Handong: Sha Li wants political achievements? I'll shut down the entire province.

The wind outside the window howled loudly against the 118th-layer tempered glass.

Yan Qingfeng reached out and pressed his hand against the glass surface.

Through the thick bulletproof lining, I could feel the biting chill of the late autumn night wind seeping into my palm.

The confidential phone call Qi Weidong made at the Jingzhou Hotel had already been intercepted by the underlying code of the Yunxiao system.

The audio file lay on the sandalwood desk behind Yan Qingfeng.

He listened to the bald old man's trembling voice on the phone twice.

The heavy oak door was pushed open from the outside by someone using their foot.

"Click".

Zhou Yuan swaggered in, a green apple munching on his hand and a stack of folders tucked under his arm.

"Master Yan."

He chewed on the fruit, mumbled something indistinctly, and casually tossed the pit into the corner trash can.

He threw it off target, and the apple core rolled to the edge of the Persian carpet.

He clicked his tongue, too lazy to bend down and pick it up.

Su Jianxin followed behind, carrying a cup of freshly brewed hand-drip black coffee.

The tip of the leather shoe hit the apple core perfectly.

The chief financial officer frowned deeply and rubbed the soles of his shoes vigorously on the doormat in disgust.

"Hey Lao Zhou, can't you change your pig-like eating habits?"

Su Jianxin pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses that were sliding down his nose bridge.

"This handmade carpet, which costs tens of thousands of yuan per square meter, is covered in your drool."

"What a load of crap."

Zhou Yuan rolled his eyes, threw the folder on the coffee table, and several pages of paper scattered with a rustling sound.

"I've been working so hard my stomach is churning, can't I even have a piece of fruit?"

Yan Qingfeng turned around and ignored their bickering.

He walked over to the leather sofa and sat down.

The fabric of the suit trousers rubbed against the leather sofa, making a soft rustling sound.

He casually touched the silver lighter on the coffee table, his thumb flicking the scroll wheel.

"Did you finish your task?" Yan Qingfeng lifted his eyelids and glanced at the two of them.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuan immediately stood up straight.

"Absolutely. The entertainment and transportation sectors are firmly established."

He grinned, revealing a bit of green apple peel stuck between his teeth.

"That good-for-nothing Chen is still in jail. Zhao Donglai really went all out this time, even blocking the way to bail."

Zhou Yuan scooped up a glass of cold water from the coffee table and gulped down half of it.

"As for that top star he brought over... what's his name... Lu Ze?"

"Old Shen took the man to our subordinate sewage treatment plant."

He burped and chuckled, "They say this kid has such delicate skin that he'd be perfect for unclogging sewers. This morning he even pulled out two dead dogs, and they vomited so badly."

"What about what happened on the road?" Yan Qingfeng interrupted his rambling.

"Oh right, the way!"

Zhou Yuan quickly wiped his mouth with his sleeve, leaving water stains all over his sleeve.

"The highway toll booths have all been demolished, not even a brick or rubble is left. Our driverless heavy trucks are now running like the wind."

"Vehicles from other provinces that want to enter must install Yunxiao's GPS tracking black box and purchase toll credits. Anyone who tries to force their way in will have their tires blown out when the roadblock pops up."

Su Jianxin placed the hand-drip coffee on the coaster.

The porcelain base touched the cork without making a sound.

He took a tissue and carefully wiped away the moisture from his lenses before putting them back on.

"In the areas of finance and agriculture, the entire system is now completely closed."

Su Jianxin's seemingly refined but actually depraved face was etched with a chillingly calculating look.

"Those four agricultural oligarchs sold off their shell warehousing companies here last night, and ran away at a loss."

"The high-priced grain on the black market is all rotting in their own hands. It's grown moldy, and even people feeding it to pigs are afraid it's poisonous."

He interlaced his fingers and rested his elbows on the knees of his trousers.

"As for Qi Weidong... he investigated for a long time, turning the ledgers upside down, but found nothing."

Su Jianxin let out a cold laugh, his chest vibrating slightly.

"People in Handong now even use our credit points to buy an ice pop."

"In this area, the RMB is practically useless except for being burned as paper money at graves."

Yan Qingfeng snapped the lighter shut.

The pale blue flame went out, leaving behind a pungent smell of kerosene.

"Culture and entertainment, transportation, finance, and agriculture."

Yan Qingfeng leaned back in his chair, his long legs crossed.

"With these four pillars supporting it, Handong is practically an iron barrel."

The cold wind outside was still hitting the glass, but inside the room, it was so quiet that only his steady breathing could be heard.

"No one can interfere, and no one can turn the tide."

Yan Qingfeng uttered these words in a deep voice, as if he were holding an ice cube.

Su Jianxin reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a palm-sized black metal disc.

I pressed my fingertip on the edge, and a dark red breathing light lit up in the center of the disc.

He stood up, walked to Yan Qingfeng, and handed him the plate with both hands.

"Master Yan, please take a look at this."

Su Jianxin's Adam's apple bobbed, and an uncontrollable ambition flickered in his eyes.

"We've turned Handong into an independent kingdom, and all the capital can do is jump up and down in frustration."

"But things haven't been peaceful in the financial circles on foreign websites these past few days."

Zhou Yuan leaned closer and sniffed.

"What? Are those foreign devils up to no good again?"

"They're scared."

Su Jianxin pushed up his slipped glasses, the lenses reflecting the white light of the overhead lamp.

"Those vampires on Wall Street, and those old money families in Europe that have been around for centuries."

"The video of George William scrubbing the toilet here scared them half to death."

He paused, his tone turning somber.

"But they hold global resources in their hands and are now secretly making connections to try and set up a blockade network overseas."

Su Jianxin looked at Yan Qingfeng and tentatively asked a question.

"Lord Yan, this fortress in Handong is impregnable. Are we... going to stay here and hold out forever?"

Yan Qingfeng didn't respond.

He took the black disc, weighed it in his hand, and felt the weight of the metal pressing down on his palm.

Press your thumb precisely on the middle ring of breathing lights.

"Buzz—"

A low, buzzing electrical sound.

Above the disc, a giant holographic globe with a diameter of more than three meters was projected directly.

The interplay of deep blue light illuminated the entire CEO's office, making it resemble a weightless sci-fi capsule.

Yan Qingfeng stood up and walked to the globe.

He reached out, his fingers passing through the virtual light and shadow, creating a subtle ripple of light particles.

The fingertip landed precisely on the red dot representing Handong on the Asian tectonic plate.

"Clatter".

The system detected the touch.

A dark gold Lingxiao logo exploded on the red dot.

Immediately following, countless dazzling dark golden veins of light appeared.

Like living tree roots, it spread wildly in all directions from the center of Handong.

It crossed the Pacific Ocean and became firmly anchored on the east coast of North America.

It crosses the Eurasian land bridge and plunges directly into the financial heart of London and Frankfurt.

Zhou Yuan looked at the shimmering veins, rubbed his eyes, and gasped.

"Goodness gracious...this must be an enormous net."

"Defend?"

Yan Qingfeng turned around, and the holographic light and shadow shone on his face, cutting out a cold and hard shadow.

His lips twitched upwards little by little.

He let out a haughty smile that looked down on all living beings.

The laughter, carrying a menacing air that seemed capable of piercing the sky, echoed throughout the spacious room.

"Squatting in this pond like a turtle, that's not my style, Yan Qingfeng."

He tossed the plate back onto the coffee table with a loud clang.

"We've established all the rules for Handong, and we've thoroughly dealt with the issues."

Yan Qingfeng grabbed the black trench coat draped over the back of the sofa, tossed it over his shoulder with one hand.

A cold draft seeped in through the ventilation gaps in the floor-to-ceiling windows, causing the hem of my trench coat to flutter loudly.

He strode towards the door.

The leather shoes clicked dully as they stepped on the wooden floor at the edge of the carpet.

As Yan Qingfeng reached the door, he stopped and turned to look at the two people who were still standing there in a daze.

"Do those foreign devils really think they can become the masters of the world just by drawing a circle on their own turf?"

The murderous intent in his eyes was like two sharpened steel knives.

"Let's go. I'll take you to teach them what a real global monopoly is."

Zhou Yuan slapped his thigh, rubbed his hands excitedly, and his neck turned red.

"Damn it! Master Yan, which place should we go to and cause trouble for first?"

Yan Qingfeng pulled the doorknob, his cold, hard voice slamming onto the floor.

"Notify the control tower to prepare the special plane. Target..."

He paused for a second, his words carrying a distinct bloody undertone.

"Wall Street."