The Tyrant Billionaire

"We are taking control of this ship under direct orders. Your commander is suspected of illegally transferring assets, violating national law, and has been detained. You must all comply with our instructions, or we will be forced to take further action. Now, everyone, proceed to the cargo hold."

The soldiers, confused, suspected their commander had betrayed the Nationalist Party and was attempting to smuggle the nation’s treasures out of the country.

Perhaps the President had uncovered the betrayal and sent the Americans to handle it.

The bewildered soldiers were locked in the lower cargo hold, and the ship was seized. Shortly afterward, the ship weighed anchor and set sail once more—this time bound for Hong Kong. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Two days later, Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Nationalist faction, received a telegram stating that the ship carrying the gold was severely delayed. Furious, Chiang ordered an immediate investigation. After all, that was no small sum of money—losing it would be incredibly painful.

In the end, they discovered that the ship had mysteriously vanished.

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No one knew where it had gone. Some even speculated that it might have hit a reef and sunk.

However, the ship had, in fact, arrived in Hong Kong, and the gold, silver yuan, and antiques were swiftly unloaded and transported to Wells Fargo Bank. The captured Nationalist soldiers had their weapons confiscated and were forbidden from leaving the ship.

The CCP agents in Hong Kong replenished the cargo with various goods: large quantities of cotton, rubber shoe soles, medicinal drugs including Hardy Pharmaceutical’s new penicillin, and machine tools from the original shipment. In short, the ship was fully stocked with Hardy Group products.

Originally, tensions between the Hardy Group and the CCP had been rising, with frustrations building over lopsided deals that left the CCP continually exploited by Hardy. But this operation marked a turning point; relations finally thawed, and the CCP resolved to source all their needed supplies from Hardy Group subsidiaries going forward.

"The Hardy Group reciprocated the goodwill extended by the CCP by removing the ship’s original identification number and reflagging it under a Filipino flag. The original Nationalist captain, crew, and soldiers were subsequently sent to Lianyungang."

A few days later, when the captured officers and soldiers disembarked, they found themselves surrounded by armed Communist forces, completely dumbfounded.

They had sailed for two days, been captured by American soldiers, and now, after a few more days, they had somehow ended up in the hands of the Communist forces.

Meanwhile, the Communist officials receiving the goods were grinning from ear to ear. This time, the capitalists had been incredibly generous—aside from discounts on their supplies.

They even got to keep the ship.

However, the operation had to remain confidential, and the captives had to be carefully managed.

The Communist forces assured them that this was their specialty.

...

The next day.

At Hardy Tower, in the president’s office, Hardy first met with the senior executives of Wells Fargo and HSBC, outlining the future development strategies for the banks.

Then, he met with Huo Qingtong the manager of Macau Trade Company.

When he spoke with Huo Qingtong, Hardy mentioned, "According to news from the U.S. due to the situation in the interior, the U.S. government is considering economic blockade policies. Once enforced, it will become more challenging to transport goods to China and may even face inspections by the U.S. military."

Huo Qingtong was visibly alarmed.

"Boss, what should we do?" he asked.

"Inform the CCP side about this. Take advantage of the current policy gap and expedite the shipment of supplies. If the policy takes effect, we’ll have to resort to smuggling, breaking shipments into smaller loads. You’ll need to decide on the specifics as the situation unfolds," Hardy explained.

"Once they reach Guangzhou, the goods won’t have to travel as far. You can transport them directly up the Pearl River estuary or reroute through Macau. Don’t forget you’re the manager of the Macau Trade Company."

Huo Qingtong immediately understood and nodded.

After assigning tasks to everyone, Hardy gave Victor some additional instructions. With impending conflicts, Victor would be handling most of the company’s operations in Hong Kong. Hardy advised him to make decisions on minor matters independently but consult him for more significant issues.

"Boss, what’s the threshold for contacting you?" Victor asked.

"For example, if the CCP forces actually come down and demand control of Hong Kong, and the subsidiary faces a life or death decision, you can contact me," Hardy replied.

"Ah!"

Victor’s eyes widened in shock.

"Is it really possible they might reclaim it?" Victor asked with concern.

Hardy chuckled. "Just focus on your work. If I’m not worried about my assets, there’s no need for you to worry."

...

The next day, after sleeping in and having lunch, Hardy finally departed.

The B-29 flew from Hong Kong to Japan in just over three hours, landing at Haneda Airport, where Hardy disembarked.

A welcoming party awaited him at the airport.

Several months earlier, when Hardy had gone to Hong Kong, he left Duncan and the others in Japan. Four months had passed, and Duncan had already made some headway here.

Three cars were parked outside the airport. Duncan approached to greet him, and once inside the car, Hardy said, "I won’t be staying long. I just want to take a quick look at the situation here. How have things been progressing these past few months?"

"Boss, we’ve established a trading company and are now conducting business with the United States. Within the company, I set up a specialized information gathering department, hiring staff to collect information on Japanese politics, economics, business, and public life."

"To make things easier, I also took over a local Tokyo gang, led by Kuroda Ryohei. They call themselves the ’Kuroda Group,’ and with over thirty members, they help us gather information."

As they spoke, the car drove into central Tokyo.

Hardy looked out the window. Though Tokyo had suffered extensive bombing, the city had mostly recovered in the past few years.