Two days later, championed and driven forward by Dongcheng, Midtown passed the Coastal Environmental Protection Act without warning, while simultaneously unveiling a draft for public comment on new regulations for penalizing environmental pollution.
Brand-new standards were established, specifically targeting the pollution and exhaust emissions of phlogiston vehicles.
This not only marked a major step forward for the Federation's environmental protection cause, but also safeguarded the clear blue seas and skies of the coastal region, prevented ecological degradation, and helped mitigate the increasingly frequent disasters.
At least, that was what the environmental experts on television claimed.
Amid an overwhelming outcry of opposition, the Ministry of Justice surprisingly conceded ground for once, issuing a second revision of the regulations: existing models would be grandfathered in, but any newly manufactured model that failed strict environmental testing would be barred from both the market and the road.
Furthermore, the environmental testing of vehicles would be conducted by expert agencies designated by the Ministry of Justice.
The regulations were set to take effect in three months.
When that time came, a brand-new technological barrier would rise from the ground...
And simultaneously, it elicited a shrill, explosive screech from Yan Jian, who had finally crawled out after two and a half days of seclusion, bleary-eyed and clutching his blueprints.
"I'll ■ your ■'s ■!!!"
"I'm gonna ■■ the ■ of these Midtown ■■..."
"■■■ my ■'s ■■, a bunch of ■■, ■■■!!!!"
The shrieks of 'Can't Afford Pineapples' could be heard almost all the way from Yacheng to Chaocheng.
Through all of this, Ji Jue—who was sipping tea, reading the paper, slacking off, and taking advantage of the lull to study the Treatise on Xiang Swords—kept his legs crossed, completely unbothered.
"Ignore it," he said. "Keep going."
Glancing at the words 'household phlogiston passenger cars' in the draft proposal, he couldn't help a cold sneer. Stir the pot, then! Go ahead and stir all you like!
Come talk to me when a little tricycle qualifies as a passenger car!
"Employee B709 has breached their non-disclosure agreement—"
Isis's voice came through the phone. "An unregistered device was detected connecting to the intranet, and four wiretapping and video-recording devices were found in their personal luggage. Shall I dispose of them?"
"Just notify security," Ji Jue said without looking up, taking a sip of tea. "We should always give people a chance to start over."
"Speak human, please."
"Lock them in Workshop No. 0 and make them drive screws until they die," Ji Jue said deadpan. "Or until they pay off their breach-of-contract penalty after room and board are deducted. That works too."
"I feel that converting them directly into materials would be more humane by comparison."
"Humane?" Ji Jue scoffed. "I'm a capitalist. Since when are capitalists human?"
"You weren't human even when you weren't a capitalist," Isis reminded him with regret. "Furthermore, surveillance data indicates that the threat target, Yin Zhaoyang, is still stirring up trouble and acting as an obstacle. It appears your gentle approach and leniency have failed to produce results. Why not simply kill him?"
"Killing him is easy, but what happens after?" Ji Jue counseled patiently. "If we kill him and they send someone even more stubborn, wouldn't that be more of a headache? Besides, this is Yacheng. People play by the rules here, more or less."
"Heh."
Isis offered only a cold laugh.
Yet Ji Jue genuinely wanted to play by the rules.
Especially when the rules were on his side.
Then following the rules was all the more essential!
If the whole affair could be confined from start to finish within the scope of commercial disputes, personal grudges, and vendettas, Ji Jue would probably wake up laughing in his sleep.
Assigning a classification to something was a terrifying prospect—it was equivalent to putting it on the scales.
Accidentally bringing a controlled blade onto a flight versus attempting a hijacking versus engaging in terrorist activity that endangered public safety... The exact same physical act, depending on how it was classified, could lead to three completely different outcomes.
At best, a stern warning from airport security; at worst, even rotting in prison forever would be a luxury.
It was just like what Ji Jue was doing now.
Looked at broadly, it was the rise of a military-industrial giant and a life-and-death struggle over market share. Looked at narrowly, it was merely an auto plant belonging to a nearly bankrupt industrial conglomerate trying to resume operations.
Faced with this suppression, he could very well flex his muscles, round up Isis, Little Niuma, his prototype Ex-Wife and Stepmother, along with a heap of gear, and hack Yin Zhaoyang's entire family to death in broad daylight, wiping out the clan and scattering their ashes to the wind.
Yet what followed would be escalation and loss of control.
Beat the young, and the old step in; kill the old, and an even older monster emerges. The weight on the scale would ratchet up notch by notch until it spiraled beyond Ji Jue's control, or even crushed him into dust.
No, it was practically a foregone conclusion!
Even if he did nothing at all and simply turtled up to build strength, escalation was inevitable. But only a fool would ramp up the difficulty to torment mode before their precious development window had even ended.
Otherwise, why approach you, Ji Jue, instead of Ye Xian?
Lyu Yingyue had Ye Xian, but did that mean the Federation had no other Masters? Were the other legendary workshops just twiddling their thumbs? Boreas wasn't the only one feeding at the military-industrial trough!
Once an arms race started spiraling, there would be no end to it. What was more, how could there be only one or two parties eyeing the pie and aching to sit at the table?
According to the Uncertainty Principle of Rules: the more eyes watching a matter simultaneously, the more strictly everyone adhered to the rules.
Right now, the rules favored Ji Jue.
Before anyone could gauge the depths of Lyu Yingyue's hand or the extent of Ji Jue's capabilities, no one would overturn the table.
He had to hold his ground and weather the probes, both overt and covert.
The faster and steadier he ran right now, the easier things would be later, and the more room to maneuver and advantages he could secure.
Therefore, he needed to make some noise—big, the bigger the better. At the same time, the fallout from that noise had to be small—the smaller the better.
In this process, Lyu Yingyue, the Security Bureau, the Tong family, Ye Xian, and even... even Xu Chaoxian—all of his allies could offer support, but none could take center stage in his place.
Besides, Ji Jue had never entertained such thoughts.
The funding was in place, the support was fully lined up—if he still went whining for patrons and crying to mommy and daddy, what use was he?
I fought my way from the Profound to the Association and withstood legendary pressure-monsters like Tianlu and Kanemoto. Am I seriously going to buckle under an auto plant? One of these days I'll show you bastards what the Weightlifting King of Yacheng is made of!
"It'll do."
Two days later, Ji Jue looked down and flipped through the 'Tricycle V6.0 Gold Collector's Power-Enhanced Over-My-Dead-Body-Will-I-Revise-Again Edition' that Yan Jian had poured his blood, sweat, and soul into, finally nodding.
"Take a day off, and then get ready to start production, Engineer Yan."
"Finally..."
Tears practically welled in Yan Jian's eyes.
He slumped in his chair, unable to twitch a muscle.
In the span of just a few days, he had been almost completely drained dry by this bastard Ji Jue. From his brain to his kidneys, everything felt hollowed out and buzzing.
If it had been any layperson, the first draft would have been the end of it. Revise? Revise your mother!
Yet this bastard Ji Jue had impossibly finicky demands paired with an unnervingly sharp eye; the slightest slackening or cutting of corners was caught instantly.
No matter how minute the flaw, it never escaped his notice.
Even if Ji Jue was limited by time and experience, lagging far behind Yan Jian in engineering design and product comprehension, he still refused to let pass any detail he didn't understand or couldn't reason through, grabbing Yan Jian to give him on-the-spot lectures until everything was crystal clear.
At times, when Yan Jian gave up on himself and tried to slack off by scrolling through short videos, he would turn around only to see a sinister smiling face peering faintly at him through the window.
Ji Jue didn't scold him, didn't hit him, and didn't even raise his voice.
He would merely gaze at him with warm, gentle concern, asking if he was hungry, if he was tired, if he hadn't slept well these past two days—and whether he'd like to take a look at Workshop No. 0, at those beasts of burden driving screws twenty hours a day with IV saline drips hooked up to their arms.
Looking back, those five short days had been an absolute nightmare.
Far more terrifying than when he took his Level 1 exam and was surrounded, grilled, and battered by a dozen experts, all right?!
Now, sufficient materials were stocked, the machinery was fully serviced, the draft-animal workforce had been trained, and even the product design was finalized. Everything was in place, lacking only an east wind. Yet after a brief moment of relief, Yan Jian couldn't help growing anxious once more.
It wasn't that he lacked worldly experience or skill; he had simply never been targeted like this before.
Even back when Haian Auto halted production, it had amounted to nothing more than the third plant director hanging himself from a rope at the front gate. When had he ever witnessed a spectacle of this scale?
Now that they had finally surmounted countless hurdles and reached this point under immense pressure, it would be a lie to say he didn't harbor both hope and dread.
And in all of Yacheng, the only life raft that could keep Haian afloat was the young man standing right before him.
Looking at this spirited youth, Yan Jian's lips trembled slightly, and he couldn't help asking after all, "On your end, really... I mean, behind you... do you have...?"
"I reached where I am today purely through my own hard work!" Ji Jue replied flatly, without a heartbeat's hesitation.
Putting his hands behind his back and lifting his chin wasn't to look cool—it was to hide Non-Offensive behind him.
"Yeah, right, totally, whatever you say..."
Rolling his eyes, Yan Jian nodded like a pecking chick, thoroughly exhausted and refusing to dwell any longer on what might or might not be.
In any case, he had already decided that if Haian Auto Works truly went belly-up in the future, he would just take out a loan and start his own venture.
Assuming Ji Jue was still willing by then...
Amused by the thought, he chuckled, shook his head, and said nothing more.
In the gentle breeze drifting in through the window, he tossed his head with flair, flipping the few remaining strands of hair on his pate. Lighting a cigarette, hands behind his back, he hummed a tune as he headed out to corral the workforce for crash training.
He could build cars again.
What a joy.
"...Are you serious, sir?"
Beneath the workshops of Haian Auto Works, inside the temporary workshop carved out in the subterranean space, starlight flickered, filled with doubt.
After the 'friendship fee' sponsorship from Yu Hanguang, the current Isis was two versions ahead of when she was first born, almost catching up to the resource-stuffed base version Ji Jue had built in the Myriad Transformations simulation.
Particularly in orchestrating complex machinery, wide-area surveillance, and concurrent multiline processing, she could operate independently without the aid of a server.
Even so, confronted with the blueprint Ji Jue handed her, she fell into silence, as if crashing.
"Huh? What is it?" Ji Jue asked blankly. "Did I miss something and make it too complicated?"
"No..."
After a long silence, Isis let out a helpless sigh. "I once believed you were full of hatred for this world, and that you poured your heart and soul into me, regardless of the consequences—indulging and relying on me without restraint—solely to forge a tool for destroying the world.
"And now, you expect me to join you in scavenging trash, hunting trash, and manufacturing trash.
"Did I do something wrong, that you must torment me in such a venomous manner...?"
"What's wrong with trash?" Ji Jue's eyes widened as he argued vigorously. "There's a ton of fun in a junkyard! Besides, what's so bad about this tricycle? Let me tell you, this tricycle is fantastic..."
"If you can find joy in it, I have no objection," Isis remarked coolly. "However, with your talent and ability, you shouldn't be squandering yourself on something like this."
"Why not?"
Ji Jue turned, questioning her in return with genuine confusion.
That utterly matter-of-fact demeanor struck Isis into silence instead.
As though it were the most natural thing in the world.
He threw himself into it with absolute delight, heedless of gains or losses, regardless of the consequences, joyfully pouring his precious talents into assembling worthless junk, and finding pure happiness in doing so.
"I cannot understand," she sighed with regret. "I cannot understand humans after all, sir."
"So what? Do humans even understand humans?" Ji Jue chuckled. "Besides, I don't think they're trash. To someone who has nothing, some things—no matter how cheap or battered—are rare and precious treasures.
"As long as it's worn enough, you don't have to worry about someone stealing it. As long as it's cheap enough, you can actually own it and hold onto it.
"A twelve-yuan plate of braised pork trotter rice with all-you-can-eat rice, near-expiry buy-one-get-one-free milk and drinks, a discarded fifty-yuan bargain fridge, a second-hand scooter covered in stickers and scratches, a PC cobbled together from scavenged second-hand parts..."
Counting on his fingers, he listed those familiar everyday things as if describing priceless treasures. "Isis, I love things like that."
In the protracted silence, Isis said nothing, quietly watching those eyes brim with laughter.
Like gemstones, sparkling and bright.
After a long pause, she said, "I understand."
"Huh?" Ji Jue blinked. "...Understand what?"
"That you are beyond cure."
The mechanical arm snatched the blueprints from Ji Jue's hands, her tone as cutting as ever. "Next, your pathetic slave will once again get to work for the sake of your unspeakable grand plan. Now, have mercy and take your nuisance elsewhere. Stop wasting my time."
"Thanks a lot, Isis," Ji Jue laughed, giving a wave.
Isis said nothing, ignoring him.
Only the starlight inside the vessel gathered, coalescing into the silhouette of a finger pointing toward the door.
Immediately after, the light of spiritus surged, coursing along the circuits and spreading outward, once again extending through the temporary workshop to take over and command everything.
Aboveground, inside workshop after workshop, countless pieces of machinery powered on in sequence, warming up and running test cycles.
Multiline processing surpassing human capability began anew, operating flawlessly and impeccably, pouring every ounce of effort into... trivial tasks that, in the workshop spirit's eyes, were completely beneath consideration.
Work had begun.
Once again...
To outside observers, the brief span of half a month looked like nothing less than a brutal massacre and encirclement.
Having choked off the entire upstream and downstream supply chain and blockaded the supply of parts and raw materials, Yin Zhaoyang leveraged Echo Tech-Industry's vast influence to continuously exert pressure across all channels. Openly and secretly, onstage and behind the scenes, he mounted a pervasive crackdown against Haian Auto Works—a ragtag outfit lacking personnel, lacking equipment, lacking practically everything.
After seizing the jugular of critical components, severing equipment maintenance and updates, he cut off the recruitment pipelines for both new blood and skilled workers through the guilds. Then, utilizing Huanyu's distribution channels and an intricate web of vested interests, he brought the vast majority of dealerships into line, effectively closing off every sales avenue for Haian Auto.
Even after executing such a seamless combo—locking down every vital artery from heart to limb—he still felt it wasn't enough. He continued buying up Haian Auto Works' debts through various means across multiple banks, without letting up even now.
Once the Haian Auto debts in his possession surpassed 1.4 billion, he formally initiated legal proceedings.
The case was handled by the ace team of the premier law firm in the Southeast region. Bypassing Yacheng's territorial jurisdiction, they scheduled a court hearing directly in Dongcheng ten days later. They refused all out-of-court settlements or communications, demanding the auction of all Haian Auto Works' assets to satisfy the debts.
Either pay up, or sell the plant. It was that simple.
And that was only because Xu Chaoxian was stubbornly refusing to sign off on the several billion in bad debts held by Yacheng Investment Bank; otherwise, they might already be seeing each other before the Federal Supreme Court in Midtown.
Storms arose without ceasing, not a single day of calm.
Ji Jue had no way of glimpsing the turbulence and power struggles unfolding behind the scenes, nor did anyone burden him by bringing these matters to his attention.
Amid countless onlookers watching from the light and the shadows, Yin Zhaoyang staged a vivid demonstration of a one-sided beatdown and slaughter.
Ji Jue had gotten off to a disastrous start; Ji Jue was making blunder after blunder; Ji Jue was locked in bitter struggle; Ji Jue was putting up a desperate last stand—
And then, less than a week later, Ji Jue put out a press release announcing the launch of their new vehicle!
Chapter 325