Chapter 333: The Finale - An Announcement

Soon, Su Hao learned the full situation from Du Yuanhang.
Fanghuan Shipping was fiercely bidding against the Levant Chain for the operating rights of the Port of Beirut, Lebanon.
Du Yuanhang worried that if the opponent succeeded, the consequences would be dire.
For Fanghuan, who aspired to build a complete shipping empire, the Levant Chain was undoubtedly a major threat.
"Therefore, our opinion is that even if it means significant losses, we must acquire this port."
"What's the current bidding price?"
"Ten billion US dollars. The problem is, this is just the beginning. Judging from the Levant Chain's actions, the price will continue to rise."
Ten billion US dollars!
The operating rights of a port were priced at such an astronomical level!
Even Su Hao found it somewhat unimaginable.
But the fact that both Fanghuan and the Levant Chain were willing to bear this cost was enough to prove just how terrifying the strategic value of the Port of Beirut was.
"..."
Su Hao remained silent. He picked up the report Du Yuanhang had brought and began to carefully read it.
His fingers had just touched the words "Port of Beirut" on the report.
Boom—!
An indescribable, earth-shattering roar, as if not from the outside world, but exploding directly into the depths of his soul!
It was an extreme fear and repulsion stemming from a primal instinct, as if a ferocious beast lurked there, roaring silently at him!
He was struck dumb, frozen in place.
"Chairman Su! Are you alright?!" Du Yuanhang exclaimed in alarm. "Are you... feeling unwell?"
"..."
Su Hao did not answer.
What was that just now?
An absolute, ominous premonition.
As if some terrifying being, one he could not resist, lurked in that place.
That intense, almost nauseating sense of repulsion made him instinctively turn to the next page of the report.
He didn't know what would happen there, but his intuition was issuing such a catastrophic warning with only one meaning:
This project had to be abandoned!
"...Hmm?"
However, just as he turned to the next page and saw the "Bidding Amount" section, his dormant intuition was stirred once more!
Strange...
His intuition was frantically resisting the entity of Beirut Port, but why did it feel a surge of desire and excitement regarding the "Bidding Amount"?
It wouldn't let him touch the project, yet it wanted him to participate in the bidding?
What did this mean?
'It won't let me eat the meat, but it's encouraging me to stir the soup as muddily as possible?'
Su Hao picked up a pen and silently wrote a number on the white paper beside him.
However, an unseen feeling urged him to continue! Keep adding more!
The numbers skyrocketed, from 15 billion to 20 billion, 25 billion…
Until he reached a number that even he himself found absurd, the urgency abruptly stopped.
His hand stopped.
Su Hao looked up at Du Yuanhang, who was holding his breath, awaiting his final decision.
This number, indeed, was somewhat astonishing.
“President Du.”
“Ah, Chairman Su, please speak!”
“This bidding price…” Su Hao pointed to the number on the paper, “We bid 30 billion.”
"What?! Three...three hundred billion?!"
Du Yuanhang's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and he remained silent for a good ten seconds.
But quickly, he forced himself to calm down.
"Three hundred billion US dollars...that's no small sum for a shipping company!"
"What about the competition?" Su Hao asked calmly.
"This is an open tender, not a secret bid. If we bid three hundred billion, they'll know immediately. And then..."
Du Yuanhang's eyes darted around rapidly, quickly conducting a mental simulation.
"They...they'll most likely follow. Even if it's just a tiny increase, they'll keep going."
"Such an outrageous price, they'll still follow?"
"Yes. Extremely likely." Du Yuanhang said confidently.
"Those guys' goal is to take this place at all costs and completely control the Middle East. It's their lifeline."
Su Hao's intuition stopped at the number three hundred billion.
It's very likely that this isn't a signal for him to make the acquisition.
Instead, it was telling him that this was a price that would allow his competitors to "just happen" to take over, and suffer terribly…
***
"Has Chairman Su made a decision yet?"
Du Yuanhang, carrying Su Hao's "divine decree," rushed back to the shipping company, where the executives were already waiting anxiously.
"Yes, we got the price."
"How much…?"
"Three hundred billion US dollars."
"!?!"
In the conference room, the executives froze instantly, their mouths agape, mouths agape, unable to utter a single word.
Three hundred billion!
Are they crazy?!
Even if that place was the site of the West Sea Dragon King's enlightenment, it wasn't worth three hundred billion!
"But...but...such a huge sum of money invested, our cash flow..."
Seeing the group of bewildered and panicked executives, Du Yuanhang suddenly burst into laughter.
"Alright, alright, put your jaws down. Do you really think Chairman Su quoted three hundred billion so we could win the bid at that price?"
"Huh?"
"Although he didn't say it explicitly, I could tell that Chairman Su never intended to take this port.
If he really wanted it, he wouldn't be acting like this."
The executives weren't fools; upon hearing this, they immediately started thinking.
Soon, a jaw-dropping conclusion surfaced in everyone's minds.
“Could it be… Chairman Su means…”
“That’s right! Chairman Su’s move is brilliant!
Since we can’t handle it, let’s just raise the price to the sky, let our competitors swallow it, and then choke them!”
Du Yuanhang slapped his thigh, his face filled with fanatical admiration for Su Hao.
“We’re going to tell them outright: ‘30 billion, take it or leave it!’ What can they do?
Yes, Fang Huan needs Beirut Port, but the Levant Chain needs it even more! They can’t afford to lose!
So, even with an outrageous figure like 30 billion, they can only grit their teeth and swallow it down!”
The Levant Chain is backed by petrodollars, but 30 billion US dollars is no small sum, even for Middle Eastern tycoons!
“Anyway, we’re going to give up eventually. Before we leave, we should leave them a ‘gift’ they’ll never forget, right?”
Du Yuanhang sneered.
"Before they sprout wings and come after us, let's cripple them!
That way, we can run further, right?"
Everyone suddenly understood, then gasped.
Ruthless! Too ruthless!
"But… Chairman Su's concession this time was really decisive," an executive couldn't help but remark.
"Given his style, shouldn't he get what he deems necessary by any means necessary?
Could it be… he has some other plan we don't know about?"
Du Yuanhang was taken aback.
Yes, based on his understanding of Su Hao, this young chairman never made a plan without a backup plan.
For some reason, the image of Su Hao reviewing reports, those eyes that seemed to pierce through eternity, involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
That gaze was so profound…
So profound that it made his heart tremble.
It was as if what he was seeing was not a business report, but an obituary with a pre-written ending!