Will the kemonomimi encounter Alien Ranch Story?

The problem now is that they haven't found the gap yet, so they can't break the alliance, and the cost of confrontation is exceptionally high.

After all, when these two beasts discovered that by joining forces they could tear apart other large creatures at a relatively low cost.

Even if they eventually fight over the spoils, Rhine's life will be lost or he will be severely injured.

Not to mention, once it declines, it won't just be these two trying to take a bite out of it; almost everything that overlaps or conflicts with it in business will try to take a bite, or even several bites.

Compromise is compromise, and demonstration is demonstration; they won't mention the fact that the "little tiger" removed their defense lawyer, openly breaching the contract by replacing him.

Even if you bring it up, it won't make a difference. This kind of rich woman can afford the penalty for breach of contract and doesn't care about the damage to the firm's reputation. She's just paying to cause trouble, which is no different from hiring street thugs to cause trouble at your door—only on a bigger scale.

Even if you bankrupt all six firms she acquired, it won't matter. She doesn't care at all and has no intention of actually running a business in this industry.

Therefore, the main point of attack was directed at Longmen's judicial system, attacking almost every aspect from the trial process to legal loopholes. They were practically pointing their fingers at Lao Wei and saying: Your rules don't serve us big capitalists well, so they need to be changed.

This kind of behavior—feeling good for oneself while making friendly forces take the blame—is really infuriating, but to no avail; everyone is angry but dares not speak out.

Because it's useless. Even if this guy can't make it in the industry, he can go back to being a rich young lady and then repeat what Rhine Lab did today.

She might even have to add her fiancé to the mix and give you a third chance. Getting slapped once is painful enough, but three slaps in a row would probably knock you out on the spot.

Therefore, the type of opponent you least want to encounter in the workplace is a rich second-generation heir who can simply inherit a vast fortune if he doesn't perform well.

Especially when she still had plenty of money to throw around, and now that she has two wallets instead of one, it's even more terrifying.

"By the way, the investigation team from Laterano has already set off. You'd better hide your firearms well, otherwise they might sanction you."

"For example?" Yelena pondered for a full half hour, unable to figure out how Laterano would punish their firearms. "Will they send troops to raid our production bases?" Some of the production bases were in Lungmen, and the rest were in Ursus, so there was no need to worry.

The reason is simple: both the Ursus emperor and the Black Serpent wanted to raid their production bases, but they couldn't, let alone Laterano, which even Ursus couldn't defeat.

Most importantly, Patriot, who once made the Pope's cavalry crawl all over the place, has not only been upgraded to a Plus version in terms of his body, but also upgraded to Mk.3 version in terms of equipment. If those guys with fluorescent lights on their heads were to violently search and confiscate his equipment, it would be hard to say who would confiscate whose equipment.

Patriot wielding a halberd isn't that scary, nor is wielding a power halberd. What's truly terrifying is Big Daddy who upgrades his Ursus standard armor to power armor, wields a power halberd, and also carries a molten lava gun.

The latter, in particular, adds a sorcery device backpack that can provide Originium Arts effects to all nearby shield guards, forming a crimson protective layer that absorbs spell attacks.

Lateran's guns are essentially a type of staff, and a significant portion of their damage is spell damage. This is one of the reasons why they were so heavily attacked back then. Spell damage against spell immunity meant they were bound to get hammered to the ground.

"No, they will prohibit any cooperation with you. Anyone who uses their firearms will not be able to provide you with parts or purchase your products. It's either one or the other."

"But our product quality is better."

"But they have brand recognition. Compared to the reputation and brand built over a century, who would believe that a group from Ursus, whose main businesses are agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and finance, produces weapons?"

"That is indeed a bit troublesome." After all, it greatly restricts the group's procurement channels, and it's out of the question that the remaining suppliers not on the sanctions list will take the opportunity to raise prices.

"So, instead of adding to this trouble, it's better to do some superficial work before the investigation team arrives and just get by. That's the lesson Boss Xia didn't teach you: dealing with administrative and policy risks in corporate risk management."

Swire said seriously, "Of course, that guy probably doesn't care."

After all, when you can drive back and forth on a snowy plain with a regular army of a military superpower and remain evenly matched, the weight of administrative risk is too low. It's like if a private company could drive back and forth on the Pacific Ocean with the US Seventh Fleet and remain evenly matched, then not only China, but even the US government wouldn't dare to impose any policy sanctions on you.

Of course, such companies have existed in history, although they were merely the shell of a company—the famous East India Company is one such example.

"But even if you don't care, why waste the company's public relations resources on the most troublesome steps when risk management can be done at a very low cost?"

Just like the self-censorship of some platforms, this is the risk management that they achieve at the lowest cost. It's not that large companies can't negotiate with higher-ups, but that they don't have the need to expend those resources to do so.

Chapter 44 Talulah Space Opening

Chapter 44

At Lungmen, in the immigration channel, two people completely shrouded in cloaks slowly passed through immigration security. The so-called security check was nothing more than checking for any abnormal Originium-sensing signals. "Beep beep—"

"Uh..." The cloaked figure was silent for a moment, "Has Lungmen updated its equipment again?"

After saying that, he reluctantly took out a gun from under his cloak and placed it on the inspection table. Then came the second and the third guns. Soon, all kinds of long and short firearms formed a small mountain.

“This is my signature gun; the others are collectibles. If you want to inspect them, hurry up…” Another, relatively short, cloaked figure also took out a large pile of firearms.

"Latlanders?"

"Yes, is there a problem?"

"No, what is your purpose in coming to Lungmen? Lateran people are still quite rare here."

"I am on official business abroad, so please excuse me for not being able to disclose that information."

"Alright, it's you believers again." The security guard raised the barrier and let the two in. "Hey, sister, weren't we here for tourism?"

“That’s you,” the Lateran leader sighed. “Let’s find a hotel to stay in first. If we have extra time after we finish our business, I’ll show you around.”

"Okay!" the short girl exclaimed cheerfully. "I want apple pie for dinner tonight."

“Okay… Apple Pie—” The two gradually disappeared into the streets of Lungmen. “By the way, live ammunition can’t be used in the city. Replace it with simulated ammunition in a bit…”

"Okay, no live ammunition, what a troublesome rule..." Guns are essentially staves, rather than relying on the explosive gas of ammunition for propulsion. Theoretically, any object of similar caliber can be inserted into the chamber as ammunition, while simulated ammunition is a plastic-like particle made of ketone compounds.

"However, I remember you said last time you came back that Longmen is a place that looks prosperous but is actually full of poor people. I feel that although it is not as good as my hometown, it is not much worse."

"Yes, it's much better than last time." At least the number of thugs loitering on the streets has decreased by more than half, and there are very few infected people wearing thick cloaks or raincoats who used to move timidly along the shadows of walls.

"Once we get to the hotel, you'd better stay in your room. I still have work to do. This isn't home. Even if you blow up the classrooms at the academy, someone will clean up your mess."

"Okay—" the girl with long, wine-red hair replied sweetly. As for whether she really thought that her older sister would disappear the moment she left, that was hard to say. You see, before a certain event...

Well, it was the same after a certain incident—she wasn't exactly a law-abiding person, she was a typical troublemaker.

After thinking she had made arrangements for her younger sister who had insisted on coming on vacation, the relatively more mature girl lowered her head and pondered where to begin her official duties. Most Lateran people were quite serious and rigid, and because of their beliefs, some of their behaviors seemed rather strange to outsiders.

Her purpose in coming was simple: after discovering a large number of "suspected firearms" in Lungmen, Laterano's first reaction was not that someone had designed and produced new firearms, but for some other reason.

For example, someone might steal from Laterano's armory or smuggle Laterano's goods out of the country, or there might be an insider who violated the gun ban by revealing gun-making techniques to outsiders.

It's important to know that their firearms were also reverse-engineered from the relics of their ancestors, so in a sense, they are indeed Lateran's exclusive intellectual property.

Because it is identical to the original firearm only in appearance, there are considerable differences in its firing principle and internal structure.

Of course, if it is determined that it is not one of the two situations mentioned above, but rather other firearms similar to those used by our ancestors, then the matter may be a bit serious, as such things have two sources.

One possibility is that others have unearthed new ruins or new firearms, which would be a major blow to Lateran's faith and would be considered blasphemy.

The second possibility is that someone smuggled items from the "forbidden storage room" (ancient armory) at the foot of Mount Laterano. Either way, it would be a huge shock to the Laterano people.

Meanwhile, in the old town, the sign for "Titan Weapons Industries" slowly rose with the help of a simple pulley system. It was a standard showroom filled with all kinds of weapons and equipment, from small vehicles and individual protective gear to various cold weapons and firearms.

"Is this alright?" Yelena looked at the workers who were working. These were newly arrived infected from Ursus. On the surface, they had no connection with the Xia Group, but in reality, everyone knew that they were members of the Reunion Movement that Talulah recruited everywhere.

"Hmm, by the way, Big Cat, where did you get your legal gun sales license?"

"Through the Guard Bureau's connections, we have quite a few operators who use firearms. More accurately, through the Guard Bureau's connections, we have signed a sales agency agreement with Blacksteel International, which has a firearms sales license. Theoretically, these firearms are all manufactured in Laterano, and this is a legal and legitimate part of the sales agency."

"But what about in reality?"

“Actually, it was also made in Laterano.” Swire nodded in satisfaction. “Now, even if someone from Laterano comes to inspect it, there won’t be any problems.”

"Thanks so much for your help..."

"No way, if you guys got sanctioned by the Laterans, where would our Guard Bureau get such high-quality equipment?!" Swire scratched her face, a little embarrassed. "To be honest, I'm the one who benefited from your situation..."

"It's alright, Lao Xia doesn't plan to sell these weapons and equipment..." Although he did manufacture a large number of them, he didn't know who he intended to keep them for.

“However, these etched bullets are really expensive…” Yelena looked at the girl trembling in the corner, “Look, even our deputy logistics director is scared.”

More accurately, it seems that he has developed great doubts about the value system and the magnitude of money, to the point that his outlook on life and values ​​have been shaken.

"I don't know why so many people like to use this kind of inferior product." Of course, it's because they don't have wet component technology, they don't have the industrialized tissue culture mass production capabilities that Lao Xia has. It would probably take several Lateran people to produce every hundred bullets—no demand, no supply—so no one would even consider this.

Terrans aren't like greenskins that can grow out of the ground; they don't have an endless supply of fart ammo.

Moreover, their technology may not be able to extract qualified tissue components and maintain their activity.

As long as we can get by for now, that's enough. At least as long as Lao Xia doesn't plan to become an arms dealer himself, getting a legal Laterano license will do. It won't cost much. As for the use of Kazdel later—think about how W got his guns.

As for the large-scale use in the future, there is no need to deceive or conceal it anymore, and Lao Xia really did not intend to provide the Terrans with large-scale arms supplies to increase the intensity of the war.

After all, both agriculture and industry require a large amount of manpower, and the latter relies on well-developed infrastructure.

The current warfare using cold weapons and magic doesn't cause much damage to infrastructure, but when we move into warfare with hot weapons, the destructive power will increase day by day. When everything is reduced to ruins, rebuilding will be a troublesome matter.

The reason why most modern wars are localized, and there are almost no wars between major powers that involve total mobilization.

It's not just the deterrent effect of nuclear weapons, but also because once modern warfare breaks out in full force, the things that both sides are fighting for can quickly turn into a pile of garbage and ruins, wasting time and energy without any gains.

Even in localized wars, the situation in the United States has fully demonstrated this point.

Of course, they don't fight wars simply for plunder, but to support their political and economic strategies—even if the actual results are not as good as initially envisioned.

Snowfield: "Today is almost the last launch window, you should give me an answer."

"Well, let's do it this way." After nearly two weeks of agonizing thought, Mr. Johnny finally decided to muster the courage to take the gamble.

"You prepare to change course, and I'm ready to launch. I've already sent you the approximate aiming coordinates. By the way, does your spaceship still have the capability to change course?"

"It's gone. The keel was severely damaged and broken, and the fore and aft propulsion compartments were almost completely separated from the main body. However, the reactors are distributed, and the command compartment, as a fortified area for reinforcement when necessary, has its own micro-reactors."

"There might not be soil or ice on the moon, so be prepared..."

“I’ve made up my mind!” Johnny’s hand was on the edge of the control panel, his palm trembling. Just as Old Xia had said, the number of meteorites was relatively much smaller at the distance from the moon to Terra.

If the Windrunner had just jumped in, it could have easily made a normal emergency landing along this tunnel. But now it's too late.

"Arc launch countdown, everyone evacuate the launch area..." Although no one was in the launch area, the necessary notification was still required. The retro rocket, modified from a return cargo bay, on the alloy frame pointed towards the sky.

Due to the dense debris and Originium blocks in orbit, this launch could not be carried out using normal rocket launch methods. Instead, it had to be launched directly to the moon like a cannonball, which placed extremely high demands on the engine and fuel. To ensure thrust, Lao Xia even installed four tower-type thermal rockets around the main thruster.

"Clamps open!" The clamps securing the rocket slowly opened. "Tower igniter countdown! 5..."

"Is this how we fly to the heavens?" Talulah stood on the bridge of Rhodes Island with Kal'tsit and a group of Rhodes Island operators, looking at the rocket launch site in the distance. This was the first time for the Terrans, or rather, the first spacecraft launch for the newly born Terrans. A strange thrill rippled through her heart.

"Ignition!" The first stage ignited, and the liquid oxygen and kerosene thrusters began to spew out scorching flames. The rocket slowly rose into the air. The main purpose of the first stage thrusters was to allow the rocket body to enter the highest possible altitude.

Otherwise, the principle of the arc engine is essentially a continuous nuclear explosion, which would cause terrifying damage to unprofessional temporary launch sites and ground facilities.

If there is even the slightest problem with the control of the rocket body, the ultra-high-speed plasma with an exhaust speed of over 100 million degrees and 600 kilometers per second is no different from a plasma cannon bombarding the facilities around the launch site.

Therefore, the first-stage thruster used liquid oxygen and kerosene, and the amount of fuel was not large, nor was the volume large.

Because immediately afterward, the tower-type thermal booster rocket, which was also designed to avoid becoming a hot-melt cannonball, ignited, and a high-temperature plasma that was almost bluish-green in color was ejected, using "Dragon Flame" as power to further accelerate the rocket.

The crooked column of smoke rose rapidly into the sky, trailing four points of light. Just as it was about to disappear from sight, the four points of light scattered and fell away.

"First-stage thruster separation, booster separation, main thruster ignition..." A plasma fireball exceeding six million degrees Celsius was introduced into the ionization chamber, thermally separating the working fuel into propulsion plasmas with lower temperatures but greater mass. After passing through a long electromagnetic acceleration chamber, it transformed into a beautiful and strange pale blue flame.

This type of nuclear propulsion can cause the exhaust plume to spread for tens or even hundreds of kilometers in a vacuum. Even within the atmosphere, it can penetrate several kilometers of air and trigger an ionization and expansion explosion. Therefore, ignition is performed at an altitude of at least 4-6 kilometers to avoid collateral damage.