The richest man started taking advantage of loopholes after joining Alibaba.

Zhengzhou Airport Economic Comprehensive Experimental Zone.

The air conditioning in the conference room was set to 18 degrees Celsius, but it still couldn't suppress the restless excitement.

Director Wang of the Investment Promotion Bureau held the thermos in his hands, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

Opposite him sat several blond, blue-eyed foreigners and several Hong Kong lawyers in suits.

In the center of the table lay a thick "Letter of Intent for Investment" of two hundred pages.

The cover features several gold-embossed English letters:

[Ark Infrastructure & Cayman Holdings]

"Mr. Smith," Director Wang tried to keep his voice as reserved as possible, but the smile on his lips was impossible to hide, "we welcome your company's proposed 'full acquisition' plan in principle."

"but……"

He paused, his eyes sweeping over the red circle on the map.

"This land is located on the extension of the airport runway. It's currently a wasteland and involves the demolition of three villages. Although the location is indeed close to the future cargo terminal, but..."

"No problem."

The white man who was in charge, named Smith, shrugged.

He said it in broken Chinese.

Money is not a problem.

"What we value is Zhengzhou's strategic position as the 'crossroads of China'."

Two hundred million US dollars.

Smith held up two fingers.

"As long as construction can begin next month, we can pay in full at once."

Director Wang's hand trembled slightly.

A few drops of water spilled from the thermos.

Two hundred million US dollars!

This is foreign investment! Foreign direct investment (FDI)!

In a year when the entire industry is tightening its belt, there are actually some reckless... no, there are some insightful international friends who bring real money to take over this piece of land that nobody wants.

"sign!"

Director Wang slammed his thermos on the table.

They even forgot to read the lawyer's expression.

"Since our international friends are so sincere, we must give them the green light in terms of policy! You there, Xiao Liu, go get the land approval stamp! Stamp it now!"

The pen tip glides across the paper.

The bright red official seal fell.

"Bang!"

The muffled sound.

This means that the future logistics heart of Zhengzhou has quietly changed hands.

Smith maintained his professional fake smile.

But from an angle where Director Wang couldn't see, his hand was sending a message to a mysterious number under the table:

"Zhengzhou, Done."

……

at the same time.

Chengdu. Shuangliu.

Xi'an. Xianyang.

Chongqing. Jiangbei.

An invisible blitzkrieg is sweeping across the heart of central and western China.

The officials from the investment promotion office were all cheering with joy.

Because they welcomed a generous "foreign benefactor"—Ark Infrastructure.

This mysterious company registered in the Cayman Islands is like a pie falling from the sky.

Not a picky eater.

No bargaining.

They specifically target logistics nodes in remote locations, or even those that are still just on paper.

And all transactions are settled in US dollars.

In the era of foreign exchange controls, such high-quality foreign investment was practically synonymous with political achievement.

Nobody knows who the boss behind this company is.

Nobody cares.

As long as the money is real, who cares if it's God or the devil?

……

Beijing. Headquarters of Microlight Technology.

Lin Che's office.

The curtains were drawn tightly shut.

Only a table lamp was lit, illuminating a giant map of China that covered the entire tabletop.

"Boss."

Li Zixuan stood to the side, holding a stack of contracts that had just been faxed over, his voice low, as if he were doing something wrong.

"Zhengzhou has been captured."

"Chengdu has been captured."

"The procedures in Xi'an and Wuhan have also been completed."

"We have already burned through $8 million in the 'Ark' account."

At this point, Li Zixuan's heart was pounding.

That's 8 million US dollars!

That's over 50 billion RMB!

And that's how they turned into piles of land use right certificates stamped with official seals.

"Not enough."

Lin Che stared at the map.

He circled Shenyang heavily with the red pen in his hand.

"Tell Smith to fly to Shenyang tonight."

"We must control the logistics hub of Northeast China."

"But……"

Li Zixuan hesitated for a moment, "Right now, everyone's saying that Weiguang is going bankrupt. We're frantically selling assets here, while 'Ark' is frantically buying land there... Although the cash flow is kept separate, what if someone finds out about the relationship between 'Ark' and you..."

"It can't be detected."

Lin Che raised his head.

The light shone on his profile, half in light and half in shadow.

"Ark's equity structure has five layers of nesting."

"The top-level trust is held in Liechtenstein, and the beneficiary is an offshore fund that has long been cancelled."

"Unless the SEC digs up the undersea fiber optic cables in the Cayman Islands, no one will know that the money belongs to the Lin family."

He picked up the whiskey on the table and poured himself a glass.

The amber-colored liquid sloshed in the glass.

"and."

"This is the best cover."

"Look."

Lin Che pointed out the window.

Although he couldn't see it, he knew how many eyes were watching the faint light from outside.

"I openly staged a 'bitter trick,' selling off all those unprofitable luxury homes and office buildings to create the illusion of cutting my losses to survive."

"Ali is laughing."

"JD.com is watching the show."

"They thought I was shrinking my defenses."

"actually……"

Lin Che tilted his head back and downed the strong liquor in one gulp.

The spicy sensation burned down my throat.

"I'm moving."

"I will replace all of China's logistics arteries with my artificial ones in a way that they can't understand."

……

Hangzhou.

Cainiao Network Headquarters.

Strategic analysis meeting.

On the giant projection screen, the latest developments of Microlight Technology over the past month are displayed.

All of them are red downward arrows.

[Weiguang Asset Disposal Progress: 80% Completed]

[Cash Flow Warning: Extremely High Risk]

[Business contraction: Closure of forward warehouses in 12 cities]

"It seems Lin Che really can't hold on any longer."

An executive wearing gold-rimmed glasses adjusted his nose, his tone revealing an undisguised sense of superiority.

"Sequoia's ban was very effective."

Without external blood transfusions, he has no choice but to sell his blood to survive.

"At this rate, Weiguang's logistics system will probably completely collapse before Singles' Day."

A light laugh rang out in the conference room.

"Mr. Ma."

Someone turned to look at the man sitting at the head of the table.

"That foreign company called Ark has been making a lot of moves lately, acquiring land everywhere. Should we keep an eye on them?"

"Ark?"

Mr. Ma frowned.

I seem to vaguely remember this name.

"Have you checked? What's their background?"

"I checked. It's registered in the Cayman Islands, and the source of its funds seems to be an oil fund from the Middle East. They specialize in acquiring unfinished buildings and remote plots of land."

"Middle Eastern tycoons..."

Mr. Ma smiled.

He laughed with disdain.

"Then we don't need to worry about it."

"Those funds with lots of money and a lot of gullibility love to invest in these kinds of heavy assets."

"Let them buy it."

"When they find that even rats don't go to those places, they'll naturally come begging us to buy them."

He waved.

It's like shooing away a fly.

"Our focus remains on the integration of 'STO Express, YTO Express, ZTO Express, and Yunda Express'."

"As long as we block the entry point for express delivery orders, even if Lin Che has three heads and six arms, he'll have to obediently come begging us for the access."

"That's the power of a platform."

Everyone was nodding.

Nobody thought anything was wrong.

In the eyes of e-commerce giants in 2019, logistics was "hard and tiring work" and dirty work that should be outsourced to others.

Who would be foolish enough to buy land, build warehouses, and maintain a fleet of vehicles?

That's how it was played in the last century.

The current internet mindset is called "asset-light".

It's called "connection".

They believe that data can rule everything.

But they forgot.

No matter how fast the data moves, the goods still have to be on the road.

……

Beijing.

Late at night.

The Weiguang Building was still brightly lit.

But that was just an illusion.

Most floors were empty, or had lights on only to be used for inspections.

The real core.

It's on the second basement level.

Lin Che stood in front of the huge map.

The small red flags (representing traditional transfer centers) above have been mostly removed by him.

Instead.

They were rows of black flags.

There were no markings on the flag.

There was only one kind of oppressive black.

They're like black holes.

"Twelve."

Lin Che counted softly.

Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Chengdu, Xi'an, Shenyang, Guangzhou...

Twelve core nodes.

These twelve points, when connected, cover exactly 90% of China's population and GDP area.

"Boss."

Xie Yu pushed the door open and came in.

He was holding a newly declassified "Technology Deployment Plan" in his hand.

"The data sent back from Silicon Valley has been successfully imported."

"The improved blueprints for the Kiva robot have also been sent to the contract manufacturer."

"As soon as the warehouse here is delivered, the equipment can be moved in immediately."

Xie Yu's voice trembled slightly.

He looked at the map.

This is hardly a logistics network.

This is practically a military deployment map.

"very good."

Lin Che turned around.

Walk up to the map.

Reach out.

They pulled out a red flag that was planted in Hangzhou.

That's Alibaba's stronghold.

It is also the heart of China's entire e-commerce sector.

"This battle is not about making money."

Lin Che planted a black flag firmly in that spot.

The force was immense.

It even pierced through the map.

"It's for defining the rules."

"Previously, they set the rules: merchants had to choose between two options, and couriers had to use their interface."

"after."

"I'll set the rules."

He stared at the black dot.

It was as if I could see a giant beast awakening in the darkness.

"Next."

"It's time to fill these black holes with real 'monsters'."

Lin Che turned around.

He looked at Xie Yu.

His eyes were filled with fervor.

"Notify the technical department."

"Initiate 'Project Skynet'."

"We'll bring over the entire algorithm we developed in the US."

"I want to turn these twelve black holes into abysses that devour the old order."

outside the window.

A bolt of lightning ripped through the night sky.

Thunder rumbled.

A heavy rain is coming.

And those giants who are still asleep.

Still concerned about the impending storm.

Know nothing.