The Acquisition
Time flies, the waves are calm and the wind is gentle; in the blink of an eye, two weeks have passed.
This was a rare moment of rest for Kang De.
The Britain have been defeated and subdued. Governments and organizations of superhumans around the world are also shocked by the destruction of the Round Table and are engaged in tense intelligence gathering, discussions and exchanges. For a time, all have ceased their efforts.
Kang De's prestige and influence soared once again, while the mysteries surrounding him became increasingly enigmatic and difficult to unravel.
This guy, who claims to be the world's strongest superhuman and seems to actually be one, has once again shown a formidable threat.
Not only does he possess the unpredictable ability to teleport, but he also commands a powerful force of superhumans. This means he can launch decapitation strikes against the headquarters of any national organization in the world at will, and carry out terrorist attacks on any important location in the world. The fact that such power is in the hands of a young man from China is enough to make countless people uneasy.
But there was nothing they could do.
You can't beat him in a head-on fight, so assassination is an option. But this guy is elusive and has no fixed abode. What's even more infuriating is that he basically never uses transportation and just runs around using his spatial abilities, so you don't even have a chance to plant a bomb.
Even if we were to use nuclear weapons, they could still escape.
Moreover, the key point is not how to kill. With the state apparatus and ancient organizations working together, and with the wisdom of killing that humanity has accumulated throughout history, along with massive human and material resources, several meticulous plans will always be devised and executed. The most fatal problem is never how to plan, but the consequences of a failed plan.
Kang De has proven through his actions that he is a vindictive, ruthless, insane, impulsive, and tyrannical China man. For a friend he is not particularly close to, he is willing to travel all the way to London, stir up trouble, and even after rescuing the person, he is not satisfied and has to completely destroy the entire British Round Table to feel relieved.
It is easy to imagine the cruel fate that would befall the people and organizations who orchestrated this if the assassination attempt had failed and the truth had been uncovered.
Even threatening him with his family is an extremely bad option.
Leaving aside the fact that the other party's family and friends are all in China, and how difficult it would be to carry out such a plan in China, just consider the storm of retaliation that would follow if the plan failed, from the madman Kang De. Looking at the whole world, even a powerful country like the American Empire would mostly be unable to withstand it.
I'm so annoyed!
World leaders and heads of state and leaders of major organizations spent several days behind closed doors devising a plan, but to no avail.
They didn't even know which organization was behind Kang De.
But finally, a long-standing question has been answered—it is certain that this China man's exceptional personal abilities are directly related to the organization behind him.
But what kind of lousy organization is that?
After much deliberation, they came up with a bold guess: considering the China people's consistent secretive nature, that organization was most likely a mysterious society hidden in ancient China history.
As a result, all sorts of inquiries and probes poured into China from both official and unofficial channels.
Kang De won't tell us, we'll just ask you directly.
But China also wants to know—damn, what kind of secretive and dynamic social group is this? How come we've never known about them? What are their demands? What is their platform? What are their goals?
The state also continued to delve into Kang De's life experiences over the past ten or twenty years, focusing on whether Kang De had picked up any strange ornaments or encountered any strange people.
On the other hand, faced with numerous inquiries from abroad, the government selected some special talents from certain departments to relentlessly hint, boast, and spout nonsense to these foreigners.
Despite the turbulent and unpredictable environment, Kang De lived a peaceful and tranquil life.
He had a good rest in the country for a while.
Instead of staying abroad to continue fighting against the inhuman superhuman organization, or returning to the other world to outwit and outmaneuver other nations, he returned to his country, reunited with his family, and lived a normal life for a while.
A mundane, simple, ordinary, quiet life for ordinary people.
Papa Kang and Mama Kang were very happy.
--Temporary.
Just like many students all over the world go through this stage of life - studying abroad, far away from home and parents. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, distance erases bad impressions, so family affection grows, longing grows day by day, loving mothers look forward to their children's Homecoming, and when they return, mothers are loving and children are filial.
Three days later.
"They shouldn't sleep when they should, and they shouldn't get up when they should!"
"Can't you tidy yourself up?"
"I'm so lazy!"
"Move your leg a little!"
You'll become even more annoying than a dog again.
There are usually a variety of reasons for this tragic phenomenon, but the current situation is rather special. The reason why Kang De encountered his parents' disdain and prejudice was mostly due to his own actions.
After all, the past year or two had been quite eventful. Kang De was used to running around, scheming, and fighting bloody battles. When he had some free time, he felt bored and couldn't keep up with the foreigners and otherworldly people. So he turned his attention to his family. Moreover, his Papa Kang Mama Kang also lively people. When the three of them had free time, they would hurt each other, expose each other's secrets, complain about each other, and scheme against each other.
Originally, Kang De's status at home wasn't very high. At most, he had a kind and filial relationship with his father, and most of the time, it was two wicked adults who bullied him.
Common mixed doubles matches are often characterized by devastating combination techniques.
This shameless couple flaunted their affection in front of Kang De, and after they finished, they went on to criticize and worry about their son's love life.
Ever since the country allowed two children per family, the two old folks have been making fun of it, saying things like, "Shouldn't we have a second child soon, or the Kang Family will end?"
But now, the offensive has reversed.
Because Kang De had experienced countless battles, his skill level in various postures had improved dramatically.
In addition, Kang De had done a great deal on Earth, and his various desires to express himself and show off were not something he could tell outsiders. So, this overwhelming pressure came crashing down on his closest parents.
Today he casually puts on airs, tomorrow he casually shows off, and after a week, his family can no longer tolerate Kang De's various displays of arrogance. His parents storm off to Beijing for a trip, and sternly warn Kang De if he dares to come near them, they will sever their parent-child relationship.
Ha, can't afford to play this game.
Today, the ringing of a cell phone woke Kang De from his sleep.
He answered the phone groggily, "Hello?"
On the phone, her mother's voice was tinged with dissatisfaction and accusation. "Still not up?"
Kang De responded, "Time to get up, time to get up."
It was an ordinary experience, an ordinary conversation. I woke up late today, mainly because I played video games with my childhood sweetheart, the rich and beautiful girl next door, until midnight last night. It's not surprising at all.
Mama Kang said, "Remember to eat lunch, and cook it for yourself."
Kang De replied, "That's too much trouble. I'll just order takeout in a bit, and I can eat it when I get up."
My mother's voice rose eight octaves. "Can't you move around a little yourself?"
"Pick up in store."
"That's alright... Takeout isn't hygienic anyway, why don't you and Xiaoman learn to cook for yourselves?"
Kang De yawned. "That's too much trouble. But that hotel usually doesn't do takeout, it's just that I have a good relationship with them, so I can ask them to make it healthier. The head chef at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse should pay more attention to this, he..."
Before she could finish speaking, her mother, who had been exposed to the sun by Van Erkang, abruptly hung up the phone.
Ordinary life is simple yet fulfilling.
After getting up and having breakfast, I called my dad. Papa Kang sounded excited; he had gone to the Chief Engineers Association today and met many of his idols and big shots, and he was very happy.
Kang De chuckled and said a few repetitive things.
At this time, Papa Kang was unaware of the seriousness of the problem.
The rebellious son bared his fangs. "Didn't you go check with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering?"
Papa Kang said foolishly, "What would I do there? Besides, I shouldn't go."
Kang De casually remarked, "Would you like to go tomorrow? At two o'clock in the afternoon."
"What are you doing?" Kang Jinzhu's voice was tinged with displeasure. "Are you trying to get special treatment? Don't be so unreasonable. That's a place for scientific research. If you just ask me to come in and have a look around, they'll have to send someone to receive me. You're delaying their business, and they won't be happy about it."
Kang De said gently, "The main thing is that I'm going there tomorrow afternoon to chair a meeting, listen to a report, and take you in as my assistant and secretary. I'll even find someone to receive you. You're so arrogant, aren't you?"
Click, the call was disconnected again.
That's rude. How can you set a good example for the younger generation?
However, this has indeed been Kang De's daily routine these days. When the mood strikes, he and Xiaoman drive to the shooting range of the nearby military region to practice shooting, drive tanks, ride in attack helicopters, use the latest weapons from military enterprises, as well as some imaginative experimental weapons, discuss arms sales, and place some orders.
If we have an appointment, I'll go to the capital, give a lecture to the military, hold a forum at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, chat with the elites of the Republic, and share some of my thoughts and experiences as an extraordinary person.
This afternoon, I had a more relaxed time. My childhood sweetheart, a rich girl with a seemingly artificial personality, called to invite me out, and I happily went. The itinerary was nothing more than standard shopping, watching a movie, eating dessert, and taking photos.
From Kang De's perspective, it's rather boring, but it's interestingly boring.
Well, how should I put it?
In another world, he used Forbidden Spell to fight enemies and sweep away thousands of troops. After a bloody battle, he forced back the Twilight Moon. He used dazzling radiation to confront the Star Palace. On Earth, he rushed to rescue his father and confronted the henchmen of Fr*nce. During the insect plague, he defended a small town in West Africa and raised the Forbidden Shelter, shocking the world. He and Britain burned the evil of the Round Table with the fire of anger. He drew his sword to deter the permanent members of the Security Council. He looked at the leaders of the two worlds on equal footing and refused to give an inch.
His glorious achievements are like a legend.
Now, walking with two beautiful, stylish, and uniquely charming young ladies in a bustling commercial center, smiling and behaving intimately, feeling the shocked, envious, and uncertain gazes of passersby, this retro-style thrill actually gave Kang De a simple, faint sense of emotion.
This feeling deeply moved Kang De. He took a sip of the 2020 Dongding Oolong tea as a tribute to his urban fantasy life, which had never even begun and was nowhere to be found.
Sitting in this small dessert shop, leisurely watching Xiaoman and An Youyi chattering and laughing beside him, discussing gossip and haute couture, Kang De smiled and enjoyed it all.
He was thinking that after nightfall in China, the scene in Britain must be quite different. Maybe he should go there for a stroll and have some fun. He had found quite a few ways to pass the time these past few days.
Besides feeding the Pigeon at Pigeon Square in London, I've come up with a unique idea for the next couple of days: strolling to the Victoria Memorial, with the Buckingham Palace in sight.
Then he crouched down, assumed a ready stance, and started running, launching himself into a lightning-fast 100-meter sprint towards the Buckingham Palace, which was not far away.
Then stop.
The Britain agents who had long since discovered him and were closely monitoring him were terrified and nearly wet themselves.
I'm very happy.
He thought of Yuebao's furious roar, and remembered that the United Kingdom still owed him nine large sums of money. He casually opened his phone and clicked on the work report sent by Miss Qin Mengjin.
In the past two weeks, AWSL has urgently recruited new employees who have been put in place and have been put into the company's first major business. Many of these employees are people who "voluntarily resigned from government agencies and state-owned enterprises to pursue better development," and some of them are even on blacklists in United States.
They were persuaded by the state and the organization, given promises and guarantees, and obeyed the organization's arrangements, but they still harbored resentment. After all, their original jobs were enjoyable, stable, and promising, and in the blink of an eye, they were stuffed into a shell company that looked suspicious no matter how you looked at it. It was simply a joke.
But this confusion and resentment quickly dissipated.
The new employees quickly took on their first takeover task at the company.
The long list of names and descriptions in the business reports and task plans almost made them think they were dreaming. The equity and property rights, roughly estimated to be worth no less than tens of billions of pounds, astonished these elites in related fields. From castle ownership to pharmaceutical company equity, from yacht companies to private beaches, financial companies, and well-known schools, it covered everything, with an extremely wide range of interests.
They found it both unbelievable and inexplicable.
Isn't AWSL Company a military-industrial company?
Why does the boss buy these things?
The United Kingdom sell it too?
But then came even more shocking news that made them question the meaning of life.
It wasn't bought; it was a gift from the United Kingdom.
They absolutely have to give it to you; you can't refuse.
Grass.
What's going on?
But soon, whatever doubts or questions they had, those feelings were cast aside. These elites, who had joined the company with grievances, confusion, and doubts, quickly got into the swing of things and became highly motivated. Their driving force wasn't salary or administrative orders, but rather...
Awesome!
Your mom is having so much fun!
These former civil servants who "voluntarily resigned" from state agencies such as financial regulatory agencies realized that their job was not about being labeled as foolish and rich, waving money around, having to be subservient to foreigners, buying their goods at inflated prices, being extorted, or being blackmailed.
Instead, we'll take these transfer documents and business contracts—who knows how we got them but they're valid—to the United Kingdom, brazenly enter their core industry, watch them groan like they've eaten shit but can't say a word, disgust them, monitor them, obstruct them, trip them up, cause trouble, fight for the interests belonging to AWSL Company, and grab the cake that belongs to us—damn, we'd do something this satisfying even without pay!
Fueled by this nationalistic sentiment and patriotic fervor, the outstanding employees of AWSL headquarters went into berserk mode. They harassed the United Kingdom almost 24 hours a day, taking over, negotiating, reviewing, auditing bills, accessing meeting minutes, and flying back to Britain in flight after flight. Their sense of belonging to the company instantly soared to its peak. Damn it, we've finally got what we deserve!
Consequently, they also developed a very friendly and favorable impression of the CEO who had never shown his face but whose name they had vaguely heard. Although they didn't know why this old man had such unconventional methods, they believed that if the government said everything was fine, then everything was fine!
But they were quite happy.
But Kang De was not happy.
As he looked at the compiled report, he saw that the families of the upper-class people who had been "persuaded" by the Britain government had reluctantly transferred a portion of their assets. And this was only a portion; there were still many more being "persuaded" to transfer assets. Moreover, the Britain government also had its own ulterior motives and calculations.
They didn't want Kang De to acquire some of the company's equity.
Meanwhile, Kang De was furious as he looked at the list of industries.
"Fuck your mother's worthless United Kingdom."
The initiator and leader of the Industrial Revolution, the former British Empire, the former industrial hegemon, is now in a sorry state. The industrial share of Britain's GDP has long been less than 20%. Industries such as finance, education, design, and advertising are extremely developed. They are making money everywhere with the ARM architecture. This can be said to be an industrial upgrade, a more sophisticated way of playing the game - but Kang De disliked it very much.
He didn't want shares in WPP, even though it was the world's largest multinational advertising company. He also didn't want ownership of any elite high schools or universities, even though these places were indeed prestigious and could extract huge sums of money from major clients around the world every year.
But what good are these things besides opening up maps?
If I'm just opening a map, why would I need something so expensive?
What he wanted was Rolls-Royce's aircraft engine production line, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, both top ten global pharmaceutical companies, not to mention BAE Systems.
The number one military industrial enterprise in Europe and one of the top three in the world.
He wanted this company to be the shipyard that would build the Elizabeth class aircraft carriers, the Type 45 destroyer, the Type 26 frigate, and the Astute nuclear-powered attack submarine —even though the aircraft carriers were leaking everywhere, at least they could be built.
He also wanted the company to have the workshops that manufacture engines and electromagnetic guns for the US Zumwalt American Empire, and the production line that could almost independently manufacture the F-35. The JAS 39 Gripen, the M777 advanced howitzer, the M2 infantry fighting vehicle, the M113 armoured personnel carrier, and even the rumored sixth-generation Tempest unmanned fighter program are all products of this BAE Systems.
But, it's quite obvious.
Even though BAE Company' share transfers and transactions are extremely frequent in the "free market," and many of the aforementioned military products, such as the Gripen fighter, are products of the acquisition, the Britain government, even if it were out of its mind, would never allow the China to step into the fray.
"Propose a solution."
Kang De's eyes flickered, and he tapped his fingers rapidly. "A long-term solution is fine too—get the United Kingdom to back down."
After a long silence, Qin Mengjin replied, "Okay."
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PS1: Ah, back to the point... Also, to those friends who say I deliberately update a little later every day so I can take a day off, you're overthinking it. If I want to slack off, I only need to ask for a day off. I've asked for one before, so it's not that complicated. It's just that I haven't been feeling motivated lately, and I'm trying to adjust my mood.