Calm Waves

The Fernando family's sudden upheaval drew no attention from the outside world, since everyone in the know was under control.

As for the fierce internal upheavals among many of Manila's Tondo District gangs today, they hadn't exposed Homo sapiens Company's involvement, either.

After all, these gangs had enjoyed good relations with the Fernando and Lopez families. Neither of the families involved had said anything, so the others naturally wouldn't meddle.

Among Luzon's Five Great Families, the Marcus family's sphere of influence lay in northern Luzon Island; the Xu-Aquino family held sway in the central Luzon Archipelago and Manila; and the Arroyo family's influence extended across central Luzon Island and Manila.

The Fernando family was based in southern Luzon Island, while the Lopez family was based in Manila.

Besides them, there were quite a few powerful mid-sized families, such as the Chinese Chen family, the assimilated Chinese Tusson family, and the indigenous Du family.

Each of these families had its own territory and businesses.

Most of Manila's gangs were affiliated with the Fernando or Lopez families. Until the other families understood what was going on, they wouldn't dare get involved.

That bought Homo sapiens Company some breathing room.

Li Qingye never fought a battle unless he was sure of victory. The raid on eight Manila gangs and the capture of Jacques Fernando and Dolittle Lopez had all been part of his plan.

He hadn't given the other powers time to react. He'd launched a direct decapitation strike, followed by a lightning-fast assault.

With the heads of both families in his hands, everything could be made to look like an internal power struggle.

The next morning.

Many senior members of the Lopez family learned the "truth": the Fernando family had suffered an internal feud, and Garfield had joined forces with his uncle Harry to drive his older brother Mada out of the Manila region.

As for why the Lopez family's own affiliated gangs had been caught up in it, that was because the Fuqing Gang had offended Garfield. What exactly had happened between them was anyone's guess.

In any case, the Lopez family's Patriarch had no intention of pursuing the matter. Garfield had offered the family a deal they couldn't refuse.

The public explanation was that Jade Energy Company, which controlled the electricity market in southern Luzon Island, would partner with the Lopez family's Manila Electric Company, with the two sides exchanging shares.

Jade Energy would transfer 30% of its shares to Manila Electric, while Manila Electric would transfer 15% of its shares to Jade Energy.

That was the first layer.

The second layer was clear to many: Garfield was using shares in Jade Energy to apologize to the Lopez family, persuading them to let the Tondo incident go.

That was why the Lopez family's anger had subsided so quickly.

But there was also a third layer, hidden from the public.

The Lopez family's leader had become one of Homo sapiens Company's own. The share swap was nothing more than a shell game—one hand trading with the other.

For now, the Lopez family could enjoy its apparent victory, while the deal kept the family stable. Once Dolittle Lopez had been fully transformed, Homo sapiens Company would swallow the Lopez family whole.

With the two families reaching an understanding, the other families were deeply disappointed. They soon put the Tondo incident behind them.

Meanwhile.

By wiping out eight Manila gangs, Li Qingye had gained a large number of recruits.

For example, Zhang Hao and the others had passed their preliminary screening and received Biochips. All 107 of them were assigned the Administrator Program and inducted into the Web's ranks.

Some would be assigned to various company departments, while others would join the Security Department and be placed in other regions.

Then there were the gangs' mid- and low-level members. After careful screening, the most heinous among them were all transformed into soldiers, while the rest were sent to various locations.

According to Chen Jianxiong and Fili's tally, 1,372 people had been selected. These scum would be transformed into soldiers and put to work for Homo sapiens Company.

With so many new recruits, many of Li Qingye's plans could move forward faster.

For example, the intelligence network he planned to establish around the world could expand much faster with so many administrators and soldiers.

He also reorganized the Blood Blade Special Forces. He took Blood Blade out of the Security Department and placed it under the command of Gurion, the department's former deputy director, whose codename was Wolf Spider. The Blood Blade Special Forces no longer belonged to the Security Department; they now reported directly to Li Qingye.

The Blood Blade Special Forces had grown to 372 members. Wolf Spider would take full responsibility for their training and management.

More than two weeks had passed since the Tondo incident.

It was now January 17, 2019.

With the Fernando family's support, Homo sapiens Company had opened more shell companies this year, giving it more discreet outlets for selling eel fry.

Many of the shell companies had fishing boats and fish farms, making the eel-fry business much safer.

Before the Spring Festival, the company sold a total of 39,000 batches of eel fry, at an average price of 17,300 US dollars per batch, bringing in 670 million US dollars in revenue.

There would be another wave of sales after the Spring Festival, which could bring in several hundred million more dollars.

Now that was what you called making money.

It was faster than robbing a bank.

The Fernando family might have total assets worth more than 40 billion US dollars, but a large portion of that was tied up in fixed assets such as real estate, plantations, and minerals.

The Fernando family's annual profits came to only around 400 to 500 million US dollars—nothing compared to Homo sapiens Company.

That was the power of technology. Sometimes, it simply didn't play fair.

During the Spring Festival this year.

Li Qingye didn't return to the company's headquarters in Darte Port. Instead, he stayed at the manor in Manila.

During that time, the Lopez family's Patriarch, Dolittle Lopez, and several of the family's selected thugs were gradually transformed into soldiers.

Finding scum in a family as powerful as this one was all too easy.

But finding suitable candidates to become administrators was much harder.

Garfield had been chosen partly because, compared to his older brother Mada, he was actually fairly decent.

He liked to have fun, but he believed in mutual consent. Gold diggers, starlets, and the like came to him willingly, unlike Mada and Radis, who liked to force themselves on women.

Mada and Radis were rotten to the core. Even members of the Fernando family had a serious problem with them.

Garfield and Harry could at least pass for human beings. If they'd been rotten to the core too, they'd probably have been turned into soldiers.

Finding suitable candidates in the Lopez family to join the Web as administrators was a real headache.

The family's main branch was made up of either people rotten to the core or children.

Choosing someone from a collateral branch, on the other hand, would seem rather conspicuous.

With no suitable candidates for now, Li Qingye could only select five administrators from the Web and have them join the Lopez family. They would become Dolittle and the others' public-facing aides, while secretly taking control of the family.

Besides handling these matters, Li Qingye had another reason to stay in Manila over the Spring Festival.

A target he'd been watching was coming to Manila for a visit during the holiday.

Li Qingye had planned to have Chen Jianxiong send people to Borneo in Malaysia after the holiday to lure the man out when the opportunity arose. He hadn't expected the target to walk right into his hands.