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

In the deep-water port in eastern Handong Province, the night wind was as cold as a file with barbs.

The strong wind whipped up huge black waves, more than two people high, which slammed hard against the concrete breakwater with a loud "bang".

The broken waves shattered into a cloud of white foam, which rose directly into the air.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of burning diesel fuel, and underneath it lingered the nauseating stench of dead fish.

Giant searchlights swept back and forth in the harbor, their beams casting a pale, cold light on the sea.

Three 10,000-ton cargo ships, painted entirely black, were quietly moored at their deep-water berths.

Like three giant steel beasts lying in the water, panting heavily.

On the side of the ship, the huge dark gold "Lingxiao" totem gleamed with a cold metallic texture under the halo.

Yan Qingfeng stood at the edge of the dock, wearing a pure black haute couture trench coat.

The wind made the hem of his trench coat flutter loudly.

"Master Yan!"

Su Jianxin came running up from behind.

The leather shoes made a series of disorganized and unsteady "clattering" sounds as they stepped on the slippery steel deck of the dock.

He was running so fast that his foot slipped and he almost did a split and knelt on the iron plate.

"Huff... huff..."

Su Jianxin braced himself tightly on his knees with both hands, breathing in large gulps of the cold, fishy-smelling air into his lungs.

My lungs were making a loud, bellowing sound, and the acid in my stomach was rising straight to my throat.

His gold-rimmed glasses were completely fogged up by the rain, and he couldn't see anything.

I could only haphazardly take it off and frantically rub it against the cuff of my suit jacket a couple of times.

"Something happened?" Yan Qingfeng didn't turn around; his gaze remained fixed on the three black ships.

The cigar held between his fingers flickered in the wind.

"Country T... Country T is acting like a scoundrel!"

Su Jianxin swallowed hard, his Adam's apple scraping against his thin neck.

His voice cracked, sounding strained and desperate.

Zhou Yuan was leaning against the cable stake next to him.

Clutching two skewers of grilled squid he had just bought from the dock, he chewed them until his mouth was dripping with red oil.

"What kind of shameless behavior is this? Didn't our batch of solid-state batteries get unloaded from the port yesterday?"

He mumbled incoherently, exhaling a pungent smell of garlic chili sauce.

Su Jianxin stomped his feet in frustration, making a squelching sound as he stepped on the water.

"The goods were unloaded! But those bastards from T country took the goods and didn't pay the balance!"

He pulled a document from his briefcase, the paper rustling loudly in the wind.

"A billion US dollars in outstanding payments! They've frozen our local branch's account!"

Su Jianxin's eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, and cold sweat mixed with sea fog streamed down his forehead.

"They used 'national security' as an excuse to say that our battery's underlying data was suspected of being stolen."

"An excuse?"

Yan Qingfeng gave a cold laugh, his lips curled into a straight line, devoid of any warmth.

"Have you found out who was handing the knife to you?"

"Who else could it be! Those old geezers on Wall Street!"

Su Jianxin was so angry that his gums chattered and made a "crackling" sound.

"These Angsarist capitalists got humiliated in Handong, so they're directing little lackey countries like Thailand to harass us overseas!"

He dug his fingernails into the plastic cover of the document, leaving a white mark.

"The T country's military just dispatched a battalion of troops."

"They've surrounded our local battery distribution center with rifles! They won't even let a fly out!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuan smashed the squid skewer in his hand into the sea.

"Fuck them! These tropical monkeys have gone too far!"

His eyes widened, and he reached behind his back to touch the cold grip of the gun.

Su Jianxin quickly handed the document in his hand to Yan Qingfeng.

"Mr. Yan, I have already instructed the Ministry of Justice to draft a transnational lawsuit overnight."

He pushed up his slipping glasses, his tone revealing the stubbornness of a scholar.

"Tomorrow morning, we'll file for arbitration with the International Trade Court and apply for the compulsory preservation of their overseas assets!"

Yan Qingfeng slowly turned around.

A cold wind ruffled his hair, and his eyes held a look of disgust as if he were looking at garbage.

He did not pick up the indictment.

Instead, he extended his right hand, which was wearing a black leather glove, and pinched the edge of the document with two fingers.

Just a casual flick.

"Splash—"

The thick indictment was blown away by the wind, its pages like a tattered kite with a broken string.

It scattered directly in mid-air, and finally floated lightly into the churning black sea without even making a bubble.

"Master Yan! What's wrong with you...?" Su Jianxin was stunned, his heart pounding painfully against his ribs.

"lawyer?"

Yan Qingfeng exhaled a puff of bluish-gray smoke, the smoke instantly being torn apart by the sea breeze.

"Nobuko, how many times have I taught you?"

His voice was as cold as if he had fallen into an ice cave: "Going to court is something civilized people do when they're full and have nothing better to do; it's just playing house."

Yan Qingfeng raised his wrist and pressed the miniature communicator.

"On this planet, there is only one set of rules that these beasts can understand."

"drop--"

A strange blue light distorted in the air.

A huge holographic projection unfolded directly in the cold wind of the dock.

The scene depicts a closed cabin filled with the strong smells of engine oil and gunpowder.

Lu Yuan was wearing a gray-black tactical vest.

He sat on a pile of gleaming yellow ammunition boxes, his two thick, bare arms covered in knife scars.

He was holding a tattered rag stained with gun oil.

They are currently maintaining a heavy anti-materiel sniper rifle.

The clicking sound of metal parts rubbing together was clearly transmitted through the microphone.

"Boss, any work coming up in the middle of the night?"

Lu Yuan grinned, revealing a set of white teeth, with a ruggedness unique to overseas mercenaries.

Yan Qingfeng pointed to the three dark, 10,000-ton cargo ships behind him.

"Someone from Country T took my batteries, refused to pay, and even pointed a gun at our employees."

Lu Yuan wiped the black grease off his fingers with a rag, a bloodthirsty red glint flashing in his eyes.

"Understood. Does the boss want him dead or alive?"

He threw the rag on the ground and pulled the bolt of the sniper rifle with a "click".

Su Jianxin, who was listening nearby, broke out in a cold sweat, and his spine tingled with pain.

"Master Yan! That's a sovereign nation! If we use civilian cargo ships to attack, we'll be facing an international military tribunal!"

"Who told you this is a civilian cargo ship?"

Yan Qingfeng turned his head and looked at Su Jianxin as if he were an idiot.

On the holographic screen, Lu Yuan's camera suddenly zoomed out.

This is not a typical ship hold for transporting rice and containers!

Inside the cargo ship’s enormous interior, thousands of dark launch pads are densely packed together.

Each rack is equipped with a heavy-duty attack drone bearing a dark gold logo.

In the deepest part.

There are also dozens of strangely shaped cylindrical devices that glow with a blue light.

That was the Lingxiao Consortium's most crucial miniature electromagnetic pulse (EMP) buoy.

"We are a legitimate business company."

Yan Qingfeng flicked the ash from his cigar. "The 'Dark Sword' security company, registered overseas, is completely legal."

He stared at Lu Yuan, "Since they're defaulting on their debt, let's pursue legal action to protect our commercial rights."

Lu Yuan stood up and kicked the ammunition box.

"Dark Sword team, prepare to move anchor!"

He gave a casual military salute to the screen, "Boss, I guarantee you'll get top-notch service."

"Ugh—!"

A deafening blast of a ship's horn suddenly ripped through the night sky of the deep-water port.

The sound was so loud it felt like it was going to shake a person's heart out of their chest.

Three massive steel behemoths, each weighing tens of thousands of tons, spewed thick black smoke from their exhaust pipes.

The heavy propeller began to churn the seawater wildly, creating large white whirlpools.

The cargo ship slowly sailed away from its berth, pushing aside waves several meters high, and plunged headlong into the dark depths of the sea.

Su Jianxin's eardrums ached from the loud whistle, and acid from his stomach surged up into his throat.

He leaned on the mooring post, watching the fleet depart, his voice trembling like a leaf.

"Master Yan... with this kind of situation, are we just going to consider it protecting our rights if we don't fire a single shot?"

Su Jianxin's teeth were chattering. "If this cannon fires, does that mean we're declaring war on Country T?"

Yan Qingfeng flicked his burnt-out cigar into the sea, the cold wind whipping at the corner of his clothes.

"beat?"

He turned his head, a cruel smile curving his lips.

"We're not going to fight; we're just going to teach these uncivilized monkeys what the spirit of contract in modern capitalism is."