Chapter 451: Pentagon Call: Your Special Aircraft, the Blackbird, Is Ready!

In that dedicated line connecting to the US Treasury Department, Mr. Bowles's breathing was heavy like a bison being dragged to a slaughterhouse, full of despair and resentment.

On the top floor of Saint Remo Apartment, the fall of a pin could be heard.

Li Junjie and Zhang Qianru's bodies were stiff as two wooden stakes nailed to the ground; they even dared not breathe, fearing any faint sound would ignite the raging fury already at its limit on the other end of the phone.

Finally, that deathly silence was shattered by a sound suppressed to the utmost, like a roar forced out of a chest and tearing apart.

"Extortion? Lu Qingshan! You're extorting the United States of America!" Mr. Bowles's voice, twisted by anger and fatigue, sounded like sandpaper frantically grinding a rusted iron plate.

"No, Mr. Bowles."

Lu Qingshan's voice was calm without a ripple; he even had the leisure to walk to the bar, ignoring the mess on the floor, and poured himself a glass of pure water.

"I'm only calling a fast train."

He took a sip of water, moistened his throat, and then, at a leisurely pace, continued in a tone of stating facts.

"After all, my enemy has set a banquet in Geneva; as the host, I don't want to be late."

"Fast train?!" Mr. Bowles felt the veins at his temples throb wildly. "You call a top‑secret SR‑71 'Blackbird' strategic reconnaissance aircraft capable of three‑times‑speed Mach flight a fast train?! Lu Qingshan, you're being excessive! President Reagan would never agree to such an utterly absurd request!"

"Is that so?" Lu Qingshan gently set down his glass; the crisp clink sounded like an order striking Mr. Bowles's heart.

"Then you can tell President Reagan he has five minutes to consider."

"Five minutes later, if I don't see what I want at Kennedy Airport, every mainstream media inbox worldwide will receive a very interesting 'investment analysis report.'"

"I've already thought up the report's title for you: 'On How Xinghan Capital Can Join Forces with the US Government to Precisely Short Europe's Core Allies.'"

"What do you think Mrs. Thatcher's reaction will be when she wakes from the hospital bed and sees this report? What will the entire NATO's reaction be? By then, you'll be facing more than just an angry United Kingdom."

On the other end, Mr. Bowles's roar abruptly stopped.

Only a heavy sound remained, like a drowning person's final gasp before sinking.

He slumped behind his massive rosewood desk, feeling a chill surge from his tailbone straight to the crown, his whole body icy.

a lost.

Completely lost.

From the moment this Eastern devil drove the British Prime Minister into the hospital and then turned into the UK Government's Chief Economic Advisor, he had already lost utterly, with no chance of a comeback.

Now, the other side isn't negotiating with him.

Instead, they are informing him how to fulfill a defeated party's obligations.

"Lu Qingshan…" Mr. Bowles's voice was hoarse like a specter, filled with endless humiliation and despair, "You win."

Having said that, he gave Lu Qingshan no further chance to speak, using his last ounce of strength to slam the phone down.

Then, he picked up another deep‑red secure phone that connected to the Pentagon.

In the apartment, as the busy tone sounded, Lu Qingjun could no longer hold back.

"Brother!" he rushed forward, eyes bloodshot, grabbing Lu Qingshan's arm. "You can't go! You really can't go! They've even brought in the KGB's ace agents, laying a Heavenly Net to take your life! Going to Geneva now is no different from jumping into a meat grinder!"

"It's over, my life's slideshow has already started looping for a second time." David Cohen collapsed on the floor, cradling his head; he didn't pass out again but nervously muttered, "The opening is you, boss, demanding Air Force One as a taxi… no, something even faster than Air Force One… The ending is all of us being packed into cement barrels, sinking into the scenic Lake Geneva…"

Li Junjie and Zhang Qianru said nothing, but their pallid faces and fists whose knuckles whitened from strain said everything.

They could accompany the boss in commercial battles, but now this is no longer a business war.

This is war.

A life‑or‑death fight with no rules whatsoever, a true war.

Lu Qingshan looked at them, and on his usually strategic face, a rare, almost gentle expression appeared for the first time.

He walked over to Lu Qingjun, gave his younger brother's shoulder a firm pat.

"Qingjun, remember." His voice was soft, yet each word weighed a ton. "In this world, some things cannot be retreated from. Not a single step."

His mind flashed to Lin Yue'e's gentle profile under the lamp as she mended his clothes, and to his daughter Xiao Xue leaping into his arms, calling "Dad" in a soft, mushy voice.

"They want to use Yue E and Xiao Xue to threaten me; that's no longer a game of strategy."

"They are digging up the Lu family's ancestral tomb."

"If I back down today, they'll think this move works. Then, from then on, our whole family will never know peace."

"So, I must go."

Lu Qingshan's voice was not loud, yet like a stabilizing needle, it instantly steadied all the wavering hearts in the room.

"I will not only go, but I will also do it in the most unexpected, most terrifying way for them."

"I will make the whole world, all the rats hiding in the shadows, see clearly what the consequence is for crossing my line."

He turned, his deep gaze falling on Li Junjie and Zhang Qianru.

"You two can still change your mind now. This is not an order, it's a choice. Stay in New York, Ye Ning will arrange everything."

Li Junjie jerked his head up, vigorously wiping the cold sweat from his face; in his blood‑shot eyes flared a resolute, all‑or‑nothing light.

"Boss, I'm coming with you!" his voice, trembling with excitement, shifted in tone. "Since you decided to dismantle AIG, I knew we weren't on an ordinary path! Now, to follow you and witness the fall of an old era with my own eyes, even if it means death, I accept!"

"I won't leave either!" Zhang Qianru also sprang to her feet, her face still tinged with fear, but more so a near‑fanatical devotion. "Being your assistant is the greatest honor of my life! Going to Geneva, I'll compile the meeting minutes for you! I believe that will be the most important set of minutes in human history!"

Lu Qingshan looked at them and nodded appreciatively.

At that moment, Ye Ning's computer emitted a crisp, pleasant chime.

"Boss, the file has arrived."

Ye Ning's voice carried a tremor she herself could not control, born of about to witness history.

Everyone's gaze instantly focused on the computer's screen.

Ye Ning inhaled deeply, and with slightly trembling fingers, opened that unusually massive encrypted file.

The file was decompressed.

There were no images, no complex charts.

Only line after line, page after page, dense, shocking text.

It was neither a business report nor financial data.

It was a black chronicle written with blood and sin, spanning several hundred years.

Li Junjie and Zhang Qianru merely glanced at the screen, saw a line of title bolded specially, and instantly felt a chill surge from the soles of their feet straight up to the crown of their heads.

【Document Index: 1840-OPW-001. Subject: Opium Trade Profit Flow Tracking. Core parties: Rothschild London Branch, Sashun Trading Company. Funding purpose: Subsidizing the British Cabinet's war‑policy decisions against China.】

They finally understood what Minister Wang meant by the "national weapon."

This is not any intelligence.

It was clearly a judgment document capable of uprooting the entire Western Old Aristocracy and crushing it to dust…!

Lu Qingshan did not look.

He simply stared calmly at Ye Ning, his gaze as deep as an abyss.

"Print four copies."

His voice sounded as if he were ordering the printing of an ordinary business contract.

"We'll review it on the way."

Ye Ning's body jolted sharply, and immediately, the ever‑still eyes of hers ignited with a raging flame—a flame called "Revenge."

"Yes!" She hammered the keys, and the printer began to emit a low, rumbling hum.

At that moment, the dedicated line belonging to the US Treasury Department rang again.

Ye Ning answered and pressed the speaker button.

On the other end, it was no longer Bowen's voice but a calm, capable male voice bearing the military's inherent rigor and a barely perceptible awe.

"Mr. Lu, this is Davis Colonel of the United States Air Force Strategic Command."

He paused, apparently gathering his words to convey this unprecedented order.

"By joint directive of the Pentagon and the Supreme Commander, we confirm your itinerary."

"Your 'private aircraft,' the SR-71 'Blackbird' strategic reconnaissance plane, tail number 61‑7978, was, five minutes ago, at Kennedy International Airport, Hangar Seven, topped off with JP‑7 special fuel, and is ready for departure."

"The pilot is the Air Force's top ace, the commander of the Ghost squadron, Major John Green. He will personally fly you."

"From New York to Geneva, the estimated flight time is one hour and forty minutes."

"You have a fifteen‑minute boarding window. The ground guide vehicle is waiting below your apartment building."

"Wishing you a pleasant journey."

The call ended.

The entire apartment fell into absolute silence.

Lu Qingshan stood up, picked up the finely crafted black coat from the sofa, and draped it over himself.

He walked to the doorway, then turned back, looking at the now completely petrified Lu Qingjun and David Cohen.

"The house is yours now."

Having said that, he did not linger, and, with Ye Ning, Li Junjie and Zhang Qianru, and the four freshly printed, still‑warm "judgment documents," he strode out of the apartment's main door.

The elevator doors closed slowly.

Lu Qingshan looked into the elevator at the two young people whose bodies still trembled slightly from nervousness and excitement, and suddenly asked.

"Are you afraid of riding a plane at three times the speed of sound for the first time?"

Li Junjie and Zhang Qianru exchanged a glance, then shook their heads with all their strength.

Lu Qingshan smiled.

"No need to be afraid."

"Because from now on, the whole world will make way for us."