Chapter 418

Chapter 418 Aftermath

Turn a hand into a work of art?

　　Even with Yamamoto Kyokusen’s steel-hard resolve, he couldn’t help but shudder at those words.

　　Yet Su Rui remained unmoved, as if this were the most natural thing in the world. Having said what he needed to say, he turned and walked out.

　　”You’re a devil!”

　　Yamamoto Kyokusen roared in fury, but it was useless — Jin Taizhu was already standing before him, dagger in hand, face expressionless.

　　…………

　　At that moment, on the hillside along the Huaxia Ninghai border, the cleanup of the battlefield was drawing to a close. Twenty refrigerated trucks were lined up in a row, and the brothers of the Yuanwei Gang were loading the bodies onto them.

　　The corpses of the Eastern men were likewise tossed into separate refrigerated trucks, not a single one left behind.

　　Su Rui had given the order long ago — return every one of these bodies to the Yamamoto Group. In his words, even if they were all cremated in Huaxia, they’d still pollute the environment.

　　Despite his serious injuries, Wanyan Zhengyong insisted on standing there, watching as his fallen subordinates were carried onto the vehicles and taken to the crematorium.

　　”Dad, you’re badly wounded — please go find somewhere to rest.” Wanyan Huazhong said with concern. He had repeated the same words countless times over the past few hours, yet his father refused to listen.

　　Only when the last vehicle disappeared from sight did Wanyan Zhengyong finally give out. The last thread of strength drained from his body, and an overwhelming wave of exhaustion struck him down in an instant.

　　”Quick, get him to the hospital!” Wanyan Huazhong caught his father’s body and screamed at the top of his lungs.

　　…………

　　The Temple of the Sun.

　　The strategist, wearing a blue-faced fanged mask, stood before a large screen, reading through intelligence reports flowing in from around the world one by one, issuing instructions on each. But when he came across one particular message, his body visibly trembled.

　　”Have Feng Le come see me.” the strategist said.

　　Ten minutes later, a young man pushed open the door and walked in. His hair was a wild mess like a bird’s nest, and behind his thick bottle-cap glasses were two enormous dark circles under his eyes. Looking at him, it was impossible to tell how many days it had been since he’d last had a proper rest.

　　Even so, despite the exhaustion on Feng Le’s face, his eyes shone with excitement.

　　Seeing Feng Le’s state, the strategist seemed somewhat taken aback: “How many days have you gone without sleep?”

　　”Three days.” Feng Le held up three fingers and said excitedly: “But that’s nothing. While the major investment banks were jointly targeting Gaoqi Bank, we struck them from behind when they least expected it and walked away with a clean profit of 10 billion USD. We’ve already pulled out completely.”

　　”10 billion USD? Are you sure it’s that much?” The strategist seemed genuinely stunned by Feng Le’s report.

　　”Of course. Though honestly, it wouldn’t have been that much under normal circumstances — going after Gaoqi alone, making a billion or so would’ve been considered pretty good. But at this point, Huasheng, Morgan Stanley, and the other banks had joined forces to take down Gaoqi, trying to crush it beyond recovery. The sheer volume of capital they mobilized for this fight was absolutely unprecedented. We just waited until they were locked in a deadlock, then hit them from their exposed rear, grabbed what we could, and ran.”

　　Feng Le chuckled to himself. In this world, he only cared about finance — nothing else could give this young genius such a sense of accomplishment.

　　He wasn’t wrong. The major investment banks had made up their minds to bring Gaoqi down and were pouring money in recklessly. Gaoqi couldn’t just sit there and take it — they raised capital to fight back. But right in the middle of their fierce battle, a massive wave of capital suddenly descended from nowhere, exploited their unguarded flanks, scooped up a huge haul, and then turned and walked away without a moment’s hesitation.

　　The heads of the major investment banks all spat blood with rage at the same time.

　　They immediately launched an investigation into the true owner of those funds, but after several days of digging, they still had no leads whatsoever and had no choice but to give up, watching helplessly as a massive amount of assets vanished into thin air.

　　”Then I can pay back the interest on that 1 billion USD too.” the strategist said with a smile, thinking back to the promise he had made to the financier Starmeier.

　　”Strategist, next time something this good comes along, you have to call me.” Feng Le chuckled and rubbed his hands together. This ordinarily mild-mannered fellow transformed into a brilliantly gifted commander the moment he encountered a financial battle.

　　”There might just be one such opportunity right now.” the strategist pointed to the large screen. He and Su Rui had always been remarkably in sync — while one fought on the front lines, the other could just as quickly identify opportunities for action from the rear, the two of them fighting side by side in perfect coordination.

　　”What? The Yamamoto Group’s headquarters tower has been knocked down?” Feng Le’s eyes instantly blazed with intensity: “When did this happen?”

　　”Half an hour ago.”

　　”Strategist, can I ask you for one thing?” Feng Le said with unusual gravity.

　　”Whatever it is, just say it.” The strategist had long since placed great trust in Feng Le’s abilities and instincts — this young man always managed to surprise him.

　　”That 100 billion USD we borrowed — can we hold off on paying it back for now?” Feng Le scratched his head and said.

　　”You want to use the collapse of the Yamamoto Building as an opportunity to make a move?”

　　”This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Years ago, when terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center twin towers in New York, it triggered a reshuffling of the entire financial industry. The Yamamoto Building’s standing in the financial world is nowhere near that of the Twin Towers, but within Eastern it carries enormous weight. If we can fully capitalize on this opportunity, we might achieve an even greater victory than the strike on Gaoqi Bank.”

　　”More than 10 billion USD?” The strategist looked at Feng Le’s beaming face and suddenly felt his own mind wasn’t quite keeping up.

　　”No — the real significance this time isn’t how much money we can make, but achieving a long-term foothold in Eastern.” A sharp gleam flickered in Feng Le’s eyes.

　　”I understand what you mean.” The strategist caught on immediately: “For so many years, Eastern has protected its key domestic industries extremely well — outside capital has never been allowed in. But now, with the Yamamoto Building cut in half, a gap has been blown open in that protection. As long as we push a massive amount of capital through that gap, the results could be beyond imagination.”

　　Feng Le was truly a financial genius. Most people in this situation would think the Eastern stock market was about to crash and look to get out as fast as possible. But this young genius saw the other side of things — using the moment to establish the Temple of the Sun’s long-term presence in Eastern. That single move was enough to make even the strategist feel a touch of admiration.

　　”So whoever seizes the front position first stands to gain enormously. Once the gap closes, anyone trying to get in afterward will find it harder than climbing to heaven.” Feng Le laid out the logic in simple, easy-to-understand terms — though the actual execution would likely be a hundred, a thousand times more complex.

　　”Then let’s get started.” The strategist patted Feng Le on the shoulder: “This 100 billion USD is entirely under your control. If it’s not enough, I’ll mobilize more funds for you.”

　　A burning light flashed in Feng Le’s eyes as he pumped his fist with excitement: “It should be enough. This time, as long as we move before anyone else, we’ll fully penetrate Eastern’s vital industries!”

　　By the looks of it, this young genius’s record of three days without sleep was about to be extended even further.

　　”You’re always so restless.” After Feng Le left, the strategist gazed at the ruins of the Yamamoto Building displayed on the large screen and murmured to himself, a faint trace of amusement in his voice.

　　…………

　　Luo Feiliang was sitting in his office carefully writing up his report on the incident. He hadn’t stayed at the airport to continue directing operations — Su Rui had personally flown the plane carrying Yamamoto Kyokusen to Eastern and cut off all contact with the ground. There was nothing he could do to intervene even if he wanted to, so he had simply come back to write his report.

　　Just then, the office door suddenly swung open and Shangguan Mo and Qian Wanxing strode in with a rush, their faces full of excitement.

　　”Look at you two — you look like you’re just itching to watch the world burn. I’ve already got a splitting headache. What is it?”

　　How could Luo Feiliang not have a headache? A large-scale massacre of Huaxia citizens by Eastern samurai had taken place on Ninghai’s turf, making him the primary person responsible at national security. Not only did he have to account for the incident, he also had to follow through on all subsequent handling without the slightest lapse.

　　Given how egregious the nature of the incident was, the higher-ups were paying very close attention. Word had it that the top brass had already convened an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures. Eastern had dared to act this brazenly — it was clear that pressure would have to be applied.

　　”Chief, you called it — we really are itching to watch the world burn.” Shangguan Mo picked up a cup, poured himself some water, and downed it in one go: “That felt great — even better than drinking ice-cold beer in summer!”

　　”What are you two trying to do? If you’ve got something to say, just say it.” Luo Feiliang said with a frown.

　　”That man is truly something else — no wonder he could take on all the top fighters from the five great families single-handedly back in the day!” Qian Wanxing said, equally fired up.

　　”What on earth happened?” Luo Feiliang was nearly going out of his mind with these two subordinates of his.

　　”Chief, do you remember years ago when terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center twin towers in New York?”

　　”Of course I remember — how could anyone forget something like that.” At that, Luo Feiliang seemed to realize something and drew a sharp breath: “You mean……”

　　”That’s right. Su Rui flew a plane straight into the Yamamoto Group’s headquarters. Everything above the 49th floor — completely collapsed.”

　　Luo Feiliang shoved his desk aside and shot to his feet, his face filled with disbelief. What he had done was absolutely insane — insane beyond all imagination.

　　”Every major media outlet is wall-to-wall coverage of this right now. Journalists from all over the world are swarming into Eastern’s capital!”

　　”And Su Rui? Any news on him?” Luo Feiliang asked urgently.

　　”Unknown — alive or dead.”

　　At that, Shangguan Mo’s tone grew uncharacteristically heavy: “Since the collision happened at night in the Eastern capital, no one managed to film or witness the moment of impact. There’s no ejection seat in a private plane’s cockpit. And Yamamoto Kyokusen was on the plane too, so does that mean……”

　　At that point, even Shangguan Mo couldn’t bring himself to finish the thought. He had been so caught up in the excitement of hearing the news that he had forgotten what the consequences might be.

　　If Su Rui was dead, then none of this meant anything at all.