100: Chapter 100 The First Fire

It wasn't that Cao Xiao was truly relinquishing all control; handing the decision-making power to Zhou Zhengkun was also a test. After a while, he would have Ling'er assemble an inspection team to conduct a comprehensive review of the entire company and evaluate the management. Company policies would also be redrafted. If Zhou Zhengkun's performance during this period proved unsatisfactory, Cao Xiao would consider replacing him and scouting for a suitable manager from within the company.

Finally, he instructed Zhou Zhengkun to gather detailed intelligence on Junhua Trading Company as soon as possible. This included not just industrial information but also its background composition. He demanded that Zhou Zhengkun deliver it by tomorrow, the more detailed the better. Zhou Zhengkun didn't know why Cao Xiao wanted intelligence on Junhua Trading. Junhua Trading was a large enterprise in South Africa, deeply rooted after over a decade of development with a complex background. They were not to be trifled with, but since Cao Xiao forbade him from asking questions, he could only pray that this young master wouldn't do something foolish.

The next day, Cao Xiao and He Yueyou stayed home instead of going to the company. Taking advantage of the free time, they spent the day practicing their stance and fist forms. Having not practiced for a few days, they were a bit rusty. Fortunately, after a day of hard work, he could correctly complete an entire set of movements without the help of the bio-computer. Although his body was weary, he had gained much and was gradually developing a feel for internal force. In the afternoon, Zhou Zhengkun sent over the intelligence on Junhua Trading.

Junhua Trading Company was not listed; it was a private company owned by Xu Junhua. However, forty percent of the shares were not in his hands; he had given them to several powerful local factions, including members of parliament, executive committee members, local kingpins, and influential families. Junhua Trading and Tiandu Company had no overlapping business, so he couldn't achieve his goals through normal commercial means. Even Tiandu Company wouldn't dare provoke the powers behind them. With his current strength, he couldn't bankrupt Junhua Trading, and openly targeting them might even backfire on him.

Therefore, he could only resort to unconventional methods. He disdained using schemes and conspiracies, and he didn't have the time for slow maneuvers. After much thought, there was only one way: sabotage. He would directly cause massive economic losses to Junhua Trading, crippling them or even making them insolvent. Then, he could step in and buy Junhua Trading at an extremely low price.

The resources owned by Junhua Trading Company were something he coveted. Once he took it over, he could use it as a springboard to manage operations in Africa. Although he held half the equity in Tiandu Company, it wasn't truly his. While it seemed he could make all the decisions with He Yueyou's support, the Hongdu headquarters would surely reclaim management rights if he made any mistakes.

Junhua Company was mainly engaged in the import and export of seafood, timber, and ore, as well as importing products from Huaxia to South Africa. Privately, it was also involved in smuggling gold, diamonds, wildlife, and some sensitive materials out of the country. It had branches in several countries surrounding South Africa. Within South Africa, it owned two seafood processing plants, a medium-sized fishing fleet, and two ten-thousand-ton ocean-going bulk carriers. It also owned a small gold mine in Zimbabwe worth over two billion South African Rand.

Cao Xiao had no interest in the gold mine. Two billion South African Rand was only equivalent to about one billion huaxia currency, and the cost of gold mining was high. Even if it were all mined in a short time, the net profit wouldn't be much. What he truly wanted were those import-export and smuggling channels. With those as a foundation, they would provide immense help for his future mining operations in the South.

South Africa's mineral resources account for 50% of Africa's total, ranking fifth globally. Its reserves of platinum-group metals, manganese, chromium, gold, andalusite, and vanadium rank first in the world. Fluorite, titanium, vermiculite, and zirconium reserves rank second. Diamond, antimony, and phosphate reserves rank fourth. Nickel and uranium reserves rank fifth. Lead, coal, and iron ore reserves rank seventh, eighth, and ninth, respectively. The Witwatersrand Basin contains the world's largest gold veins. The Bushveld region in the North West and Mpumalanga Provinces is the world's largest chromium and manganese mining area, with deposits accounting for more than half of the world's reserves; over 80% of the world's manganese reserves are distributed around Transvaal. Limpopo is also a major mining province, rich in copper, asbestos, coal, iron ore, platinum, chromium, and diamonds. The southwest of Mpumalanga is the largest coal-producing area in Africa. Besides platinum-group metals, the North West Province is also an important production base for marble and fluorsite in South Africa. The countries surrounding South Africa are also rich in mineral resources, with Zimbabwe being the second-largest gold producer in Africa after South Africa.

As Cao Xiao analyzed the information on Junhua Trading Company, he considered where to start. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. Three kilometers from the villa, there was a Junhua Company logistics transit warehouse. It stored a vast amount of goods that Junhua Company was about to transit for import and export. Although this was only one of Junhua Company's six warehouses, it was undoubtedly one of the two most important ones; the other four were inland storage warehouses. If something went majorly wrong here, Junhua Company would definitely be crippled because these goods were tied to trade contracts. If the deals couldn't be completed, Junhua Company would have to bear full responsibility for unilateral breach of contract and pay liquidated damages. Often, the amount of liquidated damages written into such contracts was far greater than the value of the goods themselves. Furthermore, given Xu Junhua's personality, he certainly wouldn't have bought commercial insurance for these goods. Therefore, striking here would cause them immense damage.

When the night grew deep and quiet, Cao Xiao secretly appeared in the villa's courtyard. After confirming he hadn't been spotted, he determined the direction of the warehouse and began digging a tunnel underground. Three kilometers wasn't far; walking quickly, he would arrive in twenty minutes.

The warehouse was built on a wasteland with no residents nearby, covering about thirty acres. It wasn't just a single warehouse but a warehouse complex consisting of over twenty large and small warehouses, surrounded by walls topped with electric fences. Two men guarded the main gate, and a five-man security team armed with firearms and dogs patrolled the area. CCTV cameras were everywhere, making it heavily guarded.

Anyone else might have been helpless here. Even if they scaled the walls and electric fences, they would be discovered by the dogs. A dog's hearing and sense of smell are extremely sensitive, allowing them to accurately locate an intruder by scent and sound. However, Cao Xiao operated from underground without needing to go to the surface. He wouldn't make a sound or leave a scent, so he had no fear of being discovered.

Cao Xiao didn't rush to act but checked the goods in the warehouses first. There were twenty-two warehouses in total. Eight of them were small warehouses of several hundred square meters storing seafood, fruits, vegetables, and food. Four large warehouses stored grain. Four warehouses were filled with electronic products, home appliances, and daily necessities imported from Huaxia. Three large warehouses stored a large amount of timber. South Africa is not a timber exporter but rather an importer; this timber was likely imported from other parts of Africa and the world. The final three warehouses stored metal raw materials. He roughly estimated that the total value of these goods was over six hundred million huaxia currency.

To cause Junhua Trading massive losses, he had to make these goods problematic. Originally, he intended to set a massive fire to burn the goods. On the way here, he had encountered a gas station and collected several tons of gasoline in his space. But he now realized his idea was a bit naive. Timber, grain, electronics, and appliances could be burned, but seafood, vegetables, and metals were not flammable. The seafood and vegetables didn't matter much, as their combined value was only a few tens of millions, but the metal was worth over a hundred million. This left him a bit conflicted.

Since he couldn't think of a way to destroy the metals, he could only give up on them. Fortunately, the value of the other destructible items was over four hundred million. However, he wasn't so foolish as to actually burn all these goods; that would be a true waste of resources. His goal was simply to make Junhua Trading suffer losses. As long as something happened to this batch of goods, it would be enough. Setting a fire was just a means. Before starting the fire, he would collect all the useful items and leave behind some low-value parts to create the illusion that everything had been destroyed by the fire.

Without hesitation, he ignored the seafood, vegetables, and metals. He took two-thirds of the grain and food. For the electronics, appliances, and daily necessities, he only left behind some non-flammable items and stored the rest in his space. As for the timber, he only took the high-end, precious pieces, leaving most of the cheap pine and other common woods. Once finished, he began splashing gasoline on the remaining goods to prepare for the fire. When everything was ready, he threw out some burning wood from the Synthesis and Decomposition Furnace, placing it into multiple warehouses simultaneously. In an instant, the gasoline ignited, and flames surged within the warehouses.