Chapter 346 - 343: I Want to Refuse, But He Offered Far Too Much

A bloody storm erupted within the Black Ship.

Meanwhile, that very evening, the Homo Sapiens Company reported on the attack at Hongku Port.

Regarding this incident, the Homo Sapiens Company announced that a vicious capitalist force, disguised as pirates, had launched a surprise attack on a patrol ship in Hongku Port, resulting in one patrol ship sunk and 32 security officers killed in action.

As for whether anyone was actually killed, the footage released by the Homo Sapiens Company provided what seemed to be undeniable proof: security officers in exoskeletons were shown boarding a fishing boat, which then suddenly exploded.

That same day, under the pretext of protecting its Hongku Port branch, the Homo Sapiens Company dispatched a reinforced security regiment of 6,000 personnel and two Manila-class Frigates to the area. They also announced plans to build a military airfield near Hongku Port to station a security aviation division in the future.

Faced with this news, Suez could only swallow its anger and remain silent.

And that very night, a patrol ship from the U.S. Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf was also sunk by a naval mine.

When the Pentagon saw this intelligence report, they knew the Homo Sapiens Company was behind it, but their hands were tied.

After all, without any concrete evidence, the Homo Sapiens Company could maintain plausible deniability.

The Pentagon, for its part, was also denying any involvement in the Hongku Port incident.

It was simply a tit-for-tat retaliation.

But the Homo Sapiens Company's actions didn't stop there.

Suez had been unyielding before, but now the company had an excuse to stir up more trouble.

「Hongku Port.」

Matt Lu had already received instructions from his superiors to appease the Homo Sapiens Company as quickly as possible, lest they go berserk. He was authorized to offer some concessions.

After all, the Homo Sapiens Company had a history of attacking American fleets.

Matt Lu was already cursing both the Homo Sapiens Company and America in his head. 'If you two want to fight, then fight! Why drag an innocent party into it? And now I, the innocent bystander, have to be the one to appease you? This is outrageous!'

But what good was anger? This world was brutally realistic: the strong could do as they pleased.

「In Xu Yingcheng's office.」

"Xu, my condolences. I never imagined those pirates would be so brazen."

"Mr. Matt Lu, the pirates here in the Red Sea are too rampant. It seems our prior preparations were indeed correct; otherwise, our losses today would have been even more severe." Xu Yingcheng managed to squeeze out a few crocodile tears.

Though Matt Lu wanted to curse him out, he continued his placations. "We deeply regret what your company has suffered. In the future, we will strengthen our coastal patrols in the Red Sea Province."

The two went back and forth for over ten minutes.

Finally, Xu Yingcheng revealed his true intentions. He wiped away his non-existent tears and said to Matt Lu:

"Mr. Matt Lu, your country is also frequently bullied by Europe and America. Surely you can empathize with what the Homo Sapiens Company has experienced?"

'I don't. Don't spout nonsense. Who the hell empathizes with you?' Matt Lu scoffed inwardly.

But Xu Yingcheng continued on his own accord, "I believe it is necessary to deepen the cooperation between our two sides to counter various future threats from Europe and America."

GULP. 'What does your Homo Sapiens Company mean by this?' Matt Lu was shocked.

He had obviously thought of a certain possibility. After all, over the past six months or so, the Homo Sapiens Company had established plenipotentiary branches in seven regions, including Mad Island and Dongba.

As for what a plenipotentiary branch was...

As the name implied, it was a branch that possessed full authority.

Xu Yingcheng saw Matt Lu's panic and offered a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, our company takes very good care of its friends. For now, we have no plans for a full-scale entry into West Asia and North Africa."

'I'll believe you when pigs fly,' Matt Lu complained inwardly, but he still forced a dry smile and asked:

"How does your company propose to deepen this cooperation?"

"Our company can sign a memorandum of cooperation with you, guaranteeing that we will not proactively change your internal administrative system for the next 20 years."

Matt Lu's mind raced.

This memorandum of cooperation was clearly meant to put them at ease, but Matt Lu wasn't an idiot. He didn't believe for a second that the Homo Sapiens Company would give up on the idea of establishing a plenipotentiary branch in Suez.

In other words, this was tantamount to a stay of execution. In 20 years, the Homo Sapiens Company would definitely make its move.

No, it wouldn't even take 20 years.

After all, Xu Yingcheng had just said they wouldn't *proactively* change things, which meant things could be changed *passively*.

Once the Homo Sapiens Company began large-scale restructuring and construction in Suez, it would undoubtedly hire a massive number of employees. Given the scale of the company's recruitment, it would only take a few years to absorb the entire local youth labor force in Suez.

At that point, the Homo Sapiens Company could just use things like employee training to start playing voting games.

Even though he knew the Homo Sapiens Company harbored ill intentions, Matt Lu felt completely powerless. After all, Suez needed to import around 20 million tons of grain annually just to barely feed its population of 110 million.

Back when Suez was still an oil-exporting nation, with the addition of tolls from the Suez Canal, it had plenty of cash on hand and could buy large quantities of grain from the international market.

Now, due to a population boom and the depletion of its oil and natural gas reserves, Suez had become a net importer of oil.

Its domestic annual oil production was projected to drop to around 27 million tons in 2023, while its annual consumption of petroleum products had risen to 52 million tons. This meant a shortfall of 25 million tons that needed to be imported.

The outbreak of the war in Kyiv had caused global oil and natural gas prices to soar.

This pushed the already strained finances of Suez to the breaking point.

The Matt Lu family was involved in the development of offshore oil fields in the Mediterranean Sea, so he was naturally aware of the dire situation Suez was facing.

The prices of food, oil, and natural gas were skyrocketing, while tourism and remittances from overseas workers—two pillars of their income—had plummeted due to the global economic crisis.

Expenditures were rising while revenues were collapsing.

If it weren't for the large quantities of low-cost processed flour supplied by the Homo Sapiens Company, Suez would likely have already descended into a food crisis.

Therefore, even though Matt Lu knew perfectly well that the Homo Sapiens Company had malicious intentions, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask:

"Manager Xu, if we agree to sign the memorandum of cooperation, what support projects will your company offer?"

Matt Lu obviously knew he could hardly refuse. His subtext was clear: 'The Homo Sapiens Company needs to make us an offer we can't refuse, so I have something to work with when I go back.'

Xu Yingcheng smiled and said, "Our company will provide a comprehensive support plan. Please, take a look..."

A document was placed in front of Matt Lu.

He opened it to find a series of support projects listed inside.

[Second Suez Canal Project... Northern Canal Project... Southern Canal Project...]

[Hariet River Plain Agricultural Development Project... Harij Oasis District Development Project... Feraphila Oasis District Development Project... Gaitala Depression Development Project...]

[Investment in the construction of 80 new cities, 240 large hospitals, 240 comprehensive colleges, 80 civilian airports, 80 thermal power plants (total generating capacity of 40,000 megawatts)...]

[Construction of 4,000 kilometers of high-speed rail, 20,000 kilometers of expressways, laying of...]

GULP. Matt Lu was stunned by the sheer scale of the Homo Sapiens Company's proposal.

He had expected some simple aid and construction projects, but he never imagined the Homo Sapiens Company would throw down such a massive investment all at once.

But he wasn't overjoyed. After all, the more the Homo Sapiens Company invested, the tighter its grip on Suez would become.

This was practically a blueprint for rebuilding the country in the image of the Homo Sapiens Company's headquarters.

Especially the 80 new cities, complete with hospitals, schools, and power plants—they were clearly planning to come and never leave.

'Should I accept?'

'Or should I accept?'

Matt Lu couldn't think of a reason to refuse, nor did he have the courage to. The price the Homo Sapiens Company had offered was simply too tempting.

If the Homo Sapiens Company were to launch a public relations offensive right now, a significant portion of the Suez population would undoubtedly support them.

After all, with the Homo Sapiens Company's arrival, ordinary people wouldn't have to worry about their livelihoods anymore.

Anyone who dared to publicly speak out against the Homo Sapiens Company's entry would probably be torn to shreds by the common people before the company even had to lift a finger.

Matt Lu thought to himself, 'I want to say no, but they're offering far too much.'

"I don't have many objections to this cooperation myself, but some people are worried that your company will infringe on their interests."

Xu Yingcheng laughed. "What are they worried about? That they won't get a piece of the pie? Don't worry, we won't let them starve."

Matt Lu understood Xu Yingcheng's unspoken meaning.

Even if Homo sapiens infringed upon their interests, as long as they behaved themselves, they wouldn't have to worry about starving.

As for anyone with other ideas, they had better take a good look at themselves and see what they were worth.