103: Crazy shopping

Imperial Capital, Purple Light Pavilion Strategy Conference Room.

Zhou Zhenguo placed a thick stack of documents on the conference table, the metal-textured cover bearing the logo of the Interstellar Peace Corporation. "Gentlemen, take a look at this." His lips curved slightly. "The first batch of procurement lists from the Interstellar Peace Corporation."

The documents were quickly distributed to each participant. Li Weiguo, Minister of the General Armaments Department, just turned to the first page and his eyes widened: "This... this is going to empty our accumulated inventory!"

The numbers on the list were dizzying:

Steel: 400 million tons

Aluminum Alloy: 82 million tons

Rare Earth Permanent Magnet Materials: 50 million tons

Photovoltaic Materials: 320 million square meters

Superconducting Cables: 450,000 kilometers

"Pay attention to the payment terms." Wang Jianjun, Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, said with a slight tremor in his voice, "50% prepayment, the remaining balance settled within 30 days after receipt... all settled in gold or foreign exchange. If we need it, we can even exchange it for credit points to purchase their clearly priced technology."

Gasps of astonishment rose and fell in the conference room. The Minister of Industry and Information Technology suddenly slammed his hand on the table: "This is enough to digest our excess capacity for the next five years! Wait a minute..." He quickly flipped to the appendix. "They also promised that procurement will last two to three years?"

"Look at this timetable!" The Director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission excitedly pointed to the appendix. "Procurement will be completed in 36 months, giving us ample adjustment time! Baosteel, Ansteel, and Tangshan... those backlogged inventories are saved!"

Outside the window, the early summer sun streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating everyone's faces. The Premier suddenly laughed aloud: "This child... he says it's commercial procurement, but he's also doing us a huge favor!"

"Not just that." Zhou Zhenguo pulled up a holographic projection, displaying a national industrial distribution map. "They specifically chose the regions with the most severe overcapacity: Hebei's steel, Shanxi's electrolytic aluminum, Inner Mongolia's polysilicon..."

"Although they do need massive resources to build 'Return to the Void', whose can they buy if not ours? Isn't the Southern Cross Federation a good target for price negotiations?"

The projection switched to international trade data, a steeply rising curve showing that the Eastern Federation's industrial product exports had surged by 800% in the past 72 hours.

"Rhine Empire Volkswagen just added an order for 200,000 new energy vehicles." The Minister of Commerce reported. "Because the Interstellar Peace Corporation's procurement led to a global increase in aluminum prices, they judged that future costs would be even higher."

The Premier stood up and walked to the window, looking at the bustling traffic on Chang'an Street. In the distance, a holographic advertisement placed by Shougang Group was playing in the air. The huge chimney was emitting white smoke, hundreds of workers were toiling enthusiastically, and the No. 3 blast furnace, which had been shut down for half a year, had just been reignited yesterday.

"Listen," he suddenly said.

Everyone fell silent. Through the open window, the sound of pile driving from a construction site seemed to drift in on the wind. They seemed to see a construction site accelerating its work; it was the scene of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Intelligent Manufacturing Industrial Park, which had been stagnant for two years, resuming construction.

"Approve, approve all of it." The Premier turned, his eyes bright. "This is a transaction, and it is also an opportunity. Also, notify all universities in the country to significantly improve the quality of teaching and the number of enrollments in engineering and science."

"As long as excellent young people can learn something from the Interstellar Peace Corporation, even if only ten percent of the children are willing to return, we will be able to grasp the future."

Inside the Kinshasa Presidential Palace, the Congolese Minister of Mines was roaring into a satellite phone: "Impossible! Our contract with Glencore still has..."

On the other end of the line, Topaz's voice carried a smile: "We'll pay three times the penalty for breach of contract. Oh, and..." The roar of heavy machinery came from the background. "The view outside your office window is quite nice."

The Minister rushed to the window. Five kilometers away, on the open-pit mine, hundreds of automated mining machines bearing the company's logo were at work, their efficiency twenty times that of traditional equipment.

"These... when..."

"Two hours ago." Topaz chuckled. "We also helped you clear out three illegal armed strongholds. In return..." The sound of papers rustling came from the phone. "Please sign this 'Sustainable Development Cooperation Agreement'."

A holographic email appeared simultaneously on the Minister's tablet: the Interstellar Peace Corporation pledged to directly invest 15% of the mining profits into local education and healthcare, accompanied by images of Congolese children attending classes in newly built holographic classrooms.

"The President has already signed, but the process still needs to be followed." Topaz added. "By the way, your son's tuition at the Champs-Élysées Higher Normal College... we've covered it."

In the rainforests outside Manaus, Jade, in high heels, was strolling through a newly built ecological monitoring station.

"We want timber, but..." She wiggled a finger at the Minister of Environment for the Rainforest Nation. "Not in the traditional sense of logging."

A holographic map unfolded, displaying a brand new "vertical farming" plan. While preserving 85% of the original vegetation, timber production would double through vertical farms and genetically optimized tree species.

"This technology is at least ahead of ours by..." The chief scientist of the Ministry of Environment widened his eyes.

"Twenty years?" Jade adjusted her black silk gloves. "I'm tired of hearing that today. Besides, you're a bit too optimistic about your own technological level."

The President suddenly interjected: "How will the employment problem be solved?"

Jade smiled: "We will train 10,000 'Ecological Engineers', and their salaries..." She glanced at her watch. "Will be double that of current loggers. Settled in Reais."

Above the rainforest, dozens of cargo drones were transporting the first batch of samples to the testing center.

Songkhla Port, Golden Buddha Federation, inside the trading hall of the Titan Industrial City Financial Center, data cascaded down a circular wall composed of eight hundred 4K curved displays and holographic projections. Three thousand traders from 87 countries around the world crowded into open workstations, shouts rising and falling.

"LME copper prices break through 20,000 eagle dollars per ton!"

"Chicago Exchange aluminum inventory goes to zero!"

"Oh my God... they just cleared out all rubber futures for the next 5 years!"

Tom Wilson, a senior trader for the Huge Rong Consortium, tore off his tie and yelled into his Bluetooth headset: "Immediately close all short positions! Wait––" He stared at the suddenly flashing numbers. "What? The Interstellar Peace Corporation is acquiring call options on global cobalt mines?"

Behind him, a dozen terminals of the Goldman Sachs team simultaneously blared alarms. An urgent message popped up on Lisa Zhang, the Asia Pacific Head's, tablet: [Nova United States Imposes Emergency Sanctions]

In the top-level central control room, Bronya's holographic projection hovered in the center of the data stream, her silver-grey twin pigtails swaying gently with her computational rhythm. "Master, the eagle dollar reserves consumed have reached 43.7%." She suddenly tilted her head. "Also, Low Prosper just exchanged quite a few credit points with us through the dark pool."

Chen Hao stood in front of the 270-degree panoramic glass curtain wall, overlooking the thirty ten-thousand-ton mega-ships lined up in the harbor, waiting to be loaded. "Continue operations." He took a sip of hot cocoa. "Turn the eagle dollars accumulated over these years," the reflection in the cup showed the busy silhouettes of the harbor cranes, "into tangible––"

Suddenly, Bronya received a new message. A virtual optical screen popped up in front of Chen Hao:

[URGENT NOTICE: The Nova United States government has frozen all Interstellar Peace Corporation assets in the New Union pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.]

[Frozen Amount: $287,500,000,000]

[Effective Date: Immediate]

"Pfft––" Chen Hao sprayed coffee on the glass. "No, is Trump's brain jammed? How dare he?"

"Is he really not afraid of me sending dark crows to the Federal Center? Playing a void card on me? Does he deserve to lose the key?"

Bronya's projection flickered a few times: "I don't know, Bronya can't understand his decision-making logic either. He just signed an executive order prohibiting any Nova United States entity from trading with us." She pulled up a live news feed, where a Roman Palace spokesperson was roaring at a press conference: "...This lawless enterprise must be sanctioned!"

Before he finished speaking, all screens refreshed again. Bronya blinked: "Boss, our Nova United States account has indeed been frozen, but Bronya can unfreeze it at any time." She suddenly showed a mischievous smile. "However, Low Prosper, the Huge Rong Consortium, and the Nova United States Bank are frantically contacting us."

Chen Hao wiped his mouth, then suddenly laughed aloud: "It seems someone is more anxious than us. Notify Jade, and let our 'allies' in the Nova United States do their part."

"Not just anyone can earn the company's money."

.......

The next morning, the Federal Center witnessed the most dramatic scene in the history of the Nova United States:

03:15 The House of Representatives passed the Restrictive Act by a vote of 407:28

04:30 The Senate overturned the President's sanctions order by a vote of 81:19

05:00 The Federal Supreme Court ruled the President "overstepped his authority"

06:00 Golden Snake Street Daily front page: "Interstellar Peace Corporation and Nova United States Reach 'New Normal'"

When the sun shone into the Songkhla trading hall again, Bronya cheerfully announced: "Latest news: Our Nova United States account has been unfrozen, and..." She winked playfully. "The New Union Federal Reserve just privately purchased 50 billion credit points from us through the Huge Rong Consortium."

Chen Hao looked at the newly arrived batch of cargo ships in the harbor and softly said: "See, this is the power of capital." He turned to the news footage of Trump's furious expression on the holographic projection. "No matter how powerful a President is, he can't fight against the greedy Golden Serpent Street."

The trading hall suddenly erupted in cheers. With the Interstellar Peace Corporation's frantic global buying spree, credit points officially became the default currency for commodity settlements.

Five months later, global live broadcast:

"Ladies and gentlemen, what you are now seeing is a miracle in the history of human engineering, the first panoramic reveal of the 'Return to the Void' offshore city."

"According to data released by the Interstellar Peace Corporation..." The host's voice trembled slightly with excitement. "This artificial island, with an area of over 30,000 square kilometers, was completed in just five months. Its nano self-assembly technology and new composite materials have completely discarded traditional construction techniques and theories!"

"Ladies and gentlemen." The host's voice almost cracked with excitement. "Welcome to the Interstellar Peace Corporation headquarters — 'Return to the Void'."