Zen Country, Dongqin Bang, Mande City, Shila Airport.
After transferring flights to get here, Su Jie and his group had just stepped off the plane when a wave of heat swept over them.
Zen Country lay in the tropics. Even though autumn had arrived, the temperature was still quite high.
"This is Zen Country?"
Su Jie looked around the airport. There were not many people, and many of the locals, men and women alike, were dressed rather plainly.
The men mostly wore tube skirts and slippers, while the women often draped themselves in colorful shawls and tied their hair into tall, sleek buns.
As soon as they exited the airport, numerous drivers soliciting passengers immediately swarmed around them.
Quite a few people recognized that Su Jie and the others were from Hua Country, and promptly switched to Hua language. Their accents were somewhat heavy, but their meaning was generally understandable.
Zen Country bordered Hua Country and had been influenced by its culture since ancient times.
Many locals in Zen Country could speak Hua language and write Hua script. Hua Yuan could even be used directly here, and it was particularly strong—far more useful than Zen Coins, whose local exchange rate fluctuated wildly.
"Have the employees go to the hotel first. Yingying and Old Liang, come with me to the company."
Everyone got into the vehicles. Once they started, they headed toward the company on the outskirts of the city.
The driver was a talkative man. He asked, "Going to Lamao District? Are you here to do business in timber too?"
"How could you tell?"
"Haha, there are plenty of timber merchants from Hua Country like you. I've driven lots of them around."
The driver gave a hearty laugh, then reminded them, "But when you do business, don't go too far into remote areas. Stay around the city. Otherwise, you might run into danger."
"Is it very chaotic here?"
"Very chaotic, extremely chaotic. It's too poor. It can't compare with Hua Country. The average salary is only equivalent to four or five hundred Hua Yuan in your country. When people have no money, they'll resort to all kinds of crooked means."
The driver's words made Liang Lianjun's leg tremble repeatedly. Thinking of Zen Country's many poppy plantations, scam compounds, and legends of kidney harvesting, he couldn't help feeling nervous.
"Don't the local officials do anything?"
"Do anything? They only sit up there collecting benefits. What could they possibly do? Take the road we're on right now. It's full of potholes and hasn't been repaired in who knows how many years. All the money's been embezzled."
After a few exchanges, it was clear that the driver was carrying quite a bit of resentment.
Just then, the car passed through a checkpoint. Several soldiers in green uniforms and carrying AKs were stopping vehicles to collect fees.
"Don't say anything in a moment."
After giving the warning, the driver stopped the car, took out 500 Zen Coins, and handed them to a soldier. He said a few words in the local language before they were allowed to pass.
Once the car started moving again, Liang Lianjun asked curiously, "Who were those people? Why were they collecting money?"
"They're our local army, the Mande United Army. They collect vehicle operation fees. Every vehicle has to pay, including motorcycles and bicycles."
The driver gave a bitter laugh. Afraid Liang Lianjun wouldn't understand, he added, "They're not the government army. They're a local armed force."
Liang Lianjun was speechless. "They set up checkpoints and collect fees wherever they please. They'll do something like that too?"
Liu Yingying explained, "It's very chaotic here in Zen Country. It's a multiethnic nation with more than a hundred ethnic groups, which has given rise to local warlords of all sizes. Their relationships are tangled and complicated, and the country has remained in a state of semi-independence—much like the separatist military governors during the latter years of our Tang Dynasty."
She had visited Zen Country once before and had some impression of the place. She knew that the country's chaos and fragmentation were extremely serious.
As they chatted, the car gradually left the urban area and arrived in front of a vast, sprawling warehouse district.
Countless logs were stored here. Some lay outside in the open, while others were piled inside warehouses. Vehicles transporting logs passed along the road from time to time, raising clouds of dust.
This was Lamao District, a timber storage and trading center.
Zen Country was a major timber-exporting nation, exporting several million tons of timber each year. It was a pillar industry of the country, and timber trading centers like this one could be found all over the place.
The car continued onward and finally stopped in front of a three-story building.
A sign bearing the name Jinde Di Company hung on the building, with a row of warehouses behind it.
This was the shell company Liu Yingying had registered in Zen Country at Su Jie's instruction.
There were not many employees in the building, only six in total, all locals. When they saw Liu Yingying, they greeted her one after another in slightly awkward Hua language.
"This building and the warehouses behind it have already been purchased. The building will be used as offices, and the warehouses behind it will be used to store and transfer timber."
Liu Yingying gave a brief introduction, then said to Su Jie, "All the procedures have been completed. We're just waiting for your instructions."
"There's nothing else. Come with me to collect the goods."
Su Jie smiled. His words immediately invigorated Liang Lianjun, who had been waiting a long time for the logs Su Jie had promised him.
The next day.
In an empty, uninhabited area, Su Jie took out the ancient mirror and secretly returned to Tianyuan World. He found the logs he had cut down before near the Black Market, then transferred them through the ancient mirror to Blue Star and had the convoy come to haul them away. He completed the entire process quickly because he discovered that some disciples were tracking him again. He could only hurry into the crowds of the Black Market to hide, then enter a room and use the opportunity to shake off his pursuers.
There were even more logs than before. With nothing better to do in Tianyuan World, Su Jie had done plenty of indiscriminate chopping and felling.
When all those logs entered the Jinde Di warehouse, Liang Lianjun was so excited he nearly wept.
"Red Sandalwood, Golden Silk Nanmu, Huanghuali, Golden Camphor..."
He clearly called out the type of each log as he stroked the timber piled inside the warehouse, his fingers trembling slightly.
The value of the logs alone had already reached more than a billion. If they were made into furniture, their price would soar several times over.
"President Su, when should we ship them? With this batch of logs, Tianyuan Home Furnishings back home can become famous overnight."
Liang Lianjun's face flushed with excitement. Once this batch of logs returned home, Tianyuan Home Furnishings' explosive popularity was easy to foresee.
Su Jie turned his head toward Liu Yingying. "Yingying, have Jinde Di Company contact an international air freight company. Ship this entire batch of logs back home."
"By air? That'll be quite expensive."
"It's fine. We can afford the freight. Time is more important."
Generally speaking, logs were transported by sea or land. Air freight cost too much. But Su Jie's logs had no acquisition cost in the first place, so a mere several dozen million in shipping fees meant nothing.
Liu Yingying nodded in agreement and immediately turned around to make the arrangements.
Over the next several days, the entire Jinde Di Company began operating at full capacity.
They contacted an international air freight company, filed customs declarations with Hua Country, and carried out preliminary disinfection, trimming, cutting, and other procedures for the logs.
Only after the logs had been loaded onto five cargo planes and flown to Hua Country did the matter finally come to a temporary close.
Liang Lianjun also returned home, working overtime to oversee the manufacture and sale of furniture made from the precious timber.
Su Jie did not return. Instead, he registered another new company locally, named Jie Ke Biological Development Company.
"How much money is left in the company account?"
In the boss's office, Su Jie questioned his little secretary.
"There's 5.5 million Hua Currency left," Liu Yingying answered without hesitation.
Before that batch of timber had been sold, this was all the company's liquid capital.
"It's a little low, but it should be enough for the early stages."
Su Jie stroked his chin and turned around.
A map of Mande City and the surrounding towns hung on the wall behind him. Three different ethnic groups lived in this region, with a population of roughly seven hundred thousand.
Mande City belonged to Dongqin Bang, whose population was approximately 3.5 million.
"Let's start here. Yingying, have the employees of Jie Ke Biology set out and go into the countryside to spread the word. Initiate the first plan. Have Jieko Company purchase all kinds of poisonous insects in large quantities. There's no limit on how many we'll buy. Have the locals go into the mountains and catch them all."
Liu Yingying nodded, then looked at Su Jie's back. Unable to hold back any longer, she asked, "Su Jie, what exactly are we doing this for?"
She knew that Su Jie owned an Insect Farm, but she didn't know why he had come all the way to Zen Country to establish another insect-breeding company.
"Do you think I'm really doing this just to raise insects?"
"Isn't that the reason?"
"That's only one aspect."
Su Jie gave a soft laugh. He picked up a pen, drew a circle around Mande City on the map, and slowly said, "This is only the beginning. From now on, I'll do just one thing. I'll make the Mande City region take the Su surname and turn it into my private kingdom."
"Ah!"
Liu Yingying's heart nearly stopped. Her bright eyes widened round as saucers, and she remained speechless for a long time. She didn't know whether to say that Su Jie was indulging in wild fantasies or that his ambition was simply too great.
Su Jie's gaze did not shift. He merely waved his hand and said, "You don't need to worry about it. Go downstairs and get to work."
After Liu Yingying left, Su Jie stroked the Thousand-Hand Centipede that had crawled out through his collar and murmured, "Don't be anxious. Very soon, very soon. This place will be your paradise—a Gu-insect kingdom belonging to us, grandly unveiled upon this land."
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