The international talks naturally ended on a sour note.
Through this incident, many people discovered to their surprise that Zhonghua's support for Ghost Captain seemed even stronger than they had imagined!
They could not understand why Zhonghua was backing Ghost Captain so firmly, even at the cost of opposing the world's mainstream powers. Weren't they worried that Ghost Captain would gradually eat into their share of the pie, too?
In truth, Zhonghua would never risk offending everyone simply out of friendship with Ghost Captain. After all, however good their relationship was, everyone had their own interests to look after. Even brothers kept their accounts straight!
The truth was... Zhonghua had already signed a secret agreement with Atlantis Corporation in private...
Nie Yun had previously mentioned to Chu Xiaoxiao that one of Atlantis Corporation's goals was to consolidate Earth's steel industry. Naturally, the purpose was to find a sustainable "granary" to supply the Mechanical Insects with food in the future!
The primary targets of this campaign were undoubtedly Zhonghua's steel enterprises and the Four Major Mining Groups.
To that end, Chu Xiaoxiao adopted a strategy of winning over one side while suppressing the other.
By both sentiment and reason, Zhonghua was Atlantis Corporation's first and most important partner. Naturally, then, the Four Major Mining Groups became the side to be suppressed.
To ensure a smooth acquisition of the Four Major Mining Groups, Atlantis Corporation placed an astronomical purchase order with Zhonghua. In terms that practically amounted to "booking the entire place," the order reserved all of Zhonghua's steel output for the next five years!
Beyond that, the purchases also covered a variety of basic industrial products for the development of Atlantis Island and the expansion of the Spaceport.
Atlantis Corporation also promised to employ large numbers of workers from Zhonghua in