Chapter 334: When the Pen Strikes, Storms Awe—This Is the Great‑Power Landscape!

The conference room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, leaving only the muffled "rustle" of the pen tip across the paper.

The sound was faint, yet like an invisible hammer, each time Lu Qingshan put pen to paper it struck every person's heart hard.

Zhang Rongfeng stood beside Lu Qingshan, his Adam's apple bobbing as he deliberately slowed his breathing. He stared wide-eyed at the scarlet pen, like a branding iron heated to a glowing red in a raging fire, ruthlessly crossing out every term in the draft such as "steady progress," "active defense," "export guarantee," with a harsh red line; the force was so great it nearly tore the paper apart! Those words were the result of him and his department colleagues pulling all‑nighters for seven straight nights, painstakingly choosing each phrase, each one exuding rock‑solid stability, the most foolproof choice in his eyes.

Yet under Lu Qingshan's pen, the very stability they boasted about turned as fragile as rotten wood in the wind!

Each time a term was crossed out, Zhang Rongfeng's eyelids twitched wildly. Behind him, the youngest Director flushed red, instinctively shifting forward half a step, his lips parting as if to defend his hard‑won effort. Yet before a word could leave his mouth, the iron‑blooded, murderous aura emanating from Lu Qingshan's pen choked him off, rendering him speechless.

Beside the red line were flamboyant, forceful annotations that seemed to leap off the page—"full‑scale offensive," "strategic deployment," "resource control"!

Just twelve terse characters, bristling with killing intent, as if forged on a battlefield of corpses and blood.

And it wasn't over! Lu Qingshan snapped his wrist, the red pen sketching thick connecting lines across the document as if drawing a military map, forcibly linking the once‑scattered, seemingly unrelated sections—"technology import," "energy import," "overseas investment," "cultural exchange"—into a single, snarling, powerful net of entrapment!

Zhang Rongfeng's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of a needle tip! At the center of the massive net, Lu Qingshan penned the final annotation: "All external economic activities exist solely to acquire 'core assets' and 'strategic resources,' not merely to achieve a trade surplus! Trade is a process, not the goal! It is a weapon, not a KPI!"

"Boom!"

Zhang Rongfeng felt as if his brain had been struck by a precision‑guided battle‑axe cruise missile! Decades of his knowledge, experience, and theory on foreign trade were, in that instant, utterly pulverized and incinerated by Lu Qingshan's red lines, leaving no ash. He finally understood: their previous thinking was like cautiously moving their pieces on someone else's board, whereas Lu Qingshan intended to flip that old board, forging new rules with the enemy's flesh and blood!

It was a grand perspective he had never imagined, not even daring to dream of. He was applying the war‑thinking used to command a million‑strong army to reshape the entire nation's external economic logic!

The several Directors standing behind him had already held their breath, their chests heaving violently. One person instinctively clenched a fist, knuckles whitening from the strain; the old Bureau Chief, his hair silver, long known for steadiness, had at some point removed his reading glasses and was using a white handkerchief to repeatedly wipe the lenses, as if erasing half a lifetime of confusion and caution. He stared fixedly at Lu Qingshan's pen tip; the murkiness in his eyes cleared, leaving only a terrifying surge of waves!

Finally, Lu Qingshan turned to the last page.

On the document's cover, he halted his pen.

The entire conference room seemed to be emptied of air at that moment, even the faint sound of the pen tip moving vanished. Lu Qingshan's gaze seemed to pierce the paper, pierce time itself, seeing the next ten years of volatile international storms and the flashing swords and knives of great‑power rivalry.

He mused briefly, and in his mind flashed his daughter Xiao Xue clutching his neck, baby‑voicedly saying "Dad is my great hero," her innocent smile, and his wife Lin Yue'e, under the lamp, mending a worn spot on his shirt collar, her gentle, focused eyes. Everything he did was not only for that lofty ideal, but also to ensure that they, and the countless families on this land, could forever have such peaceful, happy smiles, never having to watch anyone's face, able to stand proudly, spine straight, in the forest of the world. This land must be strong!

The resolve in his eyes hardened like steel. Then his wrist dropped sharply, the pen dancing like a dragon and snake, and he personally inscribed the overarching goal for this guideline:

"With finance as the spear and industry as the shield, in ten years, we will carve a new economic map for the nation in the International Market!"

When the final stroke of the character "map" came down heavily, it rang like clashing metal, resonating powerfully, shaking the soul!

Lu Qingshan casually pushed the red‑marked, unrecognizable document in front of Zhang Rongfeng. The thick stack of papers hit the desk with a light "thwack," yet it felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, shaking Zhang Rongfeng so that he had to grasp the desk edge to steady his trembling body.

His gaze fixed rigidly on that line on the cover, feeling a torrent of scorching magma surge from his soles straight to the crown of his head, his blood boiling.

Development guideline? No! This isn't some damn development guideline!

It is clearly a declaration of economic war, issued in the nation's name against the entire Western world, a war without visible smoke!

"Take it, reprint it, and submit it directly for departmental review," Lu Qingshan's voice rang out calmly, yet with undeniable authority. He lifted his teacup, gently blew a wisp of steam, his gaze sweeping everyone present, "Also, notify everyone: tomorrow at nine a. m., I will hold a meeting with all Bureau Chiefs and Directors to discuss the next step for our department…" He paused, his eyes suddenly sharpening like a blade, "Number One Operation Plan."

"Number One… Operation Plan?"

Zhang Rongfeng snapped his head up, staring into Lu Qingshan's bottomless eyes that seemed to contain a galaxy of stars and seas. He summoned all his strength, straightening his slightly hunched chest from excitement, his throat producing a hoarse, twisted sound, yet he roared with a soldier's resolute clarity: "Yes! Director!"

In that moment, he was convinced in heart and mind.

Not only him, but everyone in the conference room was likewise convinced. The old Bureau Chief slapped his cleaned glasses onto his face with a "snap," then exhaled a heavy breath, as if expelling half a lifetime of cautious prudence. He turned to those beside him, his trembling voice low‑growling, "May Huaxia be blessed! We… have found the right people!"

Everyone's gaze, once filled with scrutiny and doubt, had completely turned into awe, belief, even… fanaticism!

They finally understood that the person seated before them was not an ordinary Director, but a commander who would soon lead them on another battlefield to expand the nation's frontiers… a supreme commander!