Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Maddie’s metaphor was thought-provoking. Zhang Lisheng became silent for a few seconds before shrugging. “Congratulations, Maddie. I didn’t expect you to become a philosopher after not seeing you for months.”
“You, on the other hand, still remain the same.” The girl squeezed half a lemon on the fried steak that was now golden brown and splashed a few drops of olive oil before putting the pan on the fire for a while. After sprinkling black pepper on it, she took the steak out and placed it on a plate to hand it to the young man.
The young man took the plate and smelled the tempting taste of the meat. He picked up a bright silver fork and began to chow down the food while replying casually, “I have indeed remained the same. Just like always, I cover up my intrinsic nature of brutality with a civilized appearance…”
“Oh Lisheng, your intrinsic nature is not brutal but cold. Fortunately, your coldness would only come to effect in front of strangers.” Maddie placed a new steak on the frying pan and said, “You should go online and see what has happened to Japan over the past few days. That is what real brutality is. I think, after seeing it, you won’t run around casually as you always do anymore.”
Even though Japan was a small island country, its economy was well developed, and its population went up to hundreds of millions. Even though it had been subject to the military restrictions of the international community because of its ambitious war of aggression against China last time, it was still a top-ranking power on Earth.
When Zhang Lisheng heard the girl’s words, a kind of indescribable fear rose from his heart. Frowning, he took a can of iced Coke from the refrigerator and went to the desk to sit down.
He turned on the computer, and as soon as the boot screen flashed, he keyed in ‘Japan’ on the search engine. The first picture he found was a pyramid that was about 67 stories high, standing and towering amidst the ruins of a skyscraper.
“A skull monument…” Even though the pyramid was censored and was very blurred, with his sensitivity towards blood and his vivid eyesight, Zhang Lisheng still froze when he saw the picture before blurting the Chinese words out.
An ancient Chinese book ‘Sun Tzu’s Art of War—The Young’ stated that “When one defeats the enemy in a bloody war, the monument built from discarding the enemy’s bodies while rounding their heads up is known as a skull monument.”
The young man had no idea how many human beings were needed to be killed to build this skull monument that they built using nothing but heads. However, after a rough glance at the picture, he knew that even if he put together all the living things he had killed into one pile, it would still not reach one-tenth of the height of these human heads.
“T-This is really, erm, spectacular. Very spectacular…” Zhang Lisheng took a deep breath to return to his senses in front of the computer and proceeded to look for the news for the picture. He abruptly saw the title written in a short yet horrifying phrase, “The Fall of Tokyo”.
At this time, Maddie took a plate and walked up behind Zhang Lisheng before whispering, “After a foreign world’s passage appeared in Shinjuku, Tokyo, the Japanese government sealed the entire block and sent a reconnoiter team into the foreign world. In the end, it drew forth countless beings similar to those orcs that usually appear in fantasy stories to attack Tokyo. So far, the news reports said that over a million people have died.”
“They must be orcs then.”
Zhang Lisheng browsed and looked at other pictures in the news to find the pictures of brutal violence that the foreign world’s beings that had a beast head but a human body had committed.
“As I see from the other pictures in the news, the first thing that came to my mind is that, if we evolved from the clever omnivorous monkeys according to Darwin’s theory of evolution, then these beings must have evolved from ferocious carnivores like wolves or tigers.”
“What an incisive argument, dear Lisheng.” The girl handed the steak to the young man and applauded gently before saying, “It’s not only Tokyo that has been handed, the foreign world’s beings have also attacked Lyon of France, Sapucaia do Sul of Brazil, and tons more countries and cities. Even though they suffered a fate better than Tokyo, and that their situations are pretty much under control now, the fear that spread amongst humans will not cease so easily.”
“The fear spread amongst humans will not cease… Fear…” Zhang Lisheng took the steak and muttered to himself while reclining his back against the soft and flexible backrest of the office chair. Suddenly, a light bulb flashed across his mind as he suddenly asked, “Maddie, is there any new foreign world gate in the US?”
“Of course, there is one in Texas and two are discovered at the same time in Alaska. It’s a good thing that it’s desolate there! Oh yeah, there’s another one in Minnesota…”
“Enough, it’s enough. There’s a Chinese proverb that says, ‘misfortune may be an actual blessing’. Inform Charlie and Edward that I want to see them!” The young man suddenly had an expression of excitement on his face out of the blue as he ordered.
Despite not knowing why Zhang Lisheng would still be so excited even though the Earth had fallen into such a terrible state, as a smart woman, Maddie asked nothing but instead, she called the general manager and chief legal officer of LS Group immediately.
It just so happened that both Charlie and Edward were in New York at the moment. When they heard that their long-lost boss had summoned them, it did not take them over half an hour to appear in front of Zhang Lisheng together.
Unlike usual, both Charlie, who had gradually paid more attention to his appearance after becoming the manager of LS’ billions of assets, and Edward, who always donned in a suit with a calm demeanor because of the professional requirements of being a lawyer, appeared to be significantly tired and wrecked today.
“Hi Boss, good afternoon. I’m so happy to see you again. My nervousness is at ease now that I finally saw how radiant you look. These few days have really been too thrilling and soul-stirring!” When Charlie saw Zhang Lisheng, he immediately shook his head and said as though he still had lingering fear.
Edward, on the other hand, bowed slightly to the young man and uttered “Boss” before sitting in front of Zhang Lisheng.
“Charlie, Edward, you two have worked hard for the group while I was away!” The young man smiled and turned his gaze onto the general manager of the LS Group. “Charlie, I heard you mentioned the word ‘thrilling and soul-stirring’. Don’t tell me you have gone for a holiday in Tokyo this week?”
“If I had gone to Tokyo for a holiday, I might not have been able to sit in front of you now, Boss!” Despite knowing Zhang Lisheng’s question was merely a joke, colors still drained from Charlie’s face. “But I have a few friends staying in Japan who sent several secret videos to me… Urgh, let’s drop this topic, boss! I really regret watching them.”
Zhang Lisheng was not interested in any secret video at all at first, but after hearing Charlie’s last sentence, he replied with interest instead. “Send those videos to me, Charlie. I want to know more about the attack that befell Japan.”
“Yes, Boss! I’ll send the videos to your mailbox when I get back home.”
“Thank you. Okay, let’s get down to business!” The young man nodded and turned serious right away. “Charlie, Edward, one of you is a smart fellow who has been mingling with political and business celebrities for many years while the other is a senior lawyer who is familiar with the legal system of the US. The reason I asked you two to come this time is to ask for your opinion. That is, will the government be willing to entrust Shrimp B1 Island to a private company in this currently chaotic situation? Just like how London entrusted the entire Asian colony for two Indian companies of East and West to manage two hundred years ago?”
“I’m sorry, Boss! I don’t understand. What did you say?” The LS’s chief legal officer became stunned and asked in a dumbstruck manner.
“Edward, I’m asking whether the current government will entrust Shrimp B1 Island to a private company in this currently chaotic situation, just like how London entrusted the entire Asian colony for two Indian companies of East and West to manage two hundred years ago?” The young man opened the iced Coke can with a ‘pop’ and gulped it down before repeating his own question.
“B-Boss, the reason the East and West India companies could control the British colony in Asia was that the British army had destroyed most of the resistance forces in India, Malaya, Bangladesh, and so on…”
“The native tribe under my command on Shrimp B1 Island has also destroyed and assimilated all opposing forces,” Zhang Lisheng interrupted Edward’s words and said with a shrug.
The chief legal officer of the LS Group once again became stunned. “O-Oh my God! You mean, y-you’re not a ‘congressman’ but a ‘king’ in the native tribe that occupies the entire Shrimp B1 Island?”
“Looks like you’ve also heard of the little stories I made up just to get the steamships and the Medal of Honor.” Zhang Lisheng smiled. “But the example you cited is a little inappropriate, Edward. The role I have in the tribe is not a ‘king’ but a ‘god’ instead.”
“Oh, Boss! in that case, we can really discuss the question you brought up just now.” Edward’s interest was raised right away.
“Okay! I was just suddenly inspired on a whim and thought of this idea in the last minute. I still know nothing of a concrete way to run it. Do you, or Charlie, know how the East and West Indian Companies work, actually? Can either of you explain it to me in the simplest way?” Zhang Lisheng asked.
“As a professional manager and the best broker who has been mingling on Wall Street for decades, I’ve learned in detail about how the ugly colonial companies worked when I was in college.” Charlie’s tired look disappeared without a trace as he vied to be the first to speak with his eyes gleaming brilliantly. “I can explain it in a very simple layman term, that is ‘lease management’…”
“Lease management…” The young man repeated it unconsciously.
“Yes boss, lease management. It’s the simplest and most effective business model. The British government would determine a total annual income that can be produced in Asia at the beginning of the year, let’s say, one million dollars. Then, it would report this number to the East and West India Companies. These two companies would go to the British colonies and semi-colonies in Asia to carry out their trades. Whether they set up an army to rob the people or support the local officials of the puppet regime to collect taxes or sell drugs or rubber, in short, they must make one million dollars for the government by the end of the year. The rest of the income would then go to themselves.”
“That sounds very dirty and bloody,” Zhang Lisheng commented as his lips curled.
“Indeed, boss. One can say that every single silver dollar they harvested was full of rancid taste. Even so, I must admit that such ‘business’ profits would be so big that it’s completely unimaginable, completely inconceivable…” Charlie clenched his fists and exclaimed with excitement.
