23: Chapter 23 Hanging Up the 3 Billion Negotiation: The Chairman is Calling Me

The headquarters of the Liu Group, on the 67th floor.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows lay the Jingzhou skyline in the afternoon; the haze carved the distant buildings into gray silhouettes.

Thirty-two people sat on both sides of the long conference table.

The heads of the Legal, Finance, and Strategy departments each occupied a section, with folders stacked like brick walls.

Liu Yuyan sat at the head of the table.

She wore a dark gray suit, a low ponytail, and no jewelry.

Spread out before her were three kraft paper document envelopes, seals facing up, unopened.

The Strategy Director on her left finished reporting on the latest situation regarding the joint ambush by the three major families:

Sun Bonian's pharmaceutical group was absorbing Liu Group shares in the secondary market through three-tier shadow accounts,

Zhao Dingtang had cut off the steel supply chain for the North City project,

and Chen Jingyuan's offshore fund had shorted the Liu Group's affiliated companies on the Hong Kong stock market.

All three acted simultaneously.

Precise, covert, a scalpel-like strangulation.

There was only one goal—to force her to hand over the secret of her grandfather's recovery.

After the Strategy Director finished, sweat hung from his temples.

Liu Yuyan did not look at him.

She tore open the first document envelope.

"Sun Bonian's three raw material pharmaceutical production lines in Southeast Asia."

Her voice was not loud.

But the breathing of the thirty-two people present grew shallow in unison.

"The environmental impact assessment reports were forged. The emission data from the contract factories differed from the actual test values by four times. This is an independent sample from a third-party laboratory, stamped and certified."

She pushed the file to the center of the table.

She tore open the second document envelope.

"The North City plot that Zhao Dingtang acquired last year. During the bidding process, there were two targeted consulting fees totaling 3.2 million, which went through a shell company registered by his brother-in-law less than two months prior. The bank transaction records are here."

The sound of the paper sliding across the tabletop was exceptionally quiet.

The third one.

"Chen Jingyuan's offshore fund shorted domestic chip companies in the fourth quarter of last year. The source of funds involved three unreported overseas accounts, one of which was in the Cayman Islands, with the ultimate beneficiary pointing to him personally."

The three documents were laid side-by-side on the table.

Liu Yuyan stood up.

Thirty-two pairs of eyes were nailed to her.

"Do the three families think they can bite into the Liu Group just by joining forces?"

It was not a rhetorical question. It was a verdict.

"Notify the three families to withdraw all actions within twenty-four hours. Otherwise, these three sets of materials—the regulatory departments, the media, the industry associations—not a single one will be spared."

She swept a glance over the table.

"Meeting adjourned."

The sounds of chairs being pushed back rose one after another.

No one said an extra word.

The Legal Director clutched his folder to his chest, his fingers gripping the cover with such force that the plastic panel bent into an arc.

The Strategy Director, walking at the very front, only dared to exhale once he left the room.

Liu Yuyan was the last to leave.

In the elevator lobby, her phone vibrated.

The caller ID showed a number without a contact name.

Only one person in her address book had ever contacted her using this number.

Liu Yuyan pressed answer.

"East Sea."

Su Chen's voice came from the receiver, as brief as a telegram.

"Spatial fluctuations within twenty-four hours, E-Rank Exotic Beast."

Liu Yuyan's steps halted.

The floor-to-ceiling window in the corridor stretched her shadow across the marble floor, long and straight.

"You said you would take me next time."

Su Chen paused for a beat.

"That is why I made this call."

Liu Yuyan did not hesitate.

The elevator door opened.

She walked in and pressed the button for the basement level.

"One hour from now, West City Airport. I will arrange the plane."

She hung up.

She immediately dialed her secretary's number.

"Vice President Zhao has full authority to handle all matters today. Execute the contingency plan regarding the three major families."

The person on the other end of the line faltered.

"President Liu, the Sun Family's 3 PM—"

"There is no 3 PM."

Her voice was not loud.

The elevator reached the basement level.

She walked toward the unplated black Audi deep in the garage.

—The engines of the Gulfstream G650 hummed, and the runway lights streaked into an orange line outside the porthole.

Su Chen boarded the plane.

There were only two people in the cabin.

The flight attendant had been left in the forward cabin by Liu Yuyan.

After taking his seat, Su Chen swept a glance over the table.

Mineral water, a nut platter, sandwiches, and sliced fruit.

Su Chen's gaze fell to the other side of the table.

A mask.

Black, half-face, carbon fiber material, matte black paint, the shape and style almost identical to his bronze mask.

Su Chen picked it up and flipped it to the inside.

Two characters.

"Kindling."

The carvings were not deep, but each stroke was distinct and well-defined.

It was clear that she had practiced repeatedly; the style of the strokes imitated the version he had carved on the stone pillar.

She had practiced more than once or twice.

Su Chen put the mask back on the table and said nothing.

The plane lifted off.

The city tilted outside the porthole, shrinking until it looked like building blocks.

Liu Yuyan was across from him, resting with her eyes closed.

The mask lay quietly by her hand.

Su Chen gazed at the rolling clouds outside the window, beginning to build a model in his mind.

East Sea.

Open waters.

Last time at the plant, the audience was twenty-three workers and one driver.

If he operated correctly this time, the number and significance of the audience would be completely different.

He called out in his mind.

"System, does remote activation of Wang Hao's bronze piece and scroll require points?"

"No. A remote wake-up module was built-in during the materialization modification; the host can trigger light effects and information projection at any time. No additional points are consumed."

The corners of Su Chen's mouth curled slightly.

Where were the bronze piece and the scroll now?

A military laboratory.

Surrounded by a group of scientists studying them.

They had studied them for a week and found nothing—because when not activated, they were just ordinary bronze and silk cloth.

But if he activated them remotely at the right moment, allowing the bronze piece to project the coordinates and time of the upcoming Exotic Beast—

What would the scientists see?

A "warning device that had slept for a thousand years" automatically starting up, accurately predicting the arrival of a supernatural creature.

What would Section Chief Han Zheng see?

That the relics of Kindling were not dead; they were still functioning, still guarding.

Su Chen opened his notebook and wrote two lines on a blank page.

"East Sea, military watching the show, Liu Yuyan's debut, remote activation of the bronze piece."

He closed the notebook and caught a glimpse of the person opposite him.

Liu Yuyan's breathing was steady.

Her eyelashes were lowered, and her facial features were relaxed.

But the fingers of her right hand rested lightly on the edge of the mask, her fingertips tracing the texture of the carbon fiber.

The head of a hundred-billion-level empire.

Four thousand seven hundred employees.

Tens of thousands of families.

Fifteen minutes ago, she was still in the conference room using three documents to crush the joint strangulation attempt by the three major families.

She left right after hanging up one phone call.

She didn't even look back at a 3 billion negotiation.

Su Chen withdrew his gaze.

On the corner of the notebook, he wrote a line of tiny characters.

"She is qualified. Leave the Kindling to her."

—At the same time.

West City, Jingzhou, on the third floor of an old residential building.

The blue light from three monitors reflected in Lin Xiaoman's pupils.

On the left screen, the real-time data stream of the Liu Group was scrolling.

She stared at an anomaly that had just appeared—

Liu Yuyan's mobile base station signal had disappeared from the Liu Group headquarters twelve minutes ago.

It appeared at the West City Airport eight minutes ago.

Lin Xiaoman moved her lollipop from the left corner of her mouth to the right.

West City Airport?

She pulled up the airport tower's flight scheduling system.

Three minutes ago, a private plane urgently requested a route to the southeast.

The destination—the East Sea coast.

Lin Xiaoman's fingers hovered over the keyboard for two seconds.

Eastern Chemical Plant, West City courtyard, and now the East Sea.

This line was stretching longer and longer.

She curled up in her chair, her hat pulled down to her eyebrows.

The lollipop spun in her mouth.

"Running away quite fast, aren't you."

Her voice was soft, but her fingertips had already switched to another window.

The data stream on the screen was still scrolling.

A ray of afternoon light filtered through the gap in the curtains, falling on the potato chip bags scattered all over the floor.

Lin Xiaoman stared at the direction of that flight path for three seconds.

"I'd like to see what kind of big secret you are hiding!"