Miss Wang Weina, even your cousin won't do!

"Looks like your subordinates have come to pick you up?"

"My subordinates?"

Henry muttered something.

What subordinates do I have? As the executive director, to avoid corruption among his subordinates, he hasn't appointed a single confidant. The only person he can truly rely on is Miss Menes, the department head, but she's currently cleaning up the mess at Rhine Life headquarters and has no chance of being here.

Who came?

Henry's doubts were quickly answered. The person who arrived was Celia.

Director Henry and Seria were old acquaintances. Seria was also a long-time employee of Rhine Labs. Although she was not good with words, she was meticulous in her work. The defense department she was in charge of was one of the few departments that had not caused any trouble or scandals during Rhine Labs' rapid development in recent years.

Although it's a bit tiring to explain every little detail when assigning her tasks.

Henry had no idea he would come here at this time.

But Saria seemed completely unaware of the changes that had occurred. After entering the room, she merely glanced at the brigadier general in uniform with his sash and stars on his shoulder before turning her gaze to Director Henry, frowning and asking in confusion:

"Mr. Director, is Rhine Life currently laying off employees?"

"What?" Henry was stunned, not understanding what Seria meant.

With the company in such a state, let alone layoffs, it's questionable whether we can even keep our employees. Why would you ask that?

Seria explained:

“I saw many Rhine Lab researchers on my way home from get off work, including Miss Himer... You may not know her, you weren’t at the office at the time. She’s someone Mr. Wayne values, and he specifically called her to your office, so it must be something important.”

“She also had a large number of intern researchers who were dismissed by Rhine Lab for various reasons. I find it strange that Rhine Lab is thriving. Why would they suddenly lay off a large number of people? Moreover, even if it is a layoff, Miss Himer, Mr. Mejas, and Mr. Kane are all excellent researchers who have produced many promising scientific products. I don’t think that by Rhine Lab’s standards, they should have laid off this group of people as well.”

Seria swallowed hard, subtly winked at Henry, and concluded:

"So I asked Monica to help me find you. I plan to come and talk to you to see if this decision can be changed, or perhaps you were unaware of this decision and it was the Chief Administrator who overstepped her authority?"

Henry noticed Seria's signal, frowned, stamped his foot, and nodded:

“I definitely did not order any layoffs. Layoffs require approval from the board of directors and shareholders' meeting; how could she make such a decision on her own! This is an overreach of authority, and I will go back to her immediately!”

After saying this, he turned around and addressed the brigadier general:

"In that case, please excuse me, sir."

The brigadier forced a less-than-pleasant smile and waved his hand:

"Go."

Whether Seria's words were true or false, the Brigadier General couldn't determine, but it was true that Rhine Life's board of directors and shareholders' meeting hadn't ordered layoffs. After all, those two organizations were now just empty shells. Even if you asked them to vote, you couldn't find anyone to do it.

Whether Celia's words were true or false was irrelevant; Henry probably wanted to use this opportunity to slip away.

But let him slip away if he wants. As he himself said, he is no longer a shareholder of Rhine Life or a social celebrity. His influence over Rhine Life is limited to a few personal connections. Once the military buys Rhine Life, the rest is not something Henry can interfere with.

But the threat cannot be ignored.

He beckoned to the bartender. The bartender was a military agent who usually infiltrated the café. The brigadier general gave the order:

"Keep an eye on that man. When the time is right, eliminate him as soon as possible. The use of firearms is permitted."

Anyway, Colombia has its share of shootings, gang fights, and board members dying suddenly—it sounds so appealing! It'll also give those politicians another scolding for their poor security. That's it!

As for what happens next...

The brigadier then dialed the number in New York State and asked:

"Did you buy it?"

“No, General. The Victorians have initiated a forced purchase, and we can't buy it.”

"Forced takeover?" The brigadier frowned. Something was wrong. Didn't they not have 80% of the shares just a moment ago? How did they suddenly have 10% in less than half an hour?

“General, according to our investigation, it was that Rhine Life shareholder named Wayne who sold his shares to Victoria General Medical Company for thirty million Colombian dollars a few minutes ago.”

The person on the other end of the phone explained.

The brigadier general felt a surge of heat rush to his head, and asked incredulously and furiously:

"Is he crazy?"

“He’s not crazy, he’s Victorian. We investigated his background; he’s from Lontinem, Victoria, a relatively unknown businessman with a very solid resume. It’s clear he’s the kind of person who would sell shares for money. And right now, Rhine Life’s shares are really worthless. If someone offered me 30 million to buy them, I would sell them too.”

The soldier on the other end of the phone explained. He had investigated Wayne's (fake) identity immediately, and his report was fluent.

But the brigadier general didn't want to hear explanations. He felt his head was buzzing, as if it was about to explode.

Good heavens, once the forced takeover begins, it is theoretically irreversible. In other words, Rhine Life might really be acquired by a Victorian company.

After so much open and covert struggle between our military and the political establishment, we finally managed to snatch Rhine Lab from them with superior skills. But now, someone else is about to steal our prize, and it's our arch-enemy, Victoria.

I cannot accept this!

However, it is now almost impossible to stop the acquisition. After all, forced acquisition is legal and legitimate. To stop it, the only way would be for those glamorous gentlemen in the Federal Parliament to use state power, for example, on the grounds that "the transaction harms national interests".

But to let the military consult with the political circles? Wouldn't that be tantamount to putting the military's petty schemes on the table? Who knows what the political circles might use this to extort money from!

Letting the fruits of their labor be taken is unacceptable, halting the acquisition is unacceptable, and cooperating with the political establishment is unacceptable. All avenues are blocked. The brigadier general now wishes he could lead a team to surround the New York Stock Exchange and force them to hand over Rhine Life!

But that won't work either; the deal still can't be stopped unless the military wants to undermine Colombia's credibility in the financial transactions it managed to pry open from Lontinem.

But someone has to be held responsible for this, right?

This person in charge definitely can't be me. Henry has already arranged for someone to secretly eliminate him, so it can't be him either.

The brigadier general's eyes flashed with a fierce light.

Then it can only be you, Victorian. You damn dream-driven businessman, you'll pay the price for your greed!

"Are you sure that guy named Wayne doesn't have any connections?"

The brigadier asked, his voice filled with murderous intent.

“That’s right, his resume is very clear, without any loopholes, and everything is verifiable. He’s just an ordinary businessman.”

The soldier answered.

"That's good." The brigadier chuckled. "You guys, block the entrance to the financial exchange, block all the streets, arrest this guy, and send him back to Silicon Valley. I'm going to give this clueless jerk who ruined my plans a good beating!"

"Uh... is it necessary?" the soldier hesitated.

"Do as I say!" the brigadier general repeated. "That's a military order!"

"Understood!" the soldier replied loudly.

Chapter Fifty: The Encirclement

Columbia, New York, Wall Street.

The streetlights were bright, but unfortunately, they weren't adorned with capitalist symbols, making them look somewhat monotonous. Wayne emerged from the financial exchange, Kelsey trailing far behind him. This was Kelsey's own request. According to her, she was the one who signed off on the rejection of the acquisition and acted as the agent for the sale of Wayne's shares to Victoria General Medical. If Columbia wanted revenge, she would likely target her first. Therefore, she kept her distance from Wayne to prevent his safety from being compromised.

Wayne wasn't too concerned. He didn't think those people in Colombian politics would dare to lay a hand on him. After all, his procedures were completely legal and legitimate; to attack him in a financial exchange would be tantamount to slapping themselves in the face. Besides, the deed was done; even if they wanted to, what could they possibly do to change things?

The greater the power a person has, the more cautious they become. Politicians always have to consider the consequences of taking action against the Viktoria businessman in Colombia.

If all else fails, Wayne might as well reveal his identity. After all, the unicorn is secretly monitoring everything, so he won't suffer any losses.

But Kal'tsit insisted, so Wayne went along with her.

However, to Wayne's surprise, he had only taken a few steps out of the stock exchange, and hadn't even left Wall Street, when he noticed that the atmosphere on the street had changed.

The once bustling street was noticeably less crowded. Shops that had been open moments before were now mostly closed, except for some large banks and chain stores. The few pedestrians who seemed to be chatting idly were behaving in an overly deliberate manner, their voices unusually loud, as if they were deliberately speaking to Wayne. The street cleaners appeared to be cleaning diligently, but their clothes were clearly ill-fitting. Even the cars that occasionally drove by seemed to be giving strange looks.

Wayne raised an eyebrow, subtly took out his phone, and sent a message to Kal'tsit, who was following behind him:

"Is someone following us?"

"So you were able to notice, Your Highness Wayne," Kal'tsit replied coolly, sounding as if she were mocking Wayne's lack of vigilance, that he had only just realized it.

Wayne raised an eyebrow. Good heavens, you knew all along but didn't tell me? Just so you could mock me now? Me, the Prince of Wales, to be treated like this?

Just as I was about to reply, Kal'tsit added another sentence:

“I noticed it when we were still at the exchange. Time was of the essence, and there wasn’t time to explain then, but that’s why I’m not with you.”

You discovered it back then? Was there too much time to explain?

Wayne suppressed his slight dissatisfaction; it seemed he had indeed been a little too careless. He had been careless; he hadn't thought the Colombians would be so brave, but now it seemed they were incredibly brave, comparable to Awei.

"Thank you."

After thinking for a moment, Wayne replied.

"Protecting your safety is my responsibility, and there's nothing to thank me for. More than that, I hope you can remain vigilant at all times. Danger is like a venomous snake, always lurking when you let your guard down. You must consider that your enemy may always be better at seizing opportunities than you are."

"After all, I can't protect you forever."

I admire Kal'tsit for expanding the simple phrase "You're welcome, take care" into such a philosophical and vividly metaphorical statement. I admire even more her dedication in typing this passage on her phone keyboard in such a short time, which skillfully blends dry theory with vivid metaphors.

Wayne readily admitted that he didn't possess Kal'tsit's level of cultural refinement, so he simply replied:

"I'll treat you to dinner when we get back."

There was an unusual moment of silence on Kal'tsit's end. Wayne glanced at Kal'tsit's reflection through the glass window on the street. She was standing there, holding her phone in both hands, head down, seemingly lost in thought. It has to be said that, under the golden streetlights, her posture gave off a strangely innocent, teenage girl vibe.

Tsk tsk, why is this old woman acting so virginal?

Wayne couldn't linger too long, nor could he take a picture of Kal'tsit, otherwise he would probably have gotten another like from Theresa—this had almost become a very interesting activity between Theresa and Wayne, as addictive as collecting stamps.

He continued forward, and after a long pause, Kal'tsit replied:

"Okay, I'll wait for you."

“I thought you would refuse?” Wayne was a little surprised. He thought that Kal'tsit had been thinking for so long in order to find a polite, but not entirely polite, way to refuse him.

"I agree, which will surprise you, and that achieves my goal. However, you'll probably have to wait a while longer."

Seeing Kal'tsit's reply, Wayne suddenly heard a series of rapid footsteps behind him, and the next second, a sack was shoved over his head.

At that moment, Wayne's first reaction was: Holy crap. His second reaction was: Do they use sacks to tie people up in Colombia? His third reaction was: So cool!

The shadow of the sack only loomed over Wayne's head for less than a second. The next second, the man dressed as a pastry chef, who had sprung out of a nearby shop, let out a shrill scream and slammed to the ground like a tennis ball hit by a racket. He then bounced up and crashed into a wall a few meters away.

Before Wayne could even speak, Kal'tsit, who had only thrown one punch, grabbed Wayne's hand and ran towards the back without saying a word.

Almost simultaneously, from the cake shop where the attackers had just emerged, to the coffee shop next door, and the clothing store across the street, seven or eight men in various outfits rushed out. One of them, after briefly checking on the "cake makers," turned and gave orders to those around him:

"Chase them! Don't let them get away!"