Chapter Summaries

Governor Sedel explained to his son why he was determined to restrain Federation influence, while Lin Qi concluded that the governor’s backing would embolden local merchants. Back at the hotel, Lin Qi learned of a planned power plant and called Mr. Wo Delike to ask if he wanted the contract.

• After Lin Qi left, Governor Sedel’s son emerged from a concealed room and discussed the situation with his father.
• Governor Sedel warned that Federation capitalists threatened Gefra’s power structure and said they had to follow local rules.
• Lin Qi returned to the hotel and considered how the governor’s hostility could encourage Gefra merchants to challenge him.
• A clerk told Lin Qi that the Governor’s Mansion planned to rebuild a military-grade thermal power plant in Zhu Lisi.
• Lin Qi called Mr. Wo Delike and asked whether he was interested in the thermal power project.

Lin Qi pursued a thermal power project in Zhu Lisi and learned about Gefra’s generator technology while Mr. Wo Delike refused to operate the plant. A newly announced Federal efficiency breakthrough shifted the political pressure, leaving Governor Sedel facing demands to let Lin Qi build the project using the new technology.

• Lin Qi asked Mr. Wo Delike about a thermal power project in Zhu Lisi, but Mr. Wo Delike declined to operate it and warned him about Gefran risks.
• Lin Qi asked about Gefra’s generator sets, and Mr. Wo Delike arranged a call with an engineer who explained the technology to him.
• The Governor’s Mansion prepared to favor Gefran bidders with subsidies and tax reductions while Lin Qi appeared to have little chance in the tender.
• A Federal report announced a patented thermal power technology that could increase output by five to fifteen percent, and Gefra’s request to obtain it was rejected.
• Governor Sedel and his son learned that the Privy Council and princes and ministers wanted Lin Qi to win the project and use the new generator sets so Gefra could secretly acquire the technology.

Governor Sedel resisted the Emperor’s demand to let Lin Qi win the generator project, arguing that doing so would threaten Gefra’s control of Amelia. After persuading the Emperor, Sedel planned a counterattack through his son and summoned the Chamber of Commerce President, whose position had become precarious.

• Governor Sedel considered the homeland’s demand to let Lin Qi obtain the project and rejected changing his stance against the Federation.
• The Emperor told Governor Sedel that Gefra needed the Federation’s generator technology, but Sedel argued that allowing Lin Qi to win would endanger the Empire’s rule in Amelia.
• Governor Sedel persuaded the Emperor to let him protect Amelia and said the Empire could negotiate directly with the patent-owning company.
• Governor Sedel ordered his son to travel to the Federation, offer the patent owner a contract for all Amelia’s thermal power generators, and look for trouble in Lin Qi’s past.
• The Chamber of Commerce President brought Governor Sedel an antique gift and admitted that he felt intense pressure after offending Lin Qi.

Governor Sedel reassured the Chamber of Commerce President that he would support a decisive contest with Federation merchants to protect Gefran interests and national confidence. When Lin Qi’s base was singled out for power and water cuts, he used the sabotage to rally the merchants and insist they fight for the profits they wanted.

• Governor Sedel told the Chamber of Commerce President that he had secured the Empire’s support and ordered him to win the projects openly against the Federation.
• Lin Qi met with Federation merchants at his temporary base to discuss their plans.
• The power went out at five houses, including Lin Qi’s base, and staff soon reported that the water had been cut off there as well.
• Lin Qi told the merchants that the local powers feared them and framed their conflict as an irreconcilable struggle over profit and control.
• A Federation merchant asked whether the merchants should retaliate and whether Anmeria was worth fighting for, and Lin Qi answered that they had to fight and seize what they wanted.

The Chamber of Commerce President and Governor Sedel were caught in a citywide blackout after Lin Qi retaliated for the cut utilities, leaving Zhu Lisi without power or water and worsening unrest. Meanwhile, Governor Sedel’s son arrived in the Federation and told agents he had come to discuss big business.

• The Chamber of Commerce President ordered extra lights and patrols while worrying about Lin Qi, but a storm soon plunged the city into darkness.
• The butler told the Chamber of Commerce President that the blackout affected the entire city, and he suspected Lin Qi had retaliated against the power plant.
• Governor Sedel found that the outage had also disabled communications, leaving the Empire District unable to learn what had happened at the plant.
• Lin Qi watched the storm and said that since his power had been cut, everyone would lose power together.
• The Governor's Mansion reported that several generator sets were damaged, the city had lost its water supply, and unrest had spread beyond the Empire District.
• Governor Sedel's son crossed into the Federation, where National Security Committee agents approached him, and he announced that he had come to discuss big business.

Solun tried to buy the Federation’s improved thermal power generators, but a National Security Committee specialist told him they were not for sale. A call to Mr. Wo Delike revealed that Solun’s offer of a huge order and access to Gefra’s market could overturn the plan to reserve the equipment for Lin Qi’s projects.

• Solun met specialist Tom and asked to buy the improved thermal power generators, but Tom said they could not yet be sold externally.
• Solun accused the Federation of hypocrisy, then asked Tom for the manufacturer’s phone number and insisted he would contact them directly.
• A caller informed Mr. Wo Delike that Solun was the son of the Amelia Governor and wanted to purchase the generators.
• The caller said Solun planned at least thirty thermal power projects and would accept confidentiality conditions and protected installation.
• The caller added that Solun could act as an intermediary to sell the Federation’s products throughout Gefra, and Mr. Wo Delike realized the Board of Directors would favor the lucrative deal over Lin Qi’s arrangement.

Repeated nighttime attacks by Lin Qi’s patrol teams forced the Chamber of Commerce to back down, but the Board of Directors bypassed him to negotiate with Solun while the Federal Revenue Service reopened its investigation. Lin Qi decided to return to the Federation to handle the crisis, as Governor Sedel and Solun saw his departure as a victory.

• Lin Qi’s patrol teams killed or captured eighteen people over several nights, and Blackstone Security blamed the deaths on the Anti-Government Armed Forces.
• Electricity returned to the Empire District, and Mr. Wo Delike told Lin Qi that the Board of Directors had bypassed him to negotiate with Solun.
• Ferral warned Lin Qi that the Federal Revenue Service had reopened its investigation into him and Fox and had taken Old Fox into custody.
• Lin Qi decided to return to the Federation, bought a ticket, and began packing.
• Governor Sedel praised Solun for driving Lin Qi away and said the episode would warn foreign merchants to obey his rules.

Mr. Old Fox was taken from his farm by State Revenue Service agents and brought to the York State Revenue Service for questioning. He denied underpaying taxes, and the interrogator presented him with documents as the investigation began.

• Mr. Old Fox said goodbye to the farm animals, arranged the employees' duties, and left the livestock area.
• State Revenue Service agents arrived at the farm and took Mr. Old Fox away for an investigation.
• Mr. Old Fox realized the agents were not driving toward Sabine City and grew concerned when they refused to answer his questions.
• The agents drove Mr. Old Fox to the York State Revenue Service, where they placed him in an interrogation room.
• Green Skin Face accused Mr. Old Fox of knowing what the investigation concerned, but Mr. Old Fox denied owing unpaid taxes.
• Green Skin Face pushed several documents across the table and asked Mr. Old Fox whether they looked familiar.

The State Revenue Service tried to pressure Mr. Old Fox into testifying against Lin Qi by threatening him with prison and a crushing fine for tax evasion. Mr. Old Fox refused, and the chapter left him hungry in the interrogation room as Green Skin Face brought him food.

• Green Skin Face showed Mr. Old Fox evidence of his untaxed loan-sharking income and demanded that he admit to tax evasion.
• Green Skin Face threatened Mr. Old Fox with life imprisonment, a massive fine, and possible consequences for his son before asking him to testify against Lin Qi.
• Mr. Old Fox denied laundering illegal income through Lin Qi, and Green Skin Face left to report that he was unlikely to cooperate.
• The assistant director explained that the Revenue Service had renewed its effort to bring Lin Qi down, and Green Skin Face agreed to press the case.
• After Mr. Old Fox went without lunch and slept from hunger, Green Skin Face returned with a tray of food.

Green Skin Face tried to force Old Fox to testify against Lin Qi, but Old Fox endured a beating without talking. After learning that the State Revenue Service had taken Old Fox, Lin Qi arrived in Sabine City and planned to use his connection to Director Johnson.

• Green Skin Face offered Old Fox food and questioned him, but Old Fox stayed silent because he feared what Lin Qi might do to his family.
• Green Skin Face beat Old Fox and had doctors check his injuries, then realized Old Fox was unlikely to testify against Lin Qi.
• Green Skin Face left to question Michael, hoping to learn more about Lin Qi and the case.
• Lin Qi arrived in Sabine City, met Ferral, and learned that the State Revenue Service had taken Old Fox for an investigation.
• Lin Qi decided he could seek information through Director Johnson, his contact in the State Revenue Service.

Former Director Johnson settled into family life with his newborn son and Little Michael, but Lin Qi arrived with news that Old Fox had been arrested and asked Johnson to investigate who was behind the operation. Johnson reluctantly agreed to try, leaving Lin Qi’s request hanging over his new domestic peace.

• Johnson cherished his newborn son and supported Michael’s wife and Little Michael in the capital, where Michael attended a private school and received psychological care.
• Lin Qi visited Johnson’s home, and Johnson steered him outside for a walk rather than letting him meet the woman and baby.
• Lin Qi told Johnson that Old Fox had been arrested by the State Revenue Service, and Johnson denied knowing anything about it.
• Johnson tried to distance himself from the affair, but Lin Qi insisted that he could help and told him not to interrupt.
• Lin Qi asked Johnson to find out who was directing the work behind the scenes and to deliver a message to Old Fox about their enduring friendship.
• After a tense pause, Johnson said he would try.

Johnson visited the State Revenue Service and spoke with the detained Mr. Old Fox, passing along Lin Qi’s message and arranging food for him. The next morning, Johnson received an anonymous envelope containing a Jinhui Bank cashier’s check, which he understood was Lin Qi’s thank-you.

• Johnson learned that Director Johnson was away at training and persuaded the deputy director to let him speak with Mr. Old Fox.
• Johnson visited Mr. Old Fox in the interrogation room, relayed Lin Qi’s message, and asked if he needed anything.
• Mr. Old Fox asked for food and said he knew what to tell officials if they questioned how he came there.
• Johnson told the guards to bring Mr. Old Fox food, then reported the visit to Lin Qi by phone.
• Johnson found an anonymous envelope at home the next morning and discovered a slip marked “Jinhui Bank Cashier's Check.”

Lin Qi confronted the deputy director in his car and warned him against taking sides in a conflict that was not his. The deputy director gave Lin Qi the name of the person who had urged the Revenue Service to act against him.

• After reporting on the investigation into Lin Qi, the deputy director went to a fast-food restaurant and sat in his car to eat.
• Lin Qi revealed himself in the back seat and told the deputy director to keep his hands on the steering wheel.
• The deputy director offered Lin Qi money, but Lin Qi said he wanted to know who had persuaded the Revenue Service to act.
• Lin Qi argued that the deputy director had no reason to shoulder the risks of someone else's conflict and warned him not to do something he would regret.
• After recognizing Lin Qi's gold cigar case and weighing the risks, the deputy director named the person who had passed the word to him.

Lin Qi secured the deputy director’s friendship and returned to Bu Peien, where Mr. Truman picked him up as he prepared to confront the people plotting against him. Meanwhile, Dyson was murdered after threatening a homeless woman over her daughter, and Lin Qi ended the chapter asking Mr. Truman whether he wanted to teach the environmental protesters a lesson.

• Lin Qi thanked the deputy director, suggested postponing some matters, and left in a car without a license plate.
• Dyson pressured a woman to let him have her disabled daughter, then left to drink and return home.
• A teenage boy stabbed Dyson to death, robbed him, and surrendered quietly when the police arrived.
• Mr. Truman picked up Lin Qi in Bu Peien after Lin Qi finished dealing with the York State Revenue Service matter.
• Lin Qi and Mr. Truman reached Lin Qi’s villa, where Lin Qi asked whether he wanted to teach the environmental protesters a lesson.

Mr. Truman considered whether to take revenge on the capitalists who had opposed him, but turned down Lin Qi’s invitation and offered to help Lin Qi settle his tax troubles by apologizing. Lin Qi refused to bow, leaving Truman shaken and reflecting on how both of them were being pressured by powerful enemies.

• Mr. Truman recalled how he had grown closer to the president, his colleagues, and capitalists while hiding his resentment over his suspension.
• Mr. Truman told Lin Qi he would not pursue revenge and offered to introduce him to the people investigating his tax troubles so he could clear up the misunderstanding.
• Lin Qi laughed at the suggestion that he should lower his head, declaring that he would rather die standing than submit.
• Mr. Truman reacted to Lin Qi’s defiance, then asked what he could do when everyone wanted to force him to bow.
• Lin Qi joked that he would apologize only after slapping his enemies.

Lin Qi persuaded Mr. Truman that compromising with capitalists was changing him and that they needed to stand together and make their opponents fear the cost of crushing them. After Mr. Truman agreed to cooperate, Lin Qi began bringing Mr. Wo Delike into their circle.

• Lin Qi warned Mr. Truman that his role among the capitalists was gradually turning him into someone he disliked.
• Mr. Truman recognized the changes in himself and asked Lin Qi what they should do.
• Lin Qi argued that they had to fight back together and make capitalists fear the price of swallowing them up.
• Mr. Truman agreed to cooperate with Lin Qi, who saw the Federal Military's growing influence as an important advantage.
• Lin Qi arranged to meet Mr. Wo Delike, intending to bring him into their plans and give him a chance to prove his position.

Mr. Wo Delike met Lin Qi, expecting him to surrender after the conglomerate moved against his business, but Lin Qi said he had come to declare war and seek allies. Wo Delike explained how the conglomerate could cripple Lin Qi, then described the immense profits at stake as their confrontation continued.

• Mr. Wo Delike learned that Sai Weiruila was away meeting designers and prepared to work from home before Lin Qi arrived.
• Lin Qi met Mr. Wo Delike in his study, where Wo Delike asked whether Lin Qi had come to surrender.
• Mr. Wo Delike warned Lin Qi that defying the conglomerate could cut off his supplies, distributors, transport, and access to markets.
• Lin Qi said he had come to declare war and find allies, while Mr. Wo Delike insisted they could not defeat the conglomerate even together.
• Mr. Wo Delike explained that Solun's six-hundred-million order and Gefra's potential business made the opportunity so profitable that the conglomerate would fight to seize it.

Lin Qi persuaded Mr. Wo Delike to support him by suggesting that the six-hundred-million order could cause the Mekon Corporation massive losses. At the signing ceremony, Wo Delike discovered that the contract’s penalty clause had been raised to 150 percent and demanded that the signing be stopped.

• Lin Qi told Wo Delike that the corporation’s directors might retreat if their decisions caused losses, and Wo Delike agreed to support him when necessary.
• Wo Delike returned to his study and began preparing to improve his standing within the corporation.
• After several quiet days, the Mekon Corporation held a press conference and signing ceremony for the six-hundred-million order.
• Two Legal Department ministers warned Wo Delike that the contract’s breach penalty had been changed from eighteen percent to 150 percent of the order value.
• Wo Delike delayed the signing and called the board, telling the Chairman that the corporation could not afford the penalty if anything went wrong.

Mr. Wo Delike failed to convince the Megan Consortium’s directors that their new contract with Solun could become a liability, while the deal sent consortium-linked stocks soaring. Lin Qi watched the market reaction and confirmed to Lyme that they would short Danlimoer’s stock.

• Mr. Wo Delike called the Chairman to question why the contract changes had been approved without informing him, and the Chairman explained the consortium’s new memorandum and supplementary clauses.
• Mr. Wo Delike warned that the consortium itself might breach the contract, but the directors mocked his concern and the Chairman insisted no one could make them fail.
• The Megan Consortium’s Solun deal drove up the share prices of companies connected to it, boosting the directors’ personal assets.
• Lin Qi watched a report about Danlimoer’s lead in thermal power technology, and Lyme asked whether they would short the company’s stock.
• Lin Qi confirmed the plan and asked Lyme about his financial brokerage firm, which he had established with Lin Qi’s support.

Lin Qi explained to Lyme that Danlimoer would fall because he intended to make it fall, then promised Little Fox he would help fight the Fox Film shareholders trying to force him out. After Vera said the York State Revenue Service wanted her to submit records, Lin Qi said he would come to her.

• Lin Qi told Lyme that powerful financiers manipulated the market and that Danlimoer would fall because he wanted it to.
• Lyme realized Lin Qi operated at the level of the market’s backstage masterminds and asked whether he had reached that level too.
• Little Fox told Lin Qi that Fox Film’s shareholders were forcing him to resign over suspicions surrounding Old Fox’s tax crimes.
• Lin Qi told Little Fox to call a Shareholders Meeting and promised to attend and resolve the dispute.
• Vera asked Lin Qi whether she should return to submit invoice records to the York State Revenue Service, and Lin Qi said he would come over.