I chose one of four options at the start, and I chose the number one clan in Lingnan.

The penthouse suite at the InterContinental Hotel.

Murakami listened to the captain's screams over the satellite phone.

"The water in cargo hold number three is already above knee level! All those high-precision machine tool parts are soaking in the river!"

"The sand dredgers outside are still closing in; they're going to break our keel!" The captain's voice had completely changed.

Murakami smashed the satellite phone against the wall; the plastic casing shattered, and parts were scattered all over the floor.

He rested his hands on the glass of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking towards the eastern suburbs. The entire industrial area was pitch black; not even the streetlights were on.

That was a 48-hour power outage that he bought for two million.

These forty-eight hours have now become a death sentence.

A 30,000-ton ocean-going freighter was carrying core equipment that the Mitsui Group intended to use to monopolize the heavy industry market in Jiangnan Province.

Soaking in the river overnight would result in losses large enough for the conglomerate headquarters to throw him into Tokyo Bay to feed the fish.

The Outer Harbour Management Office is playing dead, and the Marine Police can't get out.

Murakami turned around and looked at the head of the bodyguards standing at the door.

"Prepare the car, let's go to Tazhai," Murakami said through gritted teeth.

Two o'clock in the morning, in the backyard of Tazhai Ancestral Hall.

Lin Ting sat in a grand chair, twirling two walnuts in his hands. The water in the purple clay teapot was boiling, emitting white steam.

Lin Fu walked in with his phone in his hand.

"Grandpa, the backup generator in the eastern suburbs isn't powerful enough. Old Wei says the temperature is stuck at 1800 degrees Celsius and the waste won't dissolve."

"If we delay any longer, the material in the furnace will clump together, and the refining furnace will be ruined," Lin Fu reported.

Lin Ting picked up the purple clay teapot and poured boiling water onto the tea pet.

"No rush, someone will come to restore power." Lin Ting put down the purple clay teapot.

Three black minivans were parked on the roadside outside the archway at the entrance of Tazhai Village.

Dozens of men from Zhongtang dressed in black suits, carrying solid steel pipes, blocked the dirt road leading into the village.

Murakami opened the car door and got out.

"I am Murakami from the Mitsui Group. I want to see Mr. Hayashi." Murakami spoke in broken Chinese.

Zhongtang, the squad leader, stepped forward and pointed his baton at the village head's nose.

"Leave the car here, and let the people go inside," the squad leader said.

Just as Murakami's bodyguards were about to step forward, Murakami raised his hand to stop them.

He was accompanied by two bodyguards, walking along the muddy dirt road towards the village.

Tazhai was very quiet in the early morning, with only a few barks from dogs.

Murakami walked to the front of the ancestral hall, where the two heavy wooden doors were tightly closed.

Lin Fei moved a long bench and sat on the steps. He was holding a carving knife and was carving a piece of wood, scattering wood shavings all over the ground.

"I need to see Grandpa Lin; I have an urgent matter to discuss." Murakami walked up the steps.

Lin Fei didn't even look up, continuing to scrape the wood with his carving knife.

"Grandpa is drinking tea and won't see any guests. Please wait," Lin Fei said.

"My cargo ship has run aground in the outer harbor. Every minute that is delayed increases the losses. Go in and report this immediately," Murakami emphasized.

Lin Fei stopped what he was doing and blew away the wood chips.

"The stove in the eastern suburbs of the Lin family is also without power. Grandpa said that by the time the power comes back on, the tea will be finished." Lin Fei stuck the carving knife into the wooden board of the bench.

The carving knife had penetrated deep into the wood, and its end was still trembling.

Murakami's two bodyguards reached for their waists.

From the surrounding shadows, dozens of Zhongtang men emerged, their steel pipes gleaming in the moonlight.

Murakami gritted his teeth, took a step back, and stood at the bottom of the steps.

A night breeze blew by, and the temperature was very low in the early morning of autumn.

Murakami was wearing only a thin suit jacket and was shivering from the cold. He took out his phone several times to make a call, but then put it back in his pocket.

Three hours passed, and the sky began to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

Murakami's legs were numb from standing, and his leather shoes were covered in dew and mud.

At five o'clock in the morning, the wooden door of the ancestral hall creaked open from the inside.

Lin Fu came out and stood inside the threshold.

"Grandpa wants you to come in," Lin Fu said, looking at the village.

Murakami stepped onto the stairs, and his two bodyguards tried to follow him in, but Lin Fei stopped them with his hand.

"Leave the dog outside." Lin Fei pulled out a carving knife from the bench.

Murakami steadied himself and walked into the ancestral hall alone.

We passed through the courtyard and arrived at the backyard.

Lin Ting sat in the armchair, the walnuts in his hand making a crisp clinking sound.

Murakami walked to the table and placed his hands on it.

"Old Master Lin, what a clever move. We'll admit defeat regarding the waterway issue. You remove the sand dredgers, and I'll get the power company to supply electricity to the eastern suburbs. Let's all let each other go." Murakami got straight to the point.

Lin Ting didn't look at him, picked up his teacup and took a sip.

"You've got one thing wrong." Lin Ting put down his teacup. "It's your ship that's sinking, not my stove that's exploding."

Murakami clenched his fists.

"The Lin family can't afford to compensate the Mitsui Group for its losses. The provincial leaders will find out about this soon. You're damaging the business environment for foreign investment, and the Lin family can't withstand that kind of pressure." Murakami revealed his trump card.

Lin Ting tapped the walnut wood cane in his hand.

Lin Fei walked in from outside and threw a tablet computer on the table.

The screen displays real-time monitoring footage of the outer harbor.

The sixty sand dredgers had already retreated some distance and re-arranged themselves into a long, straight line, with the anti-collision steel corners of their bows aimed at the grounded "Maruyama".

"The outer harbor will be high tide in half an hour," Lin Ting said, looking at Murakami.

"If the sand dredger crashes into it with the tide, your 30,000-ton iron hull will break in two, and the river water will wash your machine parts into the East China Sea."

Murakami stared intently at the screen, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

He knew the Lin family was capable of such things; these people didn't play by the rules of business at all.

"What exactly do you want?" Murakami's voice trembled.

"Turn on the power first." Lin Ting leaned back in his chair.

Murakami took out his phone, dialed the number of the head of the dispatching department of the power supply bureau, and pressed speakerphone.

"Mr. Murakami, what instructions do you have so early?" the section chief's voice came from outside.

"Restore power to the eastern suburban industrial zone immediately!" Murakami shouted into his phone.

"But you said yesterday that the power would be cut off for 48 hours, and the maintenance report has already been submitted. It's not in accordance with regulations to restore power now." The section chief hesitated.

"I'm telling you to restore power right now! Immediately!" Murakami roared.

The phone hangs up.

Murakami placed his phone on the table and looked at Lin Ting.

"The power's on, let them through," Murakami said.

Lin Ting didn't speak, he just looked at him.

Murakami gritted his teeth, put his legs together, and bowed deeply to Lin Ting at a ninety-degree angle.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Lin. Please be lenient." Murakami maintained his bowing posture.

Lin Ting's phone rang.

Lin Ting pressed the answer button.

"Grandpa! The grid power is here! The furnace has restarted!" Old Wei's voice came through the phone, with the huge roar of the purification furnace in the background.

Lin Ting hung up the phone and dialed Lin Dayou's number.

"Get out of the way and let them get out of here," Lin Ting ordered.

Murakami straightened up and turned to walk out. He stopped at the door.

"The Lin family can't win forever by using brute force. The supply chain for special steel is still in our hands. Even if you refine the waste, you won't last long." Murakami said this and walked out of the ancestral hall.

The van drove away from Tazhai.

Murakami sat in the back row, his face ashen. He took out an old, unregistered cell phone from the inner pocket of his briefcase and dialed a number.

The phone rang for a long time before it was answered.

"Lei Ye's old subordinates, right?" Murakami looked out at the farmland.

"The Lin family seized your docks and logistics park. The Mitsui Group can provide the funds and equipment. Do you want to take back what the Lin family has taken?"

A cold laugh came from the other end of the phone.

Hongxing Scrap Metal Recycling Station in the eastern suburbs.

With power restored from the main grid, the purification furnace emitted a deafening roar.

The thermometer needle climbed rapidly, breaking through two thousand degrees.

Old Wei stood in front of the control panel, staring intently at the discharge port.

"Turn the cooling water up to the maximum! Get ready to dispense liquid!" Old Wei shouted.

Zhao Tiezhu turned the valve forcefully.

The silvery-white molten metal flowed into the mold along the guide channel, emitting an astonishingly high temperature.

Ten minutes later, the metal block cooled and solidified.

Old Wei rushed over with calipers and a hardness tester to measure the metal block.

He looked at the data on the testing instrument and raised the metal block with both hands.

"Hardness meets the standard! Toughness is perfect! The first batch of titanium alloy is done!" Old Wei shouted to the technicians.