Li Ming stared at Chen Ming, who was basking in the smug satisfaction of the patent mortgage trap. The Chairman let out a soft, guttural chuckle before his voice dropped to a sub-zero chill that sent a shiver down the spines of everyone present.
"You want my Hydrogen patents as collateral?" he asked, his teeth bared in a predatory grin. "Fine… I'll give them to you."
The room went deathly silent. Chen Ming frowned, looking toward Lu Rong in confusion. Li Ming rose slowly to his feet. "But not to you!"
"Since you are all so concerned about ZX Capital... I will prove their worth today," the Chairman thundered. "I am granting the ZX M&A team full authority to finalize the merger between KCC and CLS within two weeks. And here is my wager…"
He pointed a defiant finger at Chen Ming. "If ZX succeeds, I will pledge those patents to ZX Capital instead of you! VCC will never touch the heart of CK Group's innovation again. As for the debt? I will have ZX manage the full repayment—every last cent—just so I can kick bloodsuckers like VCC out of my boardroom forever."
Chen Ming's face went pale. This wasn't just a rejection; it was a public execution of VCC's influence, handing their leverage over to a new rival.
"But if ZX fails…" Li Ming sneered, "I will sign the patents over to VCC immediately, exactly as you demanded. Do you have the spine to accept?"
Beside him, Lu Rong's hands trembled. The Chairman's counter-move was brilliant and brutal. By tethering ZX's success to the company's crown jewels, Li Ming had forced a "win-or-die" scenario.
Meanwhile, at the corner of the table, Feng was shaking for a different reason. Beneath the desk, his phone displayed a vertical green line: Lithium prices had surged by 20%, exactly as Chef Ohm had predicted.
"Yes!" Feng blurted out, punching the air. Every head in the room snapped toward him. Feng froze mid-gesture, his fist hanging in the air, before he sheepishly retracted his neck like a turtle.
Chen Ming locked eyes with Lu Rong for a split second before turning back to the Chairman. "Two weeks for a merger of this scale? You are gambling with the future of the CK Group on a group of nobodies."
"Then let's find out," Li Ming challenged. "If ZX Capital can handle this with precision and speed, they prove they are the new wave that will replace the 'old guard' who think they are untouchable."
He looked at Chen Ming with a mocking smirk. "Does VCC accept?"
Chen Ming gritted his teeth, trapped in a corner of his own making. "If they fail, the patents are ours. Immediately."
Lu Rong sat nearby, a cold smile touching his lips. He would spend the next fourteen days sabotaging ZX Capital at every turn.
Ohm sat cross-legged atop a central wooden table like a grandmaster in deep meditation, his hands moving through the air in a fluid, rhythmic dance. Beside him, Phueak stood like a temple guardian, one foot on a chair, his gaze sternly monitoring the "believer."
Step! Step! Step! The sound of hurried footsteps echoed from the distance.
Feng practically lunged into the restaurant, his face glowing with the aura of a man who had just made a fortune. He bowed so low his head nearly touched the floor.
"Master! It happened exactly as you said!" Feng's voice trembled with devotion. "The profit... it's hit the ceiling! I'm saved!"
Ohm raised an eyebrow triumphantly. "I told you... my words have the power to change destinies."
Feng reached out to touch Ohm's leg as if seeking a holy blessing. "Without you, I'd be bankrupt."
Ohm smirked with arrogant grace. "Finance isn't gambling…" He leaned in and whispered, "It's precision analysis." He gave Feng a wink, and the man blinked back in blind faith.
"Master, you are brilliant! I offer my sincerest gratitude," Feng bowed again.
Ohm straightened up, winking at Phueak, who continued to flex his muscles in the background. Feng looked up eagerly, his eyes pleading for one more favor. "But Master... I have another matter. A fellow board member is in deep trouble. He was defrauded of a massive sum by a manager who has now fled to Thailand."
Feng's voice sharpened with spite. "The bastard is using the CK Group's name to hostilely take over businesses in Thailand, causing chaos everywhere. We want to drag him back to face justice."
Ohm's brow furrowed. Someone using the CK Group name to cause havoc in Thailand? That sounded dangerously close to the person who had ruined Adisorn.
"What is his name?" Ohm asked, his tone dropping to a serious bass.
Feng took a deep breath. "His name is… Yong Chang!"
Ohm's eyebrows shot up. Bullseye. The world was smaller than a grain of rice. Fate had just kicked the ball right to Adisorn's feet.
"Yong Chang, you say?" Ohm let out a predatory grin, his eyes flashing with lethal satisfaction. "It looks like the Grim Reaper just pulled up to his front door."