Homo Sapiens

Ceylon.

Gem City.

Inside a temporary press conference hall.

Dis and Qingye Group President Liu Zhifan shook hands as a swarm of reporters and photographers frantically snapped pictures of the two.

Soon, the two signed the contract.

This partnership came as a complete surprise.

The main terms of the agreement were as follows: Qingye Group would sell two million tons of rice to Ceylon annually at a low price. In return, Ceylon would sell the operating rights of three ports to Qingye Group, along with the development rights for thirty square kilometers of land near the ports, for a contract period of ninety-nine years.

The three ports were Galle Port in the south, Trincomalee Port in the east, and Sill Port in the north.

To guarantee Qingye Group’s grain supply, the three ports operated by Qingye Group would only be required to pay an annual usage fee of three million Jin Yuan, with all other taxes waived.

The reporters, heads of major foreign enterprises, and various national consuls present all thought Dis had lost his mind.

But he wasn’t crazy. It was simply the best choice available at the moment.

「Meanwhile.」

At the chaotic Colombo Port, public order had finally seen some recovery over the past few days.

After being refurbished, the former Old North Harbor District finally welcomed its first batch of ”guests”—four container ships and grain carriers slowly docking at the port’s berths.

Meanwhile, the South Harbor District was home to the Colombo Port Management Company, controlled by the China Merchants Company.

At that moment, the company’s manager, Huang Zhenguo, was standing in an office on a high floor of the office building, gazing out at the situation in the northern harbor.

”Qingye Group? Aren’t they afraid of losing their entire investment?”

The deputy manager beside him, Ye Xiaofei, shrugged. ”If they can secure the long-term operating rights to three ports, plus the surrounding land, then I suppose it might just be worth it.”

Huang Zhenguo took off his work uniform and changed into a set of casual clothes. ”Let’s take a few men and go check out Colombo City.”

The group made a low-key appearance in Colombo City, driving a heavy, bulletproof SUV.

Before long, they saw large crowds of residents queuing up.

They parked the car under the shade of a tree on the roadside not far away.

Huang Zhenguo and Ye Xiaofei watched the queuing residents from the car window. At the end of the line was an Aoyama Supermarket that had opened earlier this year and had been in business for over six months.

However, this Aoyama Supermarket had already absorbed more than twenty neighboring shops, knocking down the walls between them to create temporary sales counters.

A dozen or so natural gas trucks were parked nearby, and hundreds of hired laborers were busy unloading goods from the trucks’ containers.

”Let’s get out and take a look!” Huang Zhenguo suggested.

”Shouldn’t we wait a bit?” Ye Xiaofei asked, a little worried.

But Huang Zhenguo shook his head and pointed to several corners of the street. ”See that? They’re all fully armed security personnel.”

Ye Xiaofei took a look and saw that there were indeed many security guards standing post in small groups. These guards occupied key points along the street, and he even noticed a few gazes fixed on their SUV.

Opening the car doors, the two walked over to a storefront that didn’t even have glass windows installed yet. Inside were a dozen large freezers. Hearing the sound of an engine from behind the shop, it was clear that Aoyama Supermarket was running on its own temporary generator.

The freezers were filled with frozen chicken breasts, wings, legs, and pork.

But when he saw the prices on the labels, Ye Xiaofei frowned and whispered, ”They only accept Jin Yuan? Aren’t they worried about causing trouble with the Ceylonese authorities? And do the people of Ceylon even have Jin Yuan?”

Huang Zhenguo pointed a few hundred meters away. ”Perhaps the answer is over there!”

Ye Xiaofei turned his head.

Qingye Bank?

The two walked over to the entrance of Qingye Bank. A sign announced that they accepted gold and silver in exchange for Jin Yuan and also offered collateralized loans and asset acquisition services.

Don’t have any Jin Yuan?

Now you do.

And upon entering Colombo, Qingye Group had immediately launched a recruitment drive, successively establishing supermarkets, banks, restaurants, property management, gas, power, water, port services, warehousing, logistics, hospitals, pharmacies, taxi services, and construction companies.

Colombo, with a population of just over 600,000, had tens of thousands of its laborers absorbed in an instant.

As the grain, various goods, and equipment that Qingye Group mobilized from Hongsawaddy began arriving at Ceylon’s ports, the public, who had been in an uproar, suddenly quieted down.

Nothing is more important than a full stomach.

With tens of thousands of employees plus their families, Qingye Group instantly became a force that accounted for nearly half of Colombo’s population. The scale was simply terrifying.

Now, anyone who dared to touch Qingye Group’s assets in Colombo would be mobbed and beaten by the local residents in a heartbeat.

Huang Zhenguo and Ye Xiaofei went to a local restaurant where they often ate.

The restaurant owner saw the two and greeted them with a smile. ”Hello! Huang, Ye, here to eat? I finally managed to buy some lamb and onions today.”

Following his usual habit, Huang Zhenguo ordered a few dishes and found a random table to sit at. Through the glass window, he could see that the number of trucks and vans on the street had increased significantly.

But something felt off. A large portion of those trucks and vans bore the Qingye Automobile logo.

After giving instructions to the kitchen, the restaurant owner walked over with a few bottles of Qingye Cola. ”This is the only cola I have right now. Hope you don’t mind.”

”Not at all,” Huang Zhenguo said with a smile, shaking his head.

Ye Xiaofei then asked quietly, ”Singer, you must be buying your ingredients from Aoyama Supermarket, right?”

”Yeah, I have no choice. It’s the only supermarket with cheap ingredients right now, even though you need to show ID,” Singer said, spreading his hands helplessly.

”Where did you get the Jin Yuan?” Ye Xiaofei asked, half-joking.

Hearing this, a wry smile appeared on Singer’s face. ”I pawned my wife’s gold jewelry at that bank for 80,000 Jin Yuan.”

”How’s business now?” Huang Zhenguo asked, glancing at the number of customers in the restaurant. He noticed it was less than a third of what it used to be.

Singer looked frustrated. ”Terrible. A lot of people don’t have Jin Yuan now, so they can only rely on relief meals. Forget about coming to a restaurant.”

”At least there’s food to eat,” Huang Zhenguo said, taking a sip of his cola.

”I just hope the economy recovers soon!” Singer said, looking wistfully at the bustling street outside.

But Huang Zhenguo could only smile wryly to himself. ’Clearly, locals like Singer have no idea of the gravity of the situation, nor of Qingye Group’s ruthlessness.’

’After all, Hongsawaddy was completely devoured by the three major corporations. It’s almost impossible for small private businesses to survive in the territory of a mega-corp.’

’It’s like the jungle floor beneath a giant rainforest tree—other plants can hardly find room to grow.’

After their meal.

Huang Zhenguo and his men wandered through the streets of Colombo City for a while longer. Although the recent bankruptcy had had a massive negative impact on the people of Ceylon, things had surprisingly returned to a semblance of normality under Qingye Group’s full-scale intervention.

The two of them were heavy-hearted the entire way.

After returning to the Port Management Company’s office building.

Standing before the window, Huang Zhenguo took a sip of cooled boiled water:

”Whew... Terrifying. This Qingye Group is just too terrifying.”

”They are terrifying. Without any restrictions, a mega-corp like this will quickly devour an entire region’s industries. And once they’ve succeeded, getting rid of them will be incredibly difficult,” Ye Xiaofei replied, his expression just as grave.

Just as Ye Xiaofei said, a mega-corp is a mega-corp precisely because of its enormous scale and its interlocking industrial chains.

When a mega-corp’s employees make up the vast majority of the local population, trying to restrict it or divest it would be tantamount to disemboweling yourself.

”The future of our business at Colombo Port looks grim!” Huang Zhenguo’s words were filled with sorrow and worry.

Having witnessed the terrifying power of Qingye Group, he no longer believed the China Merchants Company could easily establish a firm foothold in Colombo Port. He was certain they would be targeted in the future.