163: Chapter 163 The Undercurrents

"I want it all!"

"What a bold claim."

Words that no one present dared to say were spoken so easily by young man.

Strangely, none of the Middle-aged men or the old man expressed any objection, as if they were already accustomed to it.

"Since that is the case, I respect Zhi Shu's judgment."

The old man said indifferently.

"I agree as well," said another Middle-aged man.

Then, one Middle-aged man after another began to express their stance.

"I agree."

"Agreed."

"Seconded."

...

"Then let it be so," the old man said, giving his final verdict. "Notify the Chen Group that the final summary negotiations are postponed until December 20th."

He then looked towards young man outside the screen, his voice low.

"The Chen Group's stock price is not low enough; I need it to be even lower."

"Additionally, the former shareholders of the Chen Group have been restless these past few days. Do not let them ruin things. A completely crushed Chen Group does not serve the organization's interests."

"Understood."

young man nodded.

The video call ended.

young man remained in his seat, lost in thought.

The door was pushed open, and a woman dressed as a secretary walked in and came to the man's side.

"Young Master Zhi Shu."

"What is it?"

The woman handed over a folder.

"I have compiled the information you asked us to investigate regarding Frontier Technology Co., Ltd. Please take a look."

"Oh?" The man looked up slightly, took it casually, opened the file, and read it carefully.

A few minutes later, the man looked up at the woman, his brow furrowing slightly. "Is this all the information there is?"

"Only this much."

The female secretary nodded and explained, "This Frontier Technology Co., Ltd. has a very simple structure and nothing peculiar about it. If there is anything peculiar, it is that for some reason, they signed a series of contracts with the Chen Group, and the contents of those contracts are very strange."

The female secretary pointed to the document.

"We have obtained copies of the contracts. I have reviewed them; they are almost entirely one-sided support contracts where the rights and obligations of the two parties are completely unequal."

"That is indeed very strange," the man nodded slightly and asked, "Then, how much do we know about this Wang Shuo?"

"Not much."

The female secretary shook her head. "Wang Shuo appeared almost at the same time as Frontier Company. There is nothing peculiar about his family background or past experiences."

To have nothing peculiar about him, yet suddenly produce a system that caused his entire plan to go down the drain—this in itself was very strange.

Within Chinese territory, what other organization could produce such a thing?

Is this Wang Shuo just an agent?

Or could it be... that the Chinese Government has stepped in?

In an instant, dozens of possibilities flashed through the man's mind, but he dismissed them all one by one.

"Any other news?"

The man snapped back to reality and continued to ask.

"The latest news: a few days ago, Frontier Technology Company announced that they would be releasing their first product on December 15th. The specific type and function of the product are unknown."

"Releasing a product?"

The man smiled. "Could it be that they are officially releasing that so-called 'Mark I System'? That is interesting, choosing a time like this."

Aside from this, he really couldn't think of anything a newly established company could release.

If the Chen Group were manipulating things from behind the scenes, then the thing released on December 15th would have to be extremely sensational. Otherwise, not only would it fail to serve as a distraction, but it would actually further accelerate the stock market panic for the Chen Group. By then, he wouldn't even need to make a move; the Chen Group would collapse on its own.

As a sensational item, the size and shape of the "Mark I System" were quite appropriate.

This was becoming a bit of a headache.

The man leaned back against the sofa to make himself more comfortable.

"Any other news?"

"There is also news from Donghai City," the female secretary flipped through the tablet in her hand and said, "One of our acquisition targets in Donghai City has been judged a complete failure."

"Oh?" The man was not surprised and asked indifferently, "What sector is it in? What is its name? Why was it listed as a target?"

"The new materials sector," the female secretary took a look and reported, "The name is Subspace Technology Co., Ltd. In the first half of the year, they successfully synthesized entry-level Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene and test-manufactured polyethylene fiber."

"Interesting," the man revealed a faint smile. "Are the big shots up there now able to look at things like this? They really have been forced into a chaotic state by China."

The female secretary remained silent; she could not and dared not participate in this kind of topic.

"You don't need to report such trivial matters to me. It's just a small company; it won't affect the overall situation."

"Understood."

"Leave the document on the table; I will read it myself. You may leave first."

The female secretary complied, put it down, and turned to leave.

Not until the door closed again did the man slowly open his eyes, revealing a glimmer of sharpness.

"Chen Group, Frontier Technology Co., Ltd.; Chen Zhongxuan, Wang Shuo..."

"Heh..."

"Interesting."

...

Chen Group, Beijing Headquarters.

Chen Zhongxuan stood in front of the large floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the traffic on the ground while listening to his assistant's report.

When the report ended, he let out a slight sigh.

"I see. Go and get busy; I will call you if there is anything."

The assistant quietly exited.

Only Chen Zhongxuan remained in the room.

His cell phone rang. Chen Zhongxuan looked down at it and immediately answered.

"Uncle Chen."

Wang Shuo's voice came from the phone, sounding as if he were in a very good mood.

"Wang Shuo." Chen Zhongxuan's tone was not very good.

This was normal. Watching his own precious daughter get closer and closer to another man, while he himself was helpless and even had to rely on this man to save his life—it would be strange if he were in a good mood.

"When are you going to announce the licensing information to the public?"

"Uncle Chen, don't be so anxious."

"Still not anxious?" Chen Zhongxuan was furious. "You kid, you don't manage a household so you don't know how expensive daily necessities are. Do you know how much the Chen Group's market value has dropped in the last two days?"

"Forty billion! A full forty billion!"

"That much?" Wang Shuo secretly clicked his tongue. He really hadn't kept up with the current status of the Chen Group; after all, he had been too busy these past two days to pay attention.

Regarding the Chen Group, he had only asked Liu Yemei to release one piece of news and hadn't paid any more attention to it.

Now, hearing Chen Zhongxuan's sorrowful accusation, he just felt it was so miserable...

"Then, Uncle Chen, how much market value do you have left?"

"You still have the nerve to ask me how much is left?" Chen Zhongxuan was even angrier. "There is only ninety billion left!"

Wang Shuo: "..."

Fine, pretend I didn't ask.

That's not miserable at all!

The one or two billion he had just earned suddenly didn't feel worth much anymore!

After finishing his accusation, Chen Zhongxuan asked in a deep voice, "Speak, what is the matter with this call?"

"Uh, nothing much."

Wang Shuo, who was deeply immersed in the thought of ninety billion, snapped out of it and said, "I just sent you an encrypted email, Uncle Chen. You can take a look."

"An email?" Chen Zhongxuan was stunned. "What email?"

"You will know once you check it. I'm hanging up now." Wang Shuo also lost interest in talking; he had to go strive for his ninety billion.

The call ended. Chen Zhongxuan went to the table, opened his email, and saw the latest email notification.

The attachment was not large and finished downloading in a few seconds. Chen Zhongxuan entered the password provided by Wang Shuo and opened it.

It was a recording.

Chen Zhongxuan put on his headphones and clicked play.

A few minutes later, Chen Zhongxuan took off his headphones, his face already as gloomy as water.