Gaining a tiny bit of weight every day, my weight is a billion tons.

The commotion in the living room abruptly ceased.

Jiang Nanxing's face darkened as he looked toward the person in the main seat.

Su Ming straightened his clothes and then wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"Take it."

A holographic light screen popped open above the dining table.

On the other end, Li Chongguang's military uniform was completely soaked through, and behind him, dozens of red financial alerts were flashing wildly on the large screen of the General Staff Headquarters.

Li Chongguang's fingers gripped the edge of the electronic sand table tightly, his voice hoarse and trembling:

"Commander Su! The Situ family in the capital has made their move!"

"All banks under the Situ Consortium have completely frozen the installment loans for body tempering and armor for 300,000 low-level martial artists and local military academy students in the Southern Region!"

"A collection order has been issued simultaneously! It demands full payment within 24 hours, or face immediate enforcement through organ and cultivation level reduction! The Southern Region's intranet is now in complete chaos!"

The temperature inside the hospital plummeted.

The relaxed expressions on Huo Tianxing and the others' faces vanished completely.

"That's not all! They've suspended all commercial settlements with Nanlian University, Xingqiong Heavy Industry, and all civilian contractors in the Southern Region, transferring them all to indefinite wartime risk review! All military loans currently under review have been rejected, and all commercial loans already disbursed have been subject to early recovery based on contract loopholes!"

Li Chongguang swallowed hard, panting, and continued his urgent report:

"Just now, the seventeen largest source crystal mining companies and rare metal groups in the capital simultaneously defaulted on their supply contracts, forcibly diverting all cargo ships en route to the Southern Region to other ports!"

"Meanwhile, the Situ family went on a buying spree in the capital's futures market, snapping up source crystals, magnetic alloys, and high-purity titanium, pushing up the cost of our next batch of military equipment procurement by a full 100%!"

This is not over yet!

Li Chongguang's voice trembled.

"Even more insidious is the media coverage! Hundreds of media outlets simultaneously released damaging information, spreading rumors that our Yuanyuan campaign had failed, that our military budget was in deficit, and that our suppliers were running on us!"

"Countless online trolls are stirring up trouble across the internet, questioning the whereabouts of war taxes and implying that high-ranking officials in the Southern Region are embezzling military funds!"

"Three hundred thousand low-level martial artists face bankruptcy and the loss of their cultivation techniques! Mutiny could erupt at any moment! And those politicians in the capital are just waiting to see us make a fool of ourselves!"

The report ended.

"Snap!"

Huo Tianxing tightened his grip, crushing the metal teacup in his hand into a metal disc, and a ninth-order killing intent surged skyward:

"What a vicious bastard! The soldiers on the front lines risked their lives to fill the Yuanyuan Cave, and the Situ family stabbed them in the back!"

"I'll lead the Dingxi Army right now into the capital and slaughter the entire Situ family!"

"Commander Huo, please calm down! Please calm down!"

Jiang Nanxing and Zhou Buqi quickly stepped forward and pressed down on his shoulders.

You can say those angry words, but you really can't do them!

The three marshals' faces were all increasingly grim...

They're good at fighting, but when it comes to money...

The three major war zones have been subsidizing military expenses year after year, and they are so poor that their pockets are emptier than their faces.

With a funding gap of tens of billions and a disruption in spot supply, how are we going to fill this gap?

Su Ming, seated at the head of the table, had not yet spoken.

Shen Qingci, standing beside him, frowned slightly, swallowed the milk in his mouth, and casually tapped the Star Brain Terminal on his wrist.

She turned her head, her clear, cold voice echoing in the courtyard:

"How much is the logistics team short? I still have some spare cash in my account, I'll transfer it over to fill the gap."

The entire room fell silent.

Su Ming paused for a moment, then leaned closer and whispered:

"Honey, how much pocket money do you have left?"

Shen Qingci swiped through her personal assets page without even looking up:

"The working capital is about 10 billion Federal Credits. If that's not enough, the three private high-grade source crystal mines that Aunt Qianxue is holding on my behalf can also be auctioned off today."

hiss--!

Su Ming gasped, his lips twitching three times.

Good guy!

Ten billion in cash flow?

It also comes with three high-level source crystal mines?

hateful!

It turns out this bowl of soft rice was brought over by my own wife...

There's no rice inside!

It's all drills!

There was another eerie silence for a few seconds.

Immediately following was a series of gasps.

Gu Changye, the president of the Hunters Association, subconsciously touched his pocket and suddenly felt that the association's quarterly budget was like that of a beggar.

Even giving Suarez a 49% stake doesn't seem so appealing anymore!

The three marshals looked at each other in bewilderment, thinking to themselves, "We old guys have spent our whole lives risking our lives rolling around in piles of corpses...!"

All the benefits were snatched up by that old devil Shen!

Those who were most vulnerable were the few young prodigies standing at the back.

Night Raven, the "Sigma Man" who used to think that even glancing at a woman would slow down his sword-drawing speed, now had his eyes turned green.

"Boss lady! Do you have any single girlfriends? I mean, the kind who are beautiful but don't care about looks, you can tolerate their bad temper, and most importantly, they're rich and beautiful?"

"Do you think someone like me is fit to marry into the family? To be honest, I'm actually quite tired of this life of fighting and killing..."

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Ye Xiao, standing next to him, nodded frantically like a chick pecking at rice, his face clearly saying, "I need a rich woman to carry me."

Meeting the strange, intensely jealous gazes of the three marshals, Gu Changye, and Bai Qi...

And the longing looks from his henchmen behind him, who wanted to live off his wife.

Su Ming suddenly straightened his back and grabbed Shen Qingci's hand that was resting on the light screen.

"Nonsense!"

He spoke with righteous indignation.

"Even if I, Su, die poor! Starve to death! Jump off the abyss of prison! I will never spend a single penny of my wife's dowry!"

"Why should we spend our own money on war?"

"If we're going to spend money, let's spend the enemy's money!"

Bai Qi, Gu Changye, and the others standing nearby all twitched at the corners of their mouths!

Shen Qingci looked at his stubborn and protective attitude, and a hint of a smile flashed in her eyes.

Su Ming turned his head, stared at Li Chongguang, who was sweating profusely in the holographic projection, and sneered:

"Old Li, don't panic. Who do they think they are? They want to play the financial game, huh? Today I'll teach them what it means to be a winner-takes-all market manipulator!"

"Let me tell you!"

Li Chongguang was jolted and instinctively stood up straight with his chest out!

"First!"

Su Ming held up one finger and glanced at Gu Changye beside him:

"Using the 49% absolute controlling stake in the Hunter Association that Chairman Gu just handed over to me! Issuing a joint announcement in the name of the Southern Military and the Hunter Association!"

"The military has taken over all the bad loans of 300,000 low-level martial artists and students in the Southern Region!"

"Starting today, all interest is waived! The principal doesn't need to be repaid; it will be deducted entirely from the military merits earned from hunting source beasts!"

"Killing one low-level source beast is worth ten thousand; killing ten not only settles the debt, but the military also pays out ten hours of use in a high-level gravity tempering chamber!"

"Furthermore, release the test video of our newly deployed Shura Armor and let those online trolls open their eyes and see exactly where the Southern Region's military spending goes!"

Gu Changye's heart pounded wildly, and a cold sweat broke out on his back, which then turned into ecstasy.

Luckily, I handed over those 49 percent of the shares yesterday!

This move, which cuts off the source of the problem, directly turned the Situ family's debt collection and death warrant into a pledge of loyalty from 300,000 martial artists to the death!

Before anyone could react, Su Ming extended his second finger:

"Secondly! Didn't the Situ family hoard and speculate on futures contracts for source crystals and magnetic alloys, driving up their prices?"

"Commander Luo, immediately arrange for someone to go to Wan Ci Jian Ling and haul away one hundred tons of top-grade Yuan Magnetic Crystal ore, then put it all into the Imperial Capital's black market spot trading platform!"

"Remember, sell at half the market price! And we won't accept federal hard currency, only cash drafts and bearer deposits issued by the Situ family's money exchange!"

A chilling glint flashed in Su Ming's eyes: "As soon as this batch of ore is dumped, all the black market merchants and speculative capital in the capital will swarm the Situ family's coffers like mad dogs! I'm going to forcibly drain the Situ Group's cash flow!"

Upon hearing these words, the entire room fell silent.

What the heck?!

One hundred and one ton?!

Or is it top-grade elemental magnetic crystal ore?!

Li Chongguang's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets on the other end of the communication line, and he gasped.

The annual circulation of high-grade magnetic ore in the capital city is only a dozen tons. More than a hundred tons of top-grade spot goods were dumped at half price. The Situ family's futures long positions, which had been leveraged tenfold, were immediately liquidated and went bankrupt!

Su Ming picked up the milk and took a sip.

"That's right. Once their cash flow dries up, a margin call on their futures contracts is inevitable! Then, to raise money to fill the hole, they'll have no choice but to dump their own shares, leading the way in selling off their own pharmaceutical stocks and valuable assets!"

"At that time, a stampede will occur in the Situ family's financial building, and all the stocks and bonds will be smashed through the floor!"

Then, he slowly raised his third finger:

"Third, yesterday Murong Li injured two of my liaison officers from the Southern Region. Do you think they were ordinary soldiers?"

Su Ming shamelessly altered the files of these two people.

"That's my Southern Military Industry Bureau's 'Chief High-Dimensional Weapons Engineer' and 'Top Secret Project Director'!"

"That slap from Murong Li gave both of our national treasure-level experts concussions!"

"This has forced a complete delay in the mass production plan for the latest batch of Asura Armor in the Southern Region!"

"This is not only malicious physical harm, but also an incalculable loss of military intellectual property rights!"

"Combining emotional distress, medical expenses, and lost wages, let's claim one billion high-grade source crystals from Situ Jing and Murong Bo!"

Su Ming paused, his eyes revealing the purest calculation of a capitalist.

"As for the interest, since the Situ family is so fond of usury, let's go with their ruthless rules!"

"Nine out, thirteen back! Two days is a bit short... emmm, then let's not calculate by days, let's calculate by hours with compound interest!"

"Publish the bill publicly across the entire internet! Tell them that if they don't see this exorbitant compensation payment by noon today, I'll personally lead my Four Directions Legion to their homes and seize their ancestral graves and mineral veins to forcibly settle their debt!"

Three commands were issued in quick succession.

Enough!

That's ruthless!

How shameless!

"Yes!! I'll take care of it right away!!"

On the other end of the communicator, Li Chongguang was thrilled and shouted "I obey!" to post the announcement across the entire network.

After hearing these three "Su-style counterattacks," the giants in the living room fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone who heard this felt their scalp tingle, a surge of anger rising in their chests, and a feeling of exhilaration that made them want to roar to the heavens!

The wicked need to be dealt with by the wicked!

Chief of the General Staff Jiang Nanxing pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, his hands trembling.

What the hell is the chief engineer?!

Those two liaison officers are clearly just two seventh-level logistics clerks!

Holy crap, compound interest every hour!

If this is calculated up to noon tomorrow, even if the Murong and Situ families pawned all their underwear, they still wouldn't be able to afford the compensation!

The way everyone looked at Su Ming had changed from looking at a commander to looking at a wicked capitalist and a living bandit.

This isn't some ancient martial arts tournament at all.

This is clearly a case of raiding and wiping out entire families in the Abyss of Hell!

……

Just ten minutes later.

As Su Ming's three military orders struck like thunder, the entire Southern Region's intranet was in an uproar!

Three hundred thousand were originally driven to a dead end

Some low-level independent cultivators and military academy students were even prepared to sever their martial arts foundations and sell their blood and organs to pay off debts.

Upon seeing the military's official announcement of "interest-free takeover and debt repayment through military merit," the group collectively went into a frenzy.

Countless people knelt down in the streets, wailing and crying, their desperate anger transforming into absolute loyalty.

From this moment on, the lives of these 300,000 grassroots martial artists were completely welded to Su Ming's war chariot.

Some people even treated this unseen Southern Marshal as a living deity and worshipped him on the spot.

……

……

Meanwhile, in the Central Financial Building in Beijing, on the top floor trading hall...

Situ Yao, the young master of the Situ family, dressed in a suit and tie.

He was comfortably leaning back on the leather sofa.

He was holding a glass of priceless vintage red wine.

He stared at the silent communication terminal with a mocking expression.

She was imagining Su Ming's pathetic state when the logistics supply was cut off, crying and begging for mercy on the phone.

"drop……!!!"

A red alert was triggered across the entire hall!

"Young...Young Master! Something's happened!"

The chief trader scrambled over.

"One hundred tons of top-grade elemental magnetic crystal ore were suddenly dumped into the black market spot market!"

"They're selling off at half the market price like crazy, and... and they specifically requested cash promissory notes from our Situ Money Exchange!"

"What?!"

Situ Yao sat up abruptly, and before he could react, the data on the holographic screen had already started to skyrocket.

Black market merchants and speculators across the Federation smelled blood and swarmed like mad dogs toward the Situ family's money exchange, demanding cash payments.

Within just twenty minutes, the Situ Group's cash flow was forcibly drained, triggering a run on the bank!

With its cash flow cut off, the Situ family, which had heavily leveraged its "raw stone long futures" with ten times the leverage in an attempt to force Nanyu to its death, was simply unable to add margin!

A series of margin calls occurred on the spot!

Amidst the screams echoing throughout the hall, several core pharmaceutical and credit stocks under the Situ family's control plummeted!

The stock price plummeted to its daily limit!

It's firmly locked at the daily limit down!

"Snapped!"

Situ Yao's face was ashen, and he smashed the wine glass in his hand on the marble floor, splashing wine everywhere.

"A madman...where on earth did Su Ming dig up that hundred-ton divine ore?!"

"Quickly! Mobilize all reserve funds, liquidate positions immediately! Save the market!!"

Situ Yao felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, trembling like a leaf.

However, before his subordinates could respond...

"Ding-dong."

His personal interstellar terminal popped up a glaring, bloody bill!

Letter from the General Staff of the Southern Region to Situ Jing and Murong Bo seeking compensation!

It contained definitive accusations that the Murong family had injured the Southern Region's "Chief High-Dimensional Weapon Engineer."

They demanded compensation of one billion high-grade source crystals, including principal and interest.

At the very bottom, there is an extremely arrogant red note:

This bill is executed in accordance with the highest industry rules of the Situ family, with nine outs and thirteen returns, and interest calculated on an hourly compound basis.

If the funds are not received by noon today, the Southern Region near-Earth railgun will lock onto your ancestral lands for physical collection.

Looking at the zeros at the signature line, which were scrolling upwards like crazy with "compound interest per hour"!

This powerful young master of the capital's business world felt his blood surging in his chest!

He immediately spat out a mouthful of bright red blood!

He fell straight backward!

……