Chapter 337: Counsel, Joke, Story
Several Federal Coast Guard patrol boats leisurely followed behind the slowly moving Datang super yacht, keeping a moderate distance.
These Coast Guard officers were naturally not there to monitor the super yacht, but rather to prevent any unobservant stowaways or illegal fishing boats from disturbing the mood of the wealthy owner on board.
After all, Tang Group's annual donations to the New York Police Department alone amounted to eight figures. In the Federation, the conveniences that wealthy people could enjoy were unimaginable to ordinary people.
The Federal Coast Guard escort was just the tip of the iceberg. These Coast Guard escorts appearing here were not requested by Tang Song, but rather specially dispatched by the Manhattan Coast Police Department, fearing that something might happen to the super yacht within their coastal jurisdiction.
After all, if something were to truly happen to this super yacht in their jurisdiction, Tang Group's Legal Department's legal team would absolutely sue their entire Police Station into bankruptcy.
For ordinary Police Officers, they naturally didn't want to work overtime, but the Master of this super yacht was clearly a generous person.
On the Coast Guard patrol boats, a group of Coast Guard officers were enjoying a seafood feast while also savoring the fine wine sent by the yacht's Master.
High-quality whiskey worth several thousand US Dollars a bottle was not something they, with their ordinary salaries, could afford to drink.
While drinking, the group of Coast Guard officers occasionally discussed the figures of the models who had just delivered the wine over the walkie-talkies, cracking dirty jokes. At the same time, they were also discussing the identity of the yacht Master, fantasizing about the grand party happening on the ship! A large school of silver fish darted through the waves, occasionally leaping out of the sea, then re-entering the seawater with splashing sounds. The appearance of the massive school of silver fish also attracted its predators, such as certain soft-bodied creatures.
On the Deck of the Datang super yacht, Tang Song cast out a glowing fake bait shaped like a sardine, stroking the Big Cat in his arms as he overlooked the shimmering Water Surface.
"Dragon Hunting Plan! Interesting. I remember the people on this list are all old acquaintances, right? Many are even shareholders of our Tang Group. It seems cross-shareholding is no longer enough to satisfy their ambition. They want to gain more say, and even want to kick me out!"
Seeing the float on the fishing rod move, Tang Song lifted the rod, took a greedy squid off the fake bait, and threw it into a nearby water tank.
His subordinates were efficient. The detailed files on the tasks he had assigned that afternoon were now in his hands.
This included the so-called Dragon Hunting Plan and the personnel list of those who formulated it, and even the distribution of interests after they successfully hunted the 'Dragon'.
As for who the 'Dragon' was, it was naturally Tang Someone and his Tang Group.
"Boss! This is the typical style of the Jewish Financial Group. They are like cuckoos; their favorite thing to do is occupy another's nest. Once they set their sights on a company, they will use every method to gain control of it!"
Beside Tang Song, Lane, dressed in a black tuxedo, stood quietly with his hands clasped.
"Aren't they afraid of me?! Who gave them the courage? Don't they know that even the president was someone I supported?" Tang Song cast his fishing rod out again. Amidst the splashing sound of the bait hitting the water, Tang Song stroked the Big Cat's head and said softly.
Lane was silent for a moment before slowly saying, "Boss, your style of doing things has always been to keep a low profile. Outsiders only know the tip of the iceberg about our force. Therefore, these Jewish Financial Group dare to bare their teeth at you!"
"Among the people on the list, there are core figures from J.P. Morgan Chase and the Rockefeller family. After WWII, many of the successive federal presidents were political puppets supported by these Jewish Financial Groups. Although our group's development momentum is rapid, in the eyes of these hundred-year families, you are just a nouveau riche who benefited from the era!"
Lane continued, "Our people have apprehended several of the so-called Dragon Hunting Plan formulators. The reason these Consortium colluded with Israel's Mossad is because Mossad's Intelligence Department analyzed that you might be a force **nurtured** by someone else. They believe that if Tang Group continues to develop further, it will threaten the interests of the Jewish Financial Group in the Federation!"
"So, the Dragon Hunting Plan is to dismember Tang Group! To dismantle the influence of me, an Asian, in the federal political arena!" Tang Song watched the bobbing float on the sea surface with a smile.
"These Jewish Financial Group involved, sitting in a row, dividing the cake, they're thinking well. Unfortunately, this isn't a business war novel, and I'm not in the mood to play this kind of playing house game with them!"
"I will have someone deal with the people on this list!" The tacit understanding cultivated over the years of following Tang Song allowed Lane to immediately understand Tang Song's thoughts.
"What do you think of the idea of forming an Earth Federation that Hill submitted on the group's intranet?"
Splash! The sound of a fish coming out of the water rang out! Tang Song lifted the fishing rod, took an unknown sea fish off the hook, and threw it into the fish tank beside him.
"Chicken ribs, tasteless to eat, a shame to discard!" Lane answered concisely.
"How so?" Tang Song replaced the damaged fake bait, a little surprised by Lane's answer.
Lane said, "Boss, with our current force, we can easily occupy the entire earth. However, aside from the believers, earth's resources are not worth us doing so!"
"The few habitable planets we currently occupy in the Milky Way Galaxy, whether in terms of mineral resources or development potential, far exceed earth. Spending time and effort to form an Earth Federation brings us no benefit!"
"Anything else?" Tang Song cast his rod into the sea, sensing that Lane had more to say, and looked back at him.
"Boss, during this period, I integrated some historical records from the Dark Council and Kamar-Taj and compared them with other habitable planets in the Milky Way Galaxy. I found that earth has been attacked by some powerful existences more than once, including dimensional evil gods and hell lords of skyfather level.
This is absolutely unique compared to other planets. Earth is very special.
In S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top secret database, earth has also suffered more than one alien invasion, with time even tracing back millions of years!
Moreover, the supernatural power on earth appears more frequently than on other habitable planets. I suspect that earth is not a natural product, but rather more like a testing ground for some alien race!"
Lane continued his analysis, "Boss, I don't think earth is as ordinary as it seems. If we truly form an Earth Federation rashly as Hill suggested, I worry there might be a backlash!"
Lane added, "And your target was never to become the president of the Earth Federation!"
Tang Song looked up at Lane with approval, "Hmm, that's not bad! Lane, you understand me!"
"Let's veto the Earth Federation proposal. Hill is good at execution, but her desire for power is too great, which is not good. Tell her that if she wants to do this, the group will not interfere, nor will it help her!"
"Yes, Boss!"
"Right, how is the Heavenly Court being built now?"
"Currently, the main construction of the Great Luo Heaven Heavenly Palace has been completed, but some details still need to be perfected!"
Lane's projection flickered, revealing the South Heavenly Gate towering into the clouds behind him.
The lens switched to an aerial view in front of Tang Song.
A hundred-mile-wide, crystal-clear cloud belt, like a white ribbon, wound its way upwards, circling like a mountain highway for ninety-nine turns, extending nearly ten thousand miles before reaching a Cloud Continent.
In the center of this boundless landmass composed of white cloud masses, was a great hall, golden throughout, illuminated by a bright light falling from an artificial star in the extremely high The Void.
Above the great hall, under the illumination of the cloud formation array, sunlight shone through the cloud layer, directly casting patches of purple light.
This central great hall appeared to have only three layers from top to bottom, but it was several miles high and hundreds of miles in area, surrounded by three hundred and sixty large and small subsidiary halls to the front, back, left, and right.
This central great hall and all the surrounding large and small subsidiary halls were made of jade pillars and golden tiles, with purple qi faintly rising above them.
Before and after it, left and right, countless halls, smaller in scale by several, dozens, or even hundreds of times, but equally magnificent and solemn, and exquisitely detailed, extended in all directions. Looking out, layers upon layers of palaces and pavilions stretched out unknown distances. Within sight, all were golden roof tiles and flying eaves.
Within these layers and layers of palaces and pavilions, there were countless flowerbeds and gardens, countless flower pools and flower beds, countless Clear Spring and small streams, and even countless Lake and Rivers. Furthermore, in the extremely distant four directions, east, south, west, and north,
There was also a vast and boundless ocean.
Below the flowerbeds, gardens, flower pools, and flower beds, large and small Spirit Vein communicated with each other; below the Clear Spring, small streams, Lake, Rivers, and even the four oceans, there were underground rivers connecting them.
In all the flowerbeds, gardens, flower pools, and flower beds, there were endless spirit grass and exotic flowers, and countless rare fruit trees;
In these Clear Spring, small streams, Lake, Rivers, and the four oceans, there were even graceful fish dragons, and countless aquatic spirit exotic saplings also grew.
Between the large and small palaces, countless spiritual Mountain Peak were dotted, with towering ancient trees above and lush fine grass below. Phoenixes nested on Wutong Trees, and spirit foxes made their homes among the fine grass. Divine Dragons and Azure Luans, Bi Fangs and Immortal Cranes, and even Fox and white deer, wildebeest and Qilin, and other rare birds and exotic beasts appeared everywhere in this heavenly palace.
Beautiful, isn't it? Even when Lane first came to Great Luo Heaven to supervise the construction of this Heavenly Palace, he was awestruck by its magnificence. He couldn't imagine any architecture in human history that could compare to it.
Looking at the magnificent heavenly palace, Tang Song's hand stroking the cat paused. He looked at Lane with disbelief, "You built this? So fast? How is that possible?"
It wouldn't be this fast even if he snapped his fingers! Lane looked at the shock on his black-hearted boss's face, pretended to look surprised behind him, and then said to Tang Song with an apologetic look, "Boss, sorry, I forgot to turn off those projectors!" With Lane's command, the projection devices were turned off one by one. The originally magnificent heavenly palace architecture, spirit flowers and exotic grass, and the vast palace complex disappeared like extinguished lights, revealing the bare cloud-based structures, and the Yellow Turban Warriors, dwarf craftsmen, and engineering robots carrying golden pillars and cloud soaring among them.
Watching his boss's face gradually turn dark, Lane's smile was almost undisguised. He said to Tang Song, "Boss, this was the idea of a few master builders. We first projected the heavenly palace architecture you envisioned using virtual images, and then filled in the buildings and items, making construction much faster!"
Boss Tang, who had been slightly tricked by Lane, stroked the Big Cat's forehead. The magnificent and glorious Heavenly Court from moments ago seemed to still be before his eyes.
"How much longer will the overall construction take?"
"Currently, we are using one hundred thousand Yellow Turban Warriors, twenty thousand dwarf craftsmen, ten thousand elf sculptors, and tens of thousands of engineering robots. However, the main construction of the Heavenly Court alone will take at least twenty years. Furthermore, the resources required, based on our current construction progress assessment, the materials needed just to build Great Luo Heaven will require emptying out the entire Nine Realms to barely meet your expectations! And to complete the construction of the entire Thirty-Six Heavens, the resources required will be an astronomical figure!"
Lane put away his smile, his expression somewhat serious, "Boss! Should we perhaps slow down the construction of the Heavenly Court? I don't think building such a luxurious palace is necessary to match your identity!
Boss, Qin Shi Huang wasn't famous because of an Epang Palace!"
Listening to Lane's loyal counsel, Tang Song's hand stroking the Big Cat's head paused. Looking at Lane's somewhat worried look, he smiled:
"Looks like you've learned Chinese language well," Tang Song changed the subject and asked Lane, "How have you felt cultivating in Great Luo Heaven during this time?"
Lane's expression showed a hint of contemplation, "Boss, it's very fast. The speed of cultivation here is dozens of times faster than at Lake Heart Island Manor. My God-Demon Transformation can even initially transform into a True Dragon Body!"
"Once the heavenly palace is fully built, your cultivation speed will be a hundred times faster than now. Once the Thirty-Six Heavens are completed, even sleeping in Great Luo Heaven will allow you to sleep your way into becoming an immortal within a hundred years!"
Hearing Tang Song's words, Lane nodded in realization, "Boss, I understand. I will definitely supervise the heavenly palace construction work well!"
"No! You don't understand. The construction of the Heavenly Court is not just a place for cultivation. In the future, that will be our base. The Heavenly Court I am constructing can even serve as a warship to travel throughout the entire Multiverse, and even within the Chaos Sea. That will be our future warship, so there can be no mistakes!"
Tang Song's words carried an undeniable firmness, "Don't rush the construction period. We have plenty of time. As for resources, if one Nine Realms isn't enough, then plunder from other places. If the Milky Way Galaxy isn't enough, there are other Parallel Universes!"
After understanding Tang Song's plan, Lane nodded solemnly to Tang Song, "Boss, I understand!"
After hanging up the phone call with Lane, Tang Song continued fishing by the yacht. He waved his hand, signaling the bodyguard to let Giselle, who had been blocked to the side, come in.
"Mr. Tang, why are you hiding here fishing when you're hosting this party?"
Giselle looked at the Big Cat squatting in Tang Song's arms and initially wanted to reach out and pet it. However, as the Big Cat turned its head, she saw its tiger-like eyes, and her entire mind was seized with fear.
That kind of fear, originating from her very bones, felt as if she wasn't facing a cat but a top predator, a striped fierce tiger.
She raised her wine glass and took a sip, forcing herself to suppress her trembling inner feelings, and greeted Tang Song.
"You wouldn't be able to relax if I were there," Tang Song smiled, looking at the abundant catch. He called a bodyguard over to send the catch he had caught to the kitchen for the chef to prepare.
The chef who could be the head chef on this super yacht naturally had skills that could withstand scrutiny. After all, an annual salary of a million wasn't something just anyone could earn.
Moreover, this super yacht went out to sea very rarely throughout the year. The chef on the yacht could freely arrange their remaining time during their leisure.
For a job like this, with high pay and little work, the difficulty of competing for it was imaginable. The chef who had emerged from dozens of top chefs naturally had exceptional culinary skills.
After changing to a new fish tank, Giselle pulled up a chair and sat beside Tang Song to watch him fish, helping him change the fake bait. When a fish was hooked, she clapped her hands with a look of admiration and helped him remove the catch.
She looked completely like a well-behaved girl.
Giselle held an octopus in her hands, flustered, and threw the tentacle monster into the fish tank. She chatted with Tang Song, recounting her experience in beauty pageants, talking about the dark side of the beauty pageants she experienced, and how she later quit the model profession to pursue freedom and fell in love with street race cars.
When Tang Song asked about her troubles, Giselle spoke the feelings of most people: poverty.
For most people in the world, having money can solve most of the troubles in the world.
Giselle rested her chin on her hand and looked at Tang Song casting his rod with curiosity, "Mr. Tang, with how wealthy you are, do you have any troubles?"
"Perhaps it's just the beautiful girls who keep throwing themselves at me!" Tang Song said calmly, "I'm not very good at rejecting people!"
"Especially some beautiful Female Agents and Commercial Spies. Even though I know they are candy coated with arsenic, I can't bear to damage them. With my previous personality, those girls, those spies, those agents, would have long been sunk into the sea to feed the sharks!"
"Gulp!" Giselle could clearly hear the sound of her own saliva being swallowed. She looked at Tang Song's handsome profile, wanting to avoid this topic, but didn't know how to start. She could only continue the conversation based on Tang Song's words, "Agents, spies, do such people really exist? I always thought they only appeared on television. What happened to them later? Did you let them go?"
Tang Song lifted his wrist and reeled in a light blue sea fish. While removing the hook from the fish's mouth, he said calmly, "Oh, nothing much. I got a few habitable planets outside the Milky Way Galaxy. The soldiers there lack some entertainment activities, so I sent them over!"
Moonlight, like water, quietly sprinkled on Tang Song's body.
Looking at the handsome man before her, like an Ancient Greek Sun God, Giselle felt as if she had fallen into an Ice Cave.
"Hmm?" Tang Song heard the sound of the woman beside him's teeth chattering. He reached out and pinched Giselle's face. The hand that had just held the sea fish didn't have any fishy smell at all, but instead carried a faint fragrance. However, the stiff Giselle at this moment had no mood to observe these details.
She forced out a stiff smile towards Tang Song.
Tang Song raised his eyebrow, revealing a strange smile, "No way, I was just making a joke with you, you actually believed it!"
A joke! Giselle's mood was like a roller coaster. She breathed a sigh of relief and said to Tang Song, "Mr. Tang, you really scared me. I knew it, how could those Agents really exist!"
"Sigh, girls nowadays are just timid. Not long ago, I met a United Kingdom girl. She insisted on telling me she was an MI6 agent. When I told her this story back then, her reaction was similar to yours, but she wasn't as brave as you, she was so scared she cried!"
Tang Song reached out and patted Giselle's shoulder.
Giselle's complexion, illuminated by the moonlight, was deathly pale! At this moment on the Deck, a drunken man walked towards them.
"Mr. Tang, you were here!"
"Scott, how do you feel now after relaxing?"
Tang Song directly stepped past Giselle and greeted the newcomer.
"Mr. Tang, thank you. I feel much better now!" Scott Lang from a Parallel Universe, also known as Mister Ant-Man, had a flushed face, even a hint of redness on his nose. Hmm, there were also a few red lipstick marks on his neck. It was clear that the batch of models hired at a high price by Victoria's Secret provided good service.
"Mr. Tang, please let me explain. I've been under too much pressure lately. We've traveled through over a dozen universes, and none of them were the one we were looking for. That kind of pressure..."
Scott Lang noticed Tang Song's gaze and explained somewhat flustered.
Tang Song reached out and patted Scott Lang's shoulder firmly, shaking his head and sighing:
"I understand. After all, it concerns billions of people, half the universe's life is on your shoulders. I can't help much, only contribute a little bit of my meager strength!"
Scott Lang's head was dizzy from drinking, his mind still full of the snow-white... He shook his head, "Mr. Tang, please don't say that. If it weren't for the Pym Particles and those magic weapons you funded us with, we might have died in some universe exploration long ago!"
"Although Mr. Stark and Captain always feel you have ulterior purposes, I think you are a good person. I know Professor Pym's stubborn personality. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have gotten so many Pym Particles!"
Tang Song looked at Ant-Man before him with deep eyes, "Oh? Mr. Stark and Captain have some misunderstanding about me? That's fine, a clear conscience needs no defense. Could I possibly do anything to you from across a Parallel Universe? But speaking of which, I am quite interested in the universe adventure you've experienced. It must have been a wonderful trip!"
"My body isn't very good, and I don't have any superpowers, so I've always been very curious about you superheroes' matters, especially your universe-crossing adventures. Could you tell me a bit about them!"
Tang Song's words seemed to carry a certain magic power, filling Ant-Man with trust.
As the chefs successively brought the prepared delicacies to the Deck, a group of Victoria's Secret models also came to this deck area.
The sea breeze was gentle. Scott Lang drank whiskey, stroking a Victoria's Secret model's thigh while recounting his adventure experience.
(end of chapter)