149: Chapter 149 The Shadow of War

Follow the continuous brushstrokes as we embark together on the adventure of "Warhammer: Starting as a Planetary Governor, Three Hundred Years in Tax Arrears" on this site.

Caofeidian Port, morning.

The mist on the sea had not yet dissipated, and the salty sea breeze swept across the pier.

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The pier was already crowded with people.

Director Li of China Iron and Steel Association stood at the very front, gazing out at the horizon.

Zhang Xiangyang of Tangshan Iron and Steel stood beside him, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, half-burned; he didn't even notice the ash falling onto his pants.

The procurement CEOs from Baowu, HBIS, Shagang, and Ansteel were all present.

No one spoke; everyone was staring at the distant sea.

In a black business van not far away, Harris was huddled in the back row, also closely monitoring every movement here.

Whether this shipment was real or fake would determine his career and, more importantly, the monopoly of Australian iron ore for the next decade or more.

In a corner of the port, two plainclothes national security personnel were setting up hidden cameras, transmitting the footage back to the capital in real-time.

Everyone in the industry knew that this single ship of ore would determine the pricing power of East Asia's iron ore for the next ten years.

Through the mist, the deep and resonant sound of a ship's horn arrived, causing ripples to spread across the water.

A behemoth slowly sailed out.

With the white DYB logo painted on its hull, the giant freighter—three hundred and twenty meters long with a full-load displacement of seventy thousand tons, comparable to an amphibious assault ship—emerged from the sea mist, its massive hull blocking out the rising sun.

This was a freighter modified by Fu Haoran from a captured drug lord's RO-RO ship; he had reinforced the hull and modified the cargo holds specifically for transoceanic iron ore transport.

The Australians had bribed global bulk carrier owners to block his shipping channels, so he simply used his own ship to haul it.

As the giant vessel docked, the roar of the horn drowned out the sound of the waves. The dull thud of tightening cables and the clattering sound of the anchor chain hitting the water struck the hearts of everyone present.

The workers on the pier stopped their tasks and looked up at the giant ship, letting out bursts of exclamations.

The cigarette in Zhang Xiangyang's hand fell to the ground. He stared at the ship, his Adam's apple bobbing: "This scale... is truly exaggerated."

Once the ship docked, customs, third-party testing agencies, and steel mill technicians boarded to take samples. Everyone was waiting.

Director Li paced back and forth, Zhang Xiangyang lit another cigarette, and Harris stared intently at his phone in the car.

Half an hour later, the test results came out.

"Total iron grade is 65.2%, with sulfur and phosphorus impurity content less than 0.05%, superior to Rio Tinto's PB Fines."

Zhang Xiangyang was the first to jump up, slapping his hand on the table.

"Good! Fantastic! I never have to look at the Australians' faces again!"

Director Li held the test report and dialed the Minister's number, his voice tight with excitement: "Minister, the goods have arrived, and the quality is completely up to standard. We succeeded."

Inside the business van, Harris received a call from an informant. Half a minute later, the phone slipped from his hand and hit the floor mat.

Not long after, the phone rang again. It took a long time before Harris finally picked it up.

"Mr. Harris, you have been officially dismissed. Return to Perth immediately for an audit."

Harris slumped in his seat, looking at the giant ship as the despair in his eyes slowly turned into venomous malice. He had worked deep in the Asia-Pacific region for over a decade and held countless connections in the military-industrial complex and political circles; he would never just slink away like this.

He clenched his fist, picked up a backup phone, and dialed the number of the President of Lockheed Martin Asia-Pacific, his voice cold: "Old friend, I have news regarding DYB Technology that I think you will definitely be interested in."

The delivery of fifty thousand tons of iron ore should not have been a small matter.

However, there were no media present, and no outside attention.

Domestic authorities and Australia had reached a strange tacit understanding.

The domestic side did not want to publicize the breaking of the monopoly to avoid downstream buyers pushing prices down.

The Australian authorities did not want to make their failure public to avoid affecting their approval ratings.

But the entire steel industry had completely changed because of this single ship of ore.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ocean, Jimmy pushed open the office door, his tone full of excitement:

"Boss, it's done! Our long positions bought at the bottom for ninety dollars saw the platts index skyrocket to one hundred and twelve dollars today. We made a killing!"

"The futures bottom-fishing netted a profit of 120 million USD, and the iron ore forward contracts also surged simultaneously, realizing 700 million USD in floating profit. Total net profit is 820 million USD!"

Fu Haoran looked at the profit data on the screen, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

A familiar system prompt sounded in his mind:

[Detected that the Reincarnator has completed the first cross-Hive City bulk commodity trade and successfully established a trade route. Congratulations, Reincarnator, on unlocking a new identity—Rogue Trader.]

[Reward: general points +5000, Elementary Business Talent—Cross-Hive City resource procurement costs reduced by 10%, trade negotiation success rate increased by 20%.]

[Prompt: The random technology rewarded from the Reincarnator's previous 'Red Sand Hills Victory' mission has been activated.]

[Obtained: Melta Charge Formula (Can be adapted for conventional weapon upgrades, significantly increasing lethality against armored units.)]

Fu Haoran raised an eyebrow.

Unlocking the Rogue Trader identity perfectly aligned with his subsequent plans to establish interstellar trade.

But the real harvest was that Melta Charge formula.

This move was a direct, fatal blow to the three major Australian mines.

Without Vale's cooperation, limiting production to protect prices was a joke. Internal infighting among the three major Australian mines caused the production cut plan to die in the womb.

Within a week, the three major Australian mines were forced to take the initiative to contact China Iron and Steel Association to restart annual long-term contract negotiations.

The new long-term contract price was set at one hundred dollars per ton, a 31% plunge from the previous one hundred and forty-five dollars.

But this only changed Australia from making money while lying down to making money while standing up.

One must know that their costs were only around fifty dollars, and sometimes even lower.

Yet for the Australian side, accustomed to lying down and counting money, this was nothing short of a bolt from the blue.

More importantly, it wasn't just the price that decreased, but also the procurement volume. Aside from East Asia, the iron ore procurement volumes of other countries were merely negligible "snacks" that couldn't compare to East Asia's massive orders.

The iron ore pricing power that the Australians had held for over a decade was, from this moment on, completely torn open with a gap that could never be closed again.

The funding issue was temporarily resolved, but Fu Haoran had to face a more severe reality—the impending war in the Warhammer World.

For the 2K World, there were still seven years, but for the Hive City world of Warhammer 30K, only half a year remained.

In the CEO conference room of DYB Headquarters.

Father Kallun, Lucifelle, Wade, Yuri, Tychus, and Ling Shuang—all the core confidants were present.

Yuri stood before a holographic projection, reporting the latest intelligence with a grave expression:

"The Emperor above, we've stirred up a hornet's nest now."

"Seven main Hive Cities and fourteen small-to-medium Hive Cities within our sector have officially signed a Mutual Defense Pact—the Seven Hive Alliance—and have formally declared war on us."

"The Alliance's total population is eighty times ours, and their mobilizable military force is twelve times ours."

"Currently, their vanguard is already on the way. Specifically, it consists of three hundred full-strength Planetary Defense Force regular regiments, each with no fewer than 10,000 men. The total strength is conservatively estimated at around 3 million, equipped with standard heavy firepower. These soldiers are all veterans who have participated in counter-insurgency operations."

"We currently only have 500,000 full-strength defense regiments, with more troops still in training. It's expected that after the war begins, our total strength can reach 1.5 million."

"The only good news is that the Genestealer Cult can mobilize 2 million combat scions, which are active forces ready to join the fray at any time."

"Additionally, there are about 500,000 Genestealers with a high degree of atavism who have already begun infiltration operations, starting to carry out random sabotage and create panic."

"Furthermore, as per your request, the cult members have broken down into small teams of under a hundred people, scattered around Sijar Hive City to conduct a guerrilla war of attrition."

At this point, Yuri's tone carried a hint of helplessness, "But my Lord Governor, could you please stop making things difficult for this old man?"

"The supply pressure for these guerrilla units is immense. Our Hive City's light industry already has a poor foundation, and the production capacity simply cannot sustain it, leading to extreme fluctuations in combat effectiveness."

Fu Haoran knew Yuri was right; for Alpha Hive City, which lacked light industry, this was nothing short of a disaster.

To the extent that many Genestealer guerrilla units could only fight the enemy in flip-flops.

They couldn't even put together a set of unified standard equipment.

To this, Fu Haoran's solution was... looting.

You read that right—use whatever you can find. As long as it's usable, whether it belongs to the enemy or our own, Fu Haoran supported it.

This was something Fu Haoran had learned from the mortal version of the Blood Ravens—the Savlar Chem-Dogs.

However, having said that, although Genestealers aren't human, they are at least assets. Fu Haoran's principle was that every drop of value must be squeezed out of them.

Fu Haoran was already preparing an improvement plan.

Back to the business at hand, Yuri continued his report:

"I must remind you that the Alliance's overall industrial capacity is fifteen times ours."

"They possess complete Hive City armories and manufactorums, capable of producing their own leman russ main battle tanks, chimera armored personnel carriers, and Basilisk siege guns."

"According to my analysis, the Alliance can deploy over 600 leman russ main battle tanks, 2,000 chimera armored personnel carriers, and 120 Basilisk siege guns to the battlefield."

"In terms of aerial forces, they possess 180 valkyrie transport aircraft and 230 Thunderbolt Fighters. Once they arrive, they can achieve absolute air superiority over the surrounding airspace."

"And currently, we can't even match a fraction of their numbers."

At this point, Yuri was on the verge of despair!

He was a man who falsified accounts, making him particularly sensitive to numbers.

Therefore, in his view, this campaign was destined for failure from the start.

The others weren't faring much better.

They all knew that this disparity in strength meant there was almost no chance of victory on the front lines.

Wade knew now was not the time to pour cold water on the situation, but he still chose to speak up and report:

"Governor, I also need to add that even if we can stall their Planetary Defense Force with guerrilla tactics, once the Iron Warriors Space Marines join the battle as you said—even if it's just a ten-man squad—they could directly punch through our entire defensive line."

Everyone lowered their heads.

They had seen Danteoche take action several times. Those blind spies and gang members didn't even have the right to resist before a true Astartes Brother.

Only Lucifelle's face showed no ripples of emotion.

As a Necrontyr Overlord who had restored her flesh, she didn't care at all about the survival of this Hive City.

In her view, the worst-case scenario was simply taking Fu Haoran and leaving.

As long as she wanted to go, no one could stop her.

However, she was more interested in how this man, who could always create "unexpected" variables, would turn the tables this time.

To everyone's surprise, Fu Haoran, in the main seat, showed no trace of pessimism.

He tapped on the table, and the conference room instantly fell silent.

"I know what you are afraid of. You're afraid of the Seven Hive Alliance's several-fold military strength, their tanks and cannons, and even more afraid of those demigod-like Space Marines."

"But I tell you, mortals have never been mere cannon fodder for Space Marines."

"If a lasgun can't pierce it, use a Hellgun."

"If a Hellgun isn't enough, use a Heavy Bolter."

"If individual soldiers can't keep up with their speed, use wolf spider sentry turrets to weave a net of firepower."

"If we can't stop them on the ground, we'll build aerial units and smash through their armor from above."

"If they have one Space Marine squad, we'll use a company, a battalion, a regiment to surround them."

"If three hundred people aren't enough, then use three thousand, thirty thousand, three hundred thousand!"

"I don't believe they are perpetual motion machines. They need supplies, they need rest. Even Astartes Brothers have weaknesses; they bleed, and they die."

"Moreover, we already have the trump card in our hands to pierce their armor."

Fu Haoran paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present:

"This war, we have a chance to fight, and even more, a chance to win."

The conference room was deathly silent for a few seconds as everyone looked at each other.

There was no turning back now; they had no better option but to grit their teeth and follow.

After the meeting ended, the crowd gradually left.

Tychus pulled a bottle of Erguotou from his pocket; this was a good thing he had shoplifted from Fu Haoran.

He took a swig and grumbled: "I've been a slippery thief all my life, only to be conned in the end and end up on this pirate ship."

You ask how he got on?

It was simple: Fu Haoran had portrayed him as a hero, promoting him heavily and even sending his posters to other planets.

Now it would be hard for Tychus to flee to another planet; countless bounty hunters wanted his head.

By the way, the very first bounty was posted by Fu Haoran, though the price was a bit insulting—only fifty Throne Coins.

Tychus couldn't stand it and raised it himself to two hundred and fifty.

Later, through a series of coincidences, it was raised to twenty-five thousand Throne Coins.

Tychus himself felt like killing himself just to go collect the bounty.

This money was just too damn much.

After the others had left, Lucifelle spoke: "You seem to be hiding some things."

Fu Haoran nodded: "Yes. If my intelligence is correct, besides the rebel Iron Warriors, we also need to face at least one Warlord-class Titan."

Lucifelle understood instantly. If it were her, she would also choose to hide this desperate news. A single Warlord-class Titan was enough to change the course of the war.

However, Fu Haoran didn't say that he was currently planning how to hunt an Emperor-class Titan. That's right, an Emperor-class, not a Warlord-class.