Maddie's metaphor was thought-provoking. Zhang Lisheng became silent for a few seconds before shrugging. "Congratulations, Maddie. I can't believe that you've become a philosopher after not seeing you for just a few months."
"You haven't changed much, though." The girl squeezed half a lemon on the steak that had been fried until its surface was brown and poured a few drops of olive oil on it. Then, she placed the pan on the fire and fried it for a while before sprinkling black pepper on it. She then took it out of the pan and placed it on a plate before handing it to the young man.
Zhang Lisheng took the plate and smelled the enticing aroma of the steak. Picking up a shiny silver fork, he began to gorge himself as he casually said, "Indeed, I haven't changed at all. I'm still using a civilized appearance to hide my ferocious nature …"
"Oh, Lisheng, your nature is not brutal but indifference. Fortunately, this indifference only works on strangers." Maddie placed a new piece of meat into the frying pan and said, "Go online and see what's happening in Japan these few days. That's the real brutality.
I believe that after you've seen it, you won't run around casually anymore. "
Even though Japan was a small island country, it had a developed economy and a population of hundreds of millions. Even though it was restricted by the international community's military because it had once waged an aggressive war on the mainland, it was still a first-class country on Earth.
Zhang Lisheng could sense an indescribable palpitation in the girl's words. Frowning, he took a can of iced Coke from the refrigerator and walked to the desk to sit down.
He turned on the computer, and the boot screen flashed. He clicked on the search engine and entered the name 'Japan'. The first picture that he found was a pyramid that seemed to be 67 stories high standing in the ruins of a forest of skyscrapers.
"Jingguan …" Even though the pyramid was blurred by the mosaic, with his sensitivity to blood and eyesight, the instant Zhang Lisheng saw the picture, his body froze and he blurted out two words in Mandarin, "Jingguan …"
There was a saying in the ancient Chinese book of Lie Zi's War Book – Shaohua, "Fighting a bloody battle to defeat the enemy, abandoning their corpses and gathering their heads to form a platform is called the Jingguan." The young man could not calculate how many humans had to be killed to build this 100-meter-high human skull platform that was completely built from human skulls. However, with just a cursory glance, he knew that even if all the creatures he had killed were added up, it would not even be one-tenth of these human skulls.
"T-This is really spectacular! Very spectacular …" Zhang Lisheng took a deep breath in front of the computer. After snapping back to reality, he found the news with pictures and was shocked to see a horrifying short sentence written on the title, 'Tokyo Land Sinks'.
At this time, Tina walked up to Zhang Lisheng with a plate of fried steak and whispered, "A foreign world's passage appeared in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The Nippon Maru government sealed off the entire block and the survey team hastily broke into the foreign world. In the end, countless orcs similar to those in magic stories attacked Tokyo. Currently, the news reports say that more than one million people have died."
"These should be orcs."
Zhang Lisheng browsed through the other pictures in the news and looked at the pictures of the foreign world's creatures with the heads of beasts and the bodies of humans brutally committing atrocities.
"As a biologist, the first feeling I have when I see these pictures is … If according to Darwin's theory of evolution, we evolved from smart omnivorous monkeys, then they must have evolved from ferocious carnivores such as wolves and tigers. "
"What an incisive argument, dear Lisheng!" The girl handed the steak to the young man and clapped gently. "Not only Tokyo was attacked, but France's Lyon, France's France's Sapunan … Many countries and cities have also been attacked by the foreign world's creatures.
Even though their fates are much better than Nippon Maru and Tokyo, and the situation is gradually under control, the panic spreading among humans will not stop so easily. "
"The panic won't stop, the panic …" Zhang Lisheng took the steak and muttered to himself as he leaned his back against the soft and elastic back of the office chair. A lightbulb suddenly flashed across his mind as he asked, "Maddie, have you found any new foreign world's gates in the US?"
"Of course! There's one in Texas and two in Alaska. It's a good thing it's very desolate there, and there's also Minnesota …"
"Enough! It's enough! We Chinese have a proverb called 'misfortune may turn out to be a blessing in disguise'. Inform Charlie and Edward that I want to see them!" The young man inexplicably put on an excited expression as he ordered.
She could not understand why Zhang Lisheng was still so excited when the situation on Earth had already deteriorated to such a terrible state. However, as a smart woman, Maddie did not ask much at this time. Instead, she directly called the general manager and chief legal officer of the LS Group.
Charlie and Edward happened to be in New York. When they heard the summons from their boss whom they had not seen for a long time, they appeared in front of Zhang Lisheng together in less than half an hour.
Unlike usual, Charlie, who had gradually become very concerned about his appearance after becoming the manager of the LS Group with tens of billions of assets, and Edward, who had always been dressed in a well-ironed suit due to the professional requirements of a lawyer, had an unconcealable tiredness and embarrassment on their faces.
"Oh, good afternoon, Boss! I'm so glad to see you again!
When I saw how radiant you are, my nervous mood relaxed right away. These few days have been too thrilling, "The moment Charlie saw Zhang Lisheng, he shook his head and said loudly as though he was still in a state of shock.
Edward, on the other hand, only bowed slightly to the young man and greeted, "Boss." Then, he sat opposite Zhang Lisheng.
"Charlie, Edward, the two of you have worked hard during the days when I was not around." The young man smiled and shifted his gaze to the general manager of the LS Group. "Charlie, I heard you mention the word 'thrilling'. Don't tell me that you went to Tokyo for a vacation this week?"
"If I went to Tokyo for a vacation, I might not be able to sit opposite you now, Boss." Even though he knew that Zhang Lisheng's question was just a joke, Charlie's face still turned pale right away. "But a few of my friends in Japan sent me a few secret videos … Oh, let's not talk about it anymore, Boss.
Oh, don't mention it, boss. I really regret reading them. "
Initially, Zhang Lisheng was not interested in the mysterious videos at all. However, when he heard Charlie's last sentence, his interest was piqued. "Show me those videos, Charlie. I want to know more about what kind of attack Japan has suffered. "Yes, Boss!
I'll send the videos to your email once I get home. "
"Thank you.
Alright, let's get back to business. "The young man nodded and his expression became very serious." Charlie, Edward, one of you is a smart guy who has mingled with political and business celebrities for many years, and the other is a senior lawyer who is familiar with the US legal system.
One of them is a senior lawyer who is familiar with the US legal system. This time, the reason I called you here is to ask for your opinion. In such a chaotic situation, will the government be willing to entrust Shrimp B1 Island to a private company? Just like how Britain entrusted the management of the entire Asian colony to the East and West Indian companies 200 years ago? "
"I'm sorry, Boss. I didn't hear you clearly. What did you say?" The LS Group's chief legal officer was stunned for a moment before asking in astonishment.
"Edward, I'm asking, in such a chaotic situation, will the US government be willing to entrust Shrimp B1 Island to a private company just like how the British entrusted the entire Asian colony to the East and West Indian Company 200 years ago?" The young man opened the cold Coke with a 'pak' and took a big gulp before repeating his question.
"Boss, the reason the East and West Indian Company can control the British colony in Asia is because the British army has already destroyed most of the resistance forces in India, Malaya, Bangladesh …"
"The native tribe that I control on Shrimp B1 Island has also destroyed and assimilated all of the opposing forces." Zhang Lisheng interrupted Edward's words and shrugged.
The LS Group's chief legal officer was stunned again. "Oh! Oh my God! You mean, you mean, you're not a 'councilor' but a 'king' in the native tribe that has occupied the entire Shrimp B1 Island?"
"Looks like you've also heard the little story I made up about those steamships and the Medal of Honor." Zhang Lisheng smiled. "But the example you gave is a bit inappropriate, Edward. The role I play in that tribe is not a 'king' but a 'God'."
"Oh, Boss, in that case, we can indeed discuss your question just now." Edward's interest was immediately piqued.
"Okay, I just came up with this idea on a whim. Actually, I don't know anything about the specific operation. Do you or Charlie know how the East and West Indian Company operates? Can you explain it in the simplest way?" Zhang Lisheng asked.
"As a professional manager and the best broker who has been working on Wall Street for decades, I've already learned about how those ugly colonial companies operate in detail when I was an elective in college." Charlie swept away the tiredness on his face just now as his eyes lit up. "It can be described with a very simple phrase, that is, contract to run …"
"Contract to run …" The young man repeated it unconsciously.
"Yes, Boss. Contract to run is the simplest and most effective business model.
The British government will determine a total annual revenue in Asia at the beginning of the year, say, one million USD, and then report this amount to the East and West Indian Company.
It doesn't matter if these two companies go to the British colonies and semi-colonies in Asia to carry out trade, form an army to secretly rob, support puppet local officials to collect taxes, sell drugs, or plant rubber. In short, we must hand over a million dollars to the government before the end of the year. The rest of the profits will belong to us. "
"Sounds dirty and bloody," Zhang Lisheng said with a curl of his lips.
"Yes, Boss! It can be said that every piece of silver they harvest is filled with a rancid smell but I must say that the profits of such a 'business' are so huge that you can't imagine it! It's unimaginable …" Charlie clenched his fists excitedly.
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