Chapter 429: Traditional Arts

Fang Huan is now widely recognized as the ultimate mastermind behind the world's chessboard.
It's too late to stop him.
Since they can't defeat him, why not... join them?
Or rather, kneel down and cling to their coattails.
Others might be helpless, but with the all-powerful Fang Huan's investment, perhaps there really is a way to break this deadlock.
"But, as I just said, simply asking for help is useless. Why should they help us?
Therefore, we must offer... conditions they can't refuse.
Even if it means clinging to their coattails, we must obtain their help!"
"..."
Just listening to this, everyone felt their pride shatter.
But what is pride worth right now?
Their political lives, the future of their entire party, hung on this thread!
“But… former Prime Minister AB will absolutely not agree to our decision.
He hates Fang Huan to the core. Just hearing the name ‘Fang Huan’ makes him jump out of bed in his sleep.”
“But we can’t worry about that now. Even if he objects, we have to do this to save the party!”
Although AB has stepped down, his influence remains.
We can’t just watch the Liberal Democratic Party sink to appease him.
“Then… let’s discuss what conditions we should offer Fang Huan…”
Although begging for mercy from an enemy is an extremely painful thing.
But to be honest, for this country, the art of surrender has been a familiar skill since ancient times.
***
Meanwhile, at Fang Huan Investment headquarters.
Su Hao was engrossed in the integration work of FaceWeb, a process far more complex than he had imagined.
Given FaceWeb's massive existing user base, Su Hao's primary goal was to smoothly integrate it into the PicPic ecosystem while preserving the existing system architecture as much as possible.
"...We need to complete the system integration as soon as possible, allowing Fanghuan Coin to circulate freely on the FaceWeb platform.
Simultaneously, the tens of thousands of games and applications linked to FaceWeb also need to be integrated to build a completely new payment and settlement system."
The project leader was reporting in the meeting room.
The integration of PicPic and FaceWeb, and the widespread adoption of Fanghuan Coin.
These two things are currently of paramount importance.
Due to new regulatory legislation from the EU and Apple's updated privacy policy, traditional advertising monetization models have become increasingly difficult.
“Therefore, the widespread adoption of Fanghuan Coin is even more urgent.
The more people use it, the greater the value it can create, and the more we can reduce our reliance on advertising revenue.
Furthermore, to strengthen PicPic's content ecosystem, we need to increase investment and poach top-tier video bloggers and content creators.”
“Good plan.” Su Hao nodded calmly.
“Tell finance that there’s no upper limit to the investment budget.
Now is not the time to rush into making money; it’s time to solidify our foundation and dig our moat deeper and wider.”
“Yes! Currently, in the global social media arena, no competitor can rival us.
The only threat might be NewTube in the video field.
As long as we work harder and build our content ecosystem, we can achieve absolute dominance.”
The acquisition of FaceWeb, though fraught with twists and turns, ultimately ended without major incident.
Now, Su Hao's task is to ensure this newly restructured supercarrier smoothly navigates its new course.
After the meeting, Lin Fan stayed behind and handed Su Hao a document.
“Chairman Su, I have something to report to you. The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan has contacted us.”
“…Hmm?” Su Hao paused, somewhat surprised. “Them? What do they want?”
“It's said that they're facing an unprecedented crisis, with the opposition parties' support rates having completely surpassed ours.
Therefore, they've offered us…a very sincere condition, asking for our help.”
Su Hao took the document and glanced at it briefly.
The content was sparse, but each point was a bombshell:
Allow Fanghuan Coin to legally circulate within Japan, enjoying the same status as legal tender;
Abolish all restrictive regulations targeting Xia Kingdom and Fanghuan Capital;
…
“They…really dare to make such promises?” Su Hao raised an eyebrow.
“Absolutely.”
These conditions couldn't be described as merely “sincere”; it was practically handing over the keys to the country, practically begging for a ride.
This made Su Hao even suspect that some enormous trap was hidden behind it.
“Of course, they also have a precondition.
To achieve all this, the Liberal Democratic Party must win the upcoming Senate election.
If they don't get a majority of seats, the current government will be completely paralyzed, and the Prime Minister will have to resign.”
Historically, there have indeed been precedents of prime ministers resigning due to losses in Senate elections.
Clearly, this election is a life-or-death battle for them.
Without a majority of seats, all the bills pushed by the Liberal Democratic Party will be stalled, and the current prime minister will lose all credibility.
Therefore, they must win this battle for a comeback at all costs.
“But… how can we help?” This was what puzzled Su Hao the most.
What use is a foreign investment company like mine when you've lost your own support?
Can I campaign for you on the streets?
“To be honest, I was stunned when I received this document. I don’t know what they’re up to.
Why do they think we can help them regain the support they lost themselves…”
Lin Fan smiled wryly, “But no matter what, these conditions are too tempting, and it would be a pity to give them up.
So I think, perhaps we could consider a large-scale strategic investment in Japan?”
Just then, the United States also announced a new chip strategy, planning to build a large number of factories on its territory.
As a result, Japan’s position in the upstream supply chain becomes even more important.
After all, many of the core components and materials produced there are exactly what Fang Huan needs.
If Japan were truly willing to open its doors wide, abolish all restrictions, and allow Fang Huan's capital to flow in unimpeded, then there would indeed be no reason to refuse.
"Here are detailed files on the Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition parties," Lin Fan said, handing over an even thicker stack of documents.
Su Hao took them and flipped through the pages.
They detailed the political structures of the two parties, their core demands, current points of contention, and the frontrunners for the next prime minister should either party win… the information was remarkably comprehensive.
"Relying solely on our investment, I doubt we can reverse the election situation…"
Su Hao muttered to himself, turning to the next page.
What came into view was the personal file of former Japanese Prime Minister A and B.
"…"
It didn't seem like important information, and he was about to casually flip past it.
However, the instant his fingers touched that page—
Buzz!
A blinding crimson, like a spider lily blooming in hell, exploded in his mind!
Then, a sharp, deadly explosion shattered the silence.
It was a gunshot!