Special forces soldier demobilization: Starting from the county government compound, a meteoric rise

Although the temperature in the conference room was kept constant at 24 degrees Celsius, Thomas felt as if he were in an oven on the equator.

Large beads of sweat rolled down his high, straight nose and landed on the document called the "Comprehensive Technology and Resource Sharing Cooperation Agreement," leaving a small, glaring stain. The twelve top oligarchs from the West looked like death row inmates awaiting sentencing in the dock, their faces ashen.

Every clause in the document is like a sharp boning knife, mercilessly scraping away the fattest part of their bodies.

They share core technologies, open-source underlying patents, maintain absolute Chinese control, and even their pricing power in the global market is subject to "guidance and supervision" from relevant Chinese departments.

This is hardly a business cooperation agreement; it's clearly a one-sided, exploitative "indenture"!

"Gentlemen..."

Thomas swallowed hard, his voice hoarse like a broken bellows, "Do...do we really want to sign?"

"Not signing?"

The representative from Leica Optics next to him gave a bitter smile and spread his hands in despair. "If we don't sign, our company won't survive until next week. The board of directors gave me an ultimatum yesterday. If we don't get the damping fluid, I will be fired, and the company will face forced bankruptcy liquidation."

"But what if we sign..."

Another representative from a major aerospace and defense company gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with resentment. "The technological barriers we've built up over the past few decades have completely vanished! Those Chinese will be like vampires, sucking our most core resources dry! When we go back, we'll be treated as traitors to the nation!"

"A sinner? Better than being penniless."

Thomas closed his eyes, concealing the humiliation and helplessness within them. He took a deep breath, as if using all the strength he had in his life.

"Friends, times have changed."

"The era when we could dominate the East with a few powerful ships and cannons and a few technological patents is truly over."

He opened his eyes, picked up the expensive Montblanc pen on the table, but his hand trembled so much that he could barely hold the pen.

Between survival and dignity, capitalists will always choose the former without hesitation.

Just as Thomas was about to sign that humiliating contract.

"Click".

The meeting room door was pushed open.

Liu Ming returned. He didn't leave, but went to the next room to drink a cup of pre-Qingming Longjing tea that Nangong Yao had personally brewed.

He looked at the group of multinational CEOs who were conflicted, in pain, and seemed to have lost their parents, and a playful smile appeared on his lips.

"What? Haven't you made up your mind yet?"

Liu Ming walked back to the main seat and casually pulled out a chair to sit down.

"You all seem quite aggrieved. Do you feel that the terms of my agreement are too harsh? It's a bit like... those treaties your ancestors forced us to sign at the negotiating table a hundred years ago?"

These words were like a needle, precisely piercing the lungs of these Westerners.

A century ago, on the same land, Western powers used guns and cannons to force open the gates of Kyushu, compelling this ancient nation to sign countless humiliating treaties that ceded territory, paid indemnities, opened treaty ports, and relinquished tariff autonomy.

At that time, they were the supreme rulers, the bandits wielding butcher knives.

Now, the tables have turned, and the positions have been reversed.

"Director Liu."

Thomas, barely suppressing his humiliation, attempted a final struggle: "This isn't fair. We apologize for what happened a century ago, but that cannot justify your business extortion today. We are seeking equal cooperation!"

"equality?"

Liu Ming laughed, a laugh that was somewhat cold and somewhat arrogant.

"When you imposed technological blockades on us, did you ever talk about equality?"

"When you sold us lithography machines for ten times the price, along with countless outrageous clauses, did you ever talk about equality?"

"When you added our high-tech companies to the Entity List and froze our overseas assets, did you talk about equality?"

Liu Ming slammed his hand on the table, and the terrifying aura of the "Guardian God of War" instantly erupted, making it difficult for the group of foreign CEOs to even breathe!

"In my dictionary, there has never been absolute equality."

"Strength is the only true voice!"

"Today, I not only want you to sign this agreement. I also want you to return, with interest, the blood you've sucked from this land over the past few decades!"

He pointed at the agreement, his eyes revealing an undeniable domineering and ruthless aura.

"sign."

"Or, go back to your hometown, watch your businesses go bankrupt, and then I'll have the Nangong Group buy up all your production lines and bankrupt patents at the lowest possible price."

"You can choose for yourselves."

This is an open conspiracy. It's also a dead end.

Liu Ming wasn't afraid of them refusing to sign, because he knew that capital had no borders and no backbone. Between bankruptcy and compromise, these Western oligarchs only had one path to take.

Thomas looked into Liu Ming's unfathomable black eyes, and it seemed as if he saw in those eyes a giant Eastern dragon awakening and opening its blood-red maw.

He was utterly desperate.

"I...sign."

Thomas lowered his proud head, his hands trembling, and heavily signed his name on the last page of the agreement.

Once there was a first, there was a second. Twelve business giants who once dominated the international market now stood like a group of defeated roosters, signing their humiliating names on the agreement that declared the end of Western technological hegemony.

Each signature represents the open-sourcing of a core Western technology and a reshuffling of a massive market.

When the last representative finished signing and put down his pen, a heavy atmosphere of failure and dejection filled the entire conference room.

Liu Ming stood up. He didn't look at the foreigners who looked like they had lost their parents. Instead, he picked up the thick cooperation agreement that brought together the most advanced Western technologies.

This treaty contained neither territorial concessions nor reparations, yet it caused the West even greater pain than territorial concessions and reparations.

Because it severed the throat of the West's bloodsucking, it jeopardized the future of Western technological hegemony.

Liu Ming walked to the window. The sunlight was perfect, making the red walls and green tiles of the capital city shine brightly.

He looked at this magnificent land, at this land of Kyushu that had once suffered humiliation but was now rising with unstoppable momentum.

He took a deep breath.

One hundred years ago, our ancestors, facing powerful ships and cannons, signed those humiliating treaties that ceded national sovereignty and dignity.

A hundred years later, Liu Ming, sitting in this position, used their most prized technology and capital to force the descendants of these robbers to lower their noble heads!

"Today, I'm collecting some interest on behalf of my ancestors for the debts from a hundred years ago."

Liu Ming murmured softly, a barely perceptible moisture welling up in the corner of his eye.

He turned around and looked at the group of dejected Western representatives.

"It's a pleasure working with you all."

"Now, you can go back and wait to receive our raw materials."

"However, let me remind you, don't even think about trying any underhanded tricks, because next time..."

A deathly smile curled at the corners of Liu Ming's lips.

"Next time, it won't be as simple as just signing a document."