chapter 63 Swift Arrest: Safeguarding the Strategic Lifeline of Two Hundred Billion

"Lu Chen?"

On the other end of the satellite phone, Jason's originally arrogant tone instantly changed.

The sound of a sharp intake of breath came through the speaker, sounding particularly harsh in the quiet VIP room.

Then came a burst of frantic English roaring.

"What about Sun Lide! What on earth have you done!" Jason's voice was so loud it cracked. "I'm warning you, put the documents back into his bag exactly as they were! Let him board the plane smoothly!"

Lu Chen held a lighter, tapping it gently against the glass tabletop, remaining silent.

"You are playing with fire!"

Jason continued to scream, "If you dare to touch Morgan's people, you are creating an international dispute! This is a serious diplomatic incident! Our Asia-Pacific legal team will arrive in Jiangcheng first thing tomorrow morning. I will have you charged with robbery and transnational terrorism, and I'll make sure you rot in prison for the rest of your life!"

"Did you hear me! Withdraw your people immediately!"

Lu Chen listened to the barking on the phone, the corner of his mouth curling into a cold sneer.

He picked up the cup of black coffee Sun Lide hadn't finished. Steam was still rising from it.

He loosened his grip.

Plop.

The expensive military satellite phone dropped directly into the coffee cup.

The scalding liquid instantly submerged the device. With a muffled fizz, the screen flashed wildly twice before going completely black and emitting smoke.

The world was quiet.

"Too much nonsense." Lu Chen pulled out a tissue to wipe his hands.

He picked up the black portable hard drive from the table, casually tucked it into his jacket's inner pocket, and recited a command in his mind.

[Ding! Data draft has been recorded into the system's absolute encryption secure space, unable to be cracked or extracted by any external means.]

Lu Chen turned his head to look at Wu Dong, who was hiding by the door. "Put the paper documents on the table into your bag, and hold onto them tight."

Wu Dong swallowed his saliva, rushed over, hurriedly stuffed the stack of documents with the red seals into his briefcase, and then clutched it tightly to his chest.

"Boss, the foreigner is furious. How are we going to leave now?" Wu Dong's voice was trembling slightly.

As soon as he finished speaking, shrill police sirens suddenly sounded outside the terminal.

Dense red and blue flashing lights pierced through the floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing half of the departure hall in a crimson glow.

Screech!

Harsh braking sounds rang out one after another outside the terminal entrance, surrounding all exits of the building.

Heavy and rapid tactical boot stomping sounds came rushing from the end of the corridor.

"Police! Nobody move!"

"Hands on your heads! Everyone squat down!"

Dozens of fully armed SWAT officers holding submachine guns rushed directly into VIP Room 13. Black gun barrels instantly locked onto everyone in the room.

The crowd parted in the middle, and Director Li Jianguo, wearing his uniform, strode in.

Earlier tonight, while he was interrogating Wang Teng in the interrogation room, he had simultaneously received the urgent intelligence sent by Lu Chen, stating that Sun Lide was about to flee with 200 billion worth of mineral vein data.

He hadn't dared to delay for a second, immediately using his highest authority to mobilize SWAT officers to rush over.

As soon as Director Li Jianguo entered the room, his eyes swept across the floor, and his eyelids twitched violently.

Four burly white security guards were lying on the carpet, groaning in pain with their limbs twisted at bizarre angles and their faces covered in blood.

Da Biao stood to the side, looking nonchalant, holding a bloody steel pipe.

That was a heavy blow.

"Director Li! Help! Help!"

Sun Lide, who had been sprawled on the floor, saw Director Li Jianguo in his uniform and crawled toward him using his hands and feet, as if he had grabbed onto his last straw.

"Director Li! Shoot quickly! Shoot him dead! He's a gangster!"

Sun Lide pointed at Lu Chen, who was sitting on the sofa, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"He brought dozens of thugs to illegally restrict my personal freedom! He also robbed my private briefcase! Look at these foreign guests, they've all been beaten to a pulp by them! This is destroying diplomatic relations, this is assault with a weapon, hurry up and arrest them all!"

Sun Lide's skill at shifting the blame was truly masterful.

He knew this was his last chance; as long as he could label Lu Chen as a criminal, he could take the documents back in the chaos.

The SWAT officers' gun barrels immediately raised an inch.

Da Biao glared, took a step forward while holding the steel pipe. "Old dog, try farting again!"

"Everyone back off!" Director Li Jianguo roared, reaching out to press down the SWAT officers' gun barrels.

He ignored Sun Lide, who was throwing a tantrum on the floor, and walked straight to the coffee table.

Lu Chen stood up unhurriedly, without wasting a single word.

He took the original exploration draft that had just been stuffed into Wu Dong's arms, along with the torn black password briefcase, and tossed them directly into Director Li Jianguo's arms.

"Director Li, take a look at the last page." Lu Chen's tone was calm, without the slightest ripple.

"See who the signatory is for the 200 billion purple niobium-tantalum mine underground in Jiangcheng."

Director Li Jianguo frowned, quickly flipping through the documents in his hand.

The first page: geological sampling coordinates, underground in the old city of Jiangcheng.

The second page: estimation model for mineral vein reserves.

The third page: analysis of associated mineral content.

It was all top-secret core geological data, detailed down to every inch of rock layer.

This was a world of difference from the "no mining value" waste paper report he had seen in the past.

Director Li Jianguo flipped directly to the last page, an additional copy of a transfer agreement.

Sun Lide's personal signature was clearly printed on it, with the stamp of the Morgan Consortium's Greater China region stamped right next to it.

Attached to the page was even a bank transaction record from three years ago, showing 20 million transferred from an overseas shell company to Sun Lide's overseas account!

Looking at this ironclad evidence, Director Li Jianguo's complexion instantly turned from iron-blue to flushed red.

He was trembling all over, the veins on the back of his hand holding the file bulging.

"Sun Lide." Director Li Jianguo turned his head, staring fixedly at the fat man on the floor, squeezing three words through his teeth. "Traitor."

Seeing Director Li Jianguo holding the complete file, Sun Lide knew it was all over, but he was still making a final struggle.

"Director Li Jianguo! You can't touch me! That was normal investment promotion!"

Sun Lide strained his throat to argue, "Mineral development requires external capital and technology injection. Since we don't have the technology in this area, what's the problem with letting foreign enterprises move in? I did this for the economic development of Jiangcheng! You have no right to arrest me!"

Smith on the floor also spat out blood, following along in broken Chinese. "We are legally entered commercial security. You Huaxia police have no right to arrest us. I want to contact the embassy!"

Director Li Jianguo tucked the file under his arm, pulled out his service pistol, racked the slide, and pointed the barrel directly at Sun Lide's head.

The whole room went dead silent.

"Normal investment promotion? You sold strategic minerals that foreign countries use to choke us at the price of scrap metal, and you call that investment promotion?" Director Li Jianguo's chest heaved violently with anger.

He ignored any protests and waved his hand at the SWAT officers behind him.

"Cuff him!" Director Li Jianguo's voice was like a bell.

"Sun Lide is suspected of seriously endangering national security and selling core national strategic resources! Arrest him on the spot, take him back!"

Two SWAT officers rushed up, pinning Sun Lide firmly to the carpet.

With two crisp clicks, heavy steel handcuffs locked his hands behind his back.

"Director Li Jianguo! You are overstepping your authority! I want to see the city leaders! I want to make a phone call!" Sun Lide yelled, twisting his body frantically.

"See your mother!" Director Li Jianguo cursed, kicking Sun Lide in the thigh.

"Take him away! Interrogate him overnight! No one is allowed to see him without my approval slip!"

Two SWAT officers dragged the limp Sun Lide out.

Director Li Jianguo turned to look at the four foreigners on the floor.

"You are foreign guests? Legal security?"

Director Li Jianguo sneered, "Can legal security bring high-voltage stun guns and tactical batons into the airport terminal?"

Director Li Jianguo pointed directly at the stun gun on the floor, issuing an order.

"These four people carried lethal weapons in an attempt to cover the escape of personnel involved in classified information. They are illegal foreign armed spies!"

"Put leg irons and handcuffs on all of them, drag them back to the bureau, and lock them up separately! As long as they dare to resist, you are authorized to use force to subdue them!"

Several SWAT officers rushed forward, not caring if these foreigners had broken bones or not, and dragged them away in shackles.

Cries of pain rose one after another, and the four burly white men were dragged out of the VIP room like dead dogs.

In less than three minutes, the VIP room, which had been crowded with people, was more than half empty.

Wu Dong held the empty briefcase, standing in place panting heavily. Da Biao tossed the steel pipe onto the carpet, took out his walkie-talkie, and told the twenty brothers outside to withdraw quickly.

Director Li Jianguo put his gun back into its holster and straightened his uniform.

He strode up to Lu Chen and shook Lu Chen's hand tightly with both hands.

Director Li Jianguo's hands were shaking; it was the exhaustion after extreme anger, and also the lingering fear after understanding the weight behind this matter.

"Lu Chen, I have to thank you on behalf of the higher-ups." Director Li Jianguo's voice trembled.

He gripped Lu Chen's hand tightly and wouldn't let go.

"Today's incident is by no means a simple commercial dispute. If these things had actually been taken onto the plane and flown across the ocean today, Huaxia would have completely lost its trump card at the future new energy negotiation table!"

Director Li Jianguo took a deep breath, his eyes slightly red.

"Today, you have genuinely preserved a strategic lifeline for the country. You have performed an immense service! I will write this into a top-secret report tonight and report it directly to the provincial level!"

Lu Chen let Director Li Jianguo hold his hand, his expression remaining calm.

"Just a small effort." Lu Chen said lightly, "Director Li, you take the people away, can you handle the pressure from Morgan?"

Director Li Jianguo sneered.

"With both human and physical evidence, it's classified as espionage and treason. Even if Morgan is the king of heaven, on Huaxia soil, they have to bow down to me!"

Director Li Jianguo let go of his hand, took the file, and strode out the door, leaving behind a tall, upright back.

The police sirens outside the terminal gradually faded away.

Wu Dong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and leaned over to Lu Chen. "Boss, Sun Lide has been arrested, and the documents have been seized. What's our next step..."

Lu Chen turned and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the pitch-black night sky outside.

David, the Vice President of the Morgan Consortium's Asia-Pacific region, had been so angry he spat blood in public, Wang Teng had been sent to prison, and now even Sun Lide, who was responsible for the insider trading, and the overseas security team had been taken away by the authorities on charges of espionage.

All the cards were on the table.

The highest-level semiconductor embargo was probably already issued from New York at this moment, taking effect globally.

The ultimate fury of foreign capital was about to descend, and the trump card in Lu Chen's hand was only just beginning to be revealed.

Lu Chen reached out and tapped on the glass.

"Call Zhao Tiezhu, have his men work in three shifts. The foundation frame for the super-clean workshop at the construction site in the north of the city must be pulled out for me before dawn tomorrow." Lu Chen's eyes were deep, "If the foreigners want to play a supply cut game with us, we will build an ancestor for them."