Chapter 352: Wind Rises! I

After Weierxun Sha Sun left, the heavy office door slowly closed, cutting off the outside clamor, but it locked an even more suffocating pressure tightly inside this top‑floor office.

Lu Qingjun, like a soft animal whose spine had been pulled out, sprang up from the sofa, eyes bloodshot, staring fixedly at his own older brother, his voice changed in tone.

"Brother! Are you crazy?! You reject the money and information delivered to us? That's 30% of the Shason Family's assets! It's not 30% cabbage! Do you know how much that's worth? Even selling our entire Xinghan Group couldn't buy it! He came as an informant; our odds would have surged, and you… you actually drove him away?!"

He felt his worldview, within just a few hours, repeatedly overturned, reshaped, then smashed to pieces by a hammer.

First he gambled nearly ten billion, then forced a settlement, and now even the enemy's informant and sky‑high chips are discarded like worn‑out shoes.

What on earth is the apocalyptic drug his brother is selling in that gourd?

Lu Qingshan ignored him, leisurely poured himself another half‑glass of red wine, walked to the almost‑stone‑frozen Ye Ning, and handed her the glass.

Ye Ning mechanically took it; the cold glass gave her numb fingertips, numbed by shock, a faint sensation.

Lu Qingshan looked at the two despondent subordinates before him, a cold curve lifting his mouth, and said word for word, "You both think that Weierxun brought a massive fortune, a lifeline, right?"

"That's the Gambler's perspective."

"The Gambler always cares about the win or loss of the next hand, always hoping to rely on inside info, on luck, to win back all the chips. As for me," Lu Qingshan gestured toward the brilliantly lit Financial City beneath his feet, "I never play the Gambler."

"I will be the Banker."

"Because the Banker never cares about any hand's outcome. They only do three things: set the rules, provide the venue, and then watch coldly as all Gamblers, within those rules, either win money or lose everything."

"What Weierxun delivered are the chips he won at the table. What I want is to overturn this old casino and claim the power to set new rules!"

"Do you think I would use the power to set rules to exchange a few blood‑stained chips?"

His words, like morning bells and evening drums, hammered fiercely upon Ye Ning and Lu Qingjun's hearts!

Lu Qingjun fell silent, staring blankly at his brother; for the first time he sensed that beneath his brother's seemingly calm exterior lay a terrifying soul that would make even gods and demons shudder.

And Ye Ning, her hand gripping the glass, finally stopped trembling. In her mind, the countless precise world built from data and models collapsed with a roar at that moment. K line, Leverage, Long and Short... the tools she held as gospel appeared so laughably small before the words "set rules."

She felt she was not following a merchant nor a Gambler.

She was following a deity walking among mortals, a revolutionary who would personally pull the old god of this financial world from its throne and reshape the throne with her own visage!

A shiver of frenzy surged from her spine to the crown of her head, making her whole body tremble!

"Boss, I understand." Ye Ning drained the red wine in one gulp; the icy face reignited with flames named "Confidence" and "War Intent," "Give the order! Whatever it is!"

"Very good." Lu Qingshan was pleased with her reaction.

He turned, facing Li Zhi'an and Ye Ning, his aura instantly shifting from an elegant wine‑taster to a strategist poised to launch a grand offensive.

"From now on, the Trading Hall will temporarily go dormant. I give you both new missions."

"Li Zhi'an! I want you to become London's ears! Before you travel to London, arrange for you to pre‑communicate with all information channels. Now you must mobilize every channel—whether Black Market private detectives, friends in the police station, private financial brokers, bulk sales agents—keep a close watch on Downing Street and all mainstream media! Whether it's 'Falkland Islands' or 'Malvinas Islands,' any mention must appear on my desk before the Queen herself hears it!"

Li Zhi'an shivered, though not understanding why, but he immediately nodded heavily, "Yes, boss!"

"Ye Ning!" Lu Qingshan turned his gaze to her, "Your task is heavier. Turn your 120 Wall Street elites, from traders, into 120 most scent‑sensitive hounds! Forget the K line, go sniff the scent of blood for me!"

"I want a list!" Lu Qingshan's voice turned cold and sharp, "A Hunger List! A list filled with the names of Europe's industrial giants and centuries‑old families! I want to know whose factories are about to shut, whose armies lack winter coats, whose tables lack white sugar! I want each one's anxiety, panic, and hidden cards!"

"Remember, we are no longer sellers; we are the only water hanging above their heads. We do not sell proactively; we simply wait for them to become so thirsty that they'll beg us for a handout at any cost."

"Yes, boss!" Ye Ning's voice rang powerfully; she turned and left without hesitation, her swift, decisive stride like a general marching to the front lines.

The spacious office now held only Lu Qingshan and Lu Qingjun, who had completely given up thinking.

In the days that followed, the building at Weilian Wang Dajie 81 Hao fell into a strange calm.

In the Trading Hall below, the massive screen wall that symbolized money and war fell silent for the first time. The flickering red‑green data streams were replaced by a huge World Map. The 120 top traders, looking at the brand‑new mission orders before them, went from initial bewilderment to shock, then to a chilling realization! They finally understood that what they were part of was not a financial speculation at all, but a war rehearsal targeting the entire old continent...

Meanwhile, at the Shason Group headquarters.

Henry Shason looked at the report his subordinates delivered and sneered, "That Eastern fool finally ran out of money? He actually stopped buying? Looks like he's preparing to cut his losses and close positions. Send the notice, ready the noose; I will make him pay the price of bankruptcy for his stupidity!" He was completely unaware that the prey in his eyes had already sheathed its fangs, becoming a hunter who surveyed him from a higher dimension.

And the mastermind behind all this, Lu Qingshan, spread out a sheet of rice paper.

Lu Qingjun looked at him, puzzled.

Lu Qingshan lifted his brush, dipped it in ink, and the brush strokes danced like dragons and snakes, writing two bold characters on the paper: "Wind Rises".

He set down the brush, gazed at the seemingly tranquil Financial City outside the window, a cold curve lifting his mouth.

The wind is about to rise.

And he is the only person in this world who knows where the wind comes from and where it will blow.