[December 27, 2027. Shanghai, China. 7:00 AM.]
The morning in Shanghai was thick with sticky humidity and a sense of greed.
Li Youwei stood by the window of a penthouse at the top of the Bund,
surrounded by heavy European stone buildings built by the British and French a century ago.
Below his feet, the Huangpu River, the symbol of Shanghai, flowed slowly.
Mist rose from the water and wrapped around the middle of the city,
but it was not enough to hide the skyline of the Pudong district across the river.
It was a forest of monsters.
The Oriental Pearl Tower stood in a strange pink light, looking like a string of pearls, and behind it,
the Shanghai Tower twisted up like a pretzel to pierce the clouds.
But there was something else that ruled over all those skyscrapers, looking even more massive.
The Baeksan Tower.
It was a black, pyramid-shaped building right in the middle of Pudong’s financial district.
It was a jet-black glass fortress that swallowed the light among the shiny silver and gold buildings around it.
Only the very top of the triangle shone white with a special finish, looking like a snowy mountain peak rising above the black earth.
‘That is my castle.’
Li Youwei lightly spun the newest transparent smartphone in his hand,
just like someone swirling a wine glass.
The stock graph on the screen was rising as steeply and as high as the tower itself.
“Li Youwei...”
He whispered softly as he looked at his own reflection in the window.
In the glass stood a tall man,
185cm with a sharp jawline and cold eyes that showed no emotion at all.
Though he was over forty, his face looked tight and full of energy.
Through the window, the old European buildings of the Bund reminded him of his memories from five years ago.
Lee Yu-han. A poor international student.
A helpless and pitiful Korean man who struggled to pay his wife’s hospital bills in a worn-out boarding house in Oxford.
Five years ago, he drowned that name in the muddy waters of the Huangpu River.
When he took the hand of Sun Jihai, the emperor of Chinese capital, he willingly sold his soul and put on a mask.
He walked to the dressing room and put on a dark charcoal bespoke suit jacket, carefully stitched by an Italian craftsman.
The way he tied his necktie was as serious as a general tying his armor before going to war.
‘Lee Yu-han is dead. The only one here is the CEO of Baeksan, Li Youwei.’
As he left the penthouse, the elevator was already waiting for him.
When he reached the lobby and stepped outside, the humid Shanghai air hit him instantly.
Click.
The rear door of the waiting black sedan opened smoothly.
The heavy body of the Rolls-Royce shimmered in the morning sunlight.
The middle-aged driver, Driver Wang, bowed politely from the driver’s seat.
“Good morning, sir. The weather is beautiful today.”
“Yes, Mr. Wang. To the office.”
Li Youwei gave a short answer and leaned back deep into the rear seat.
Driver Wang was excellent.
The car started moving as smoothly as if it were gliding.
For Li Youwei, who had to keep his nerves sharp even during his commute,
a bumpy ride was an unforgivable sin.
The scenery of Shanghai flashed past the car window.
Li Youwei’s face covered every massive screen along Nanjing Road.
News channels around the world, including CCTV, CNN, and Al Jazeera,
were repeatedly broadcasting the demonstration of Moon White from the Shanghai conference two days ago.
[Will the second God bring us salvation? Baeksan, Li Youwei, and Moon White.]
Looking at the provocative headline beneath his face, Li Youwei let out a small smirk.
He took a thin laptop out of his bag and opened it.
“Artistea.”
As he called out softly, a blue light shimmered on the screen.
“Categorize the messages that arrived yesterday and give me a briefing.”
A Captivating, soft voice filled the car.
This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
It was Artistea’s voice.
A waterfall of data poured across the screen.
and 218,847 investment offers and personal messages.
I have sent the files sorted by importance, so please check them.>
210,000 messages.
This was the weight of the interest that had poured in after just one day.
There would be some messages criticizing him,
but even those felt like sweet praise to Li Youwei.
After all, hate is better than being ignored.
“How many followers have I gained since Christmas?
I also want to know how many times my name was mentioned.
Don’t just give me the numbers; analyze the ratio of positive to negative comments.”
According to the sentiment analysis, 68% showed wonder and hope, 25% showed worry and fear, and 7% were other opinions.>
1.4 billion mentions.
This meant that 20% of the world’s population had spoken his name in the last two days.
Li Youwei tightened his face muscles to control his expression.
His cheekbones twitched as he tried to stop himself from smiling.
The car was now passing through the tunnel under the river and entering the Pudong district.
Up close, the Baeksan Tower was even more overwhelming.
Instead of reflecting the view around it, the black glass was absorbing all the light.
“Sir, we have arrived.”
As Driver Wang opened the door,
dozens of employees lined up at the lobby entrance bowed 90 degrees in perfect order.
“Good morning, sir!”
“Welcome, sir!”
The order was like a military roll call.
Li Youwei replied by lightly raising his hand.
The corners of his mouth turned up exactly 15 degrees,
but his eyes behind the sunglasses were not smiling at all.
“Sir, you are here. The last presentation was truly... historic.”
In front of the elevator, a woman in a neat suit greeted him.
It was Li Youwei’s assistant, Chien Xiaoming.
Her face was flushed with excitement.
“Ah, thank you, Ms. Xiaoming.”
Li Youwei lightly patted her shoulder.
Xiaoming trembled as if she had been shocked, not knowing what to do.
He enjoyed her reaction as he got into the private elevator.
The high-speed elevator took them to the top floor,
an executive area called Cheonji, in an instant.
As the elevator doors opened smoothly,
a silence that was completely cut off from the outside world flowed out.
The Cheonji floor.
It was the heart of the Baeksan Group and a sacred place that only a chosen few could enter.
The floor was covered with a thick,
high-quality carpet that even absorbed footsteps,
and a faint smell of agarwood hung in the air.
“This way, Sir.”
Chien Xiaoming led the way.
Only the sound of her high heels echoed through the hallway.
Li Youwei followed her to a heavy double door.
On the door, the name [Baeksan] was written in white on a black birch plaque,
carved strongly in the Hae-seo calligraphy style.
It was the plaque that Sun Jihai had personally ordered from a Chinese calligraphy master.
Xiaoming carefully pushed the door open with both hands.
“…….”
The meeting room was empty.
Li Youwei felt a sense of relief and a strange thrill at the same time.
He walked in slowly toward his seat at the far end of the meeting room.
A large ink wash painting hung on the wall behind his seat.
It was a painting of the majestic,
snow-covered Cheonji lake on Mount Baekdu,
shown in black and white ink.
There was an overwhelming feeling,
as if the spirit of the mountain was pressing down on the person sitting in the chair.
He walked, running his finger along the edge of the cold marble table.
The texture felt smooth against his fingertip. This was the feel of power.
“Is no one here yet?”
Li Youwei asked, placing his hand on the back of the chair.
“Yes sir, that is correct.”
Xiaoming, standing by the door, replied instantly.
She stood with her hands folded politely, watching Li Youwei’s reaction.
“I think it is because there are still about ten minutes left before the meeting starts.”
Unlike her shy behavior in the elevator earlier,
her voice was quite clear and firm when it came to work.
Li Youwei gave a small smirk and sat in the chair.
The sound of the leather wrapping around his body felt good.
“Coming later than me... they have a lot of guts, don’t they?”
“What? Ah... well... um...”
Xiaoming’s eyes wavered at the unexpected question.
It was a difficult question to answer.
It was a tough situation where she couldn’t criticize giants like Sun Jihai or Xu Haiyan,
but she also couldn’t disagree with the CEO.
She looked down at the floor and moved her lips, unable to speak.
Li Youwei watched her as if he were savoring the moment.
It felt like becoming the emperor of a massive empire.
Seeing another person’s emotions shake because of a single word he said was a different kind of pleasure from looking at stock graphs.
“I’m joking. Don’t be so stiff.”
Li Youwei smiled gently and waved his hand.
“I’m sorry if I surprised you. It’s always fun to see you get flustered.”
“Oh? Ah... well... thank you for saying that, sir.”
Xiaoming breathed a sigh of relief and gave an awkward smile.
While they were exchanging small talk,
the presence of someone was felt from the hallway.
“You may leave now, Chien Xiaoming.”
It was a voice heard even before the door opened.
It was dry and businesslike, but it had the tone of a command that could not be refused.
It was Xu Haiyan. As she opened the meeting room door and walked in,
she signaled to Xiaoming, who was standing by the door.
It was a careless gesture, as if she were shooing away an annoying fly.
“What? Ah... I understand.”
Xiaoming looked at Li Youwei in confusion.
Although her employer was strictly Li Youwei,
she was overwhelmed by the cold aura that Xu Haiyan radiated.
She hesitated and could not take a step.
Xu Haiyan’s brow narrowed.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you leaving? Do you want to rewrite your non-disclosure agreement?”
Irritation mixed into her voice.
Xiaoming’s face turned pale.
Li Youwei felt something hot rising inside him.
This was clearly overstepping her authority.
Controlling the CEO’s assistant right in front of him was a clear act of disrespect.
He bit his lip and held back. It was not the time yet.
“You may leave. Thank you, Ms. Xiaoming.”
Li Youwei spoke in a soft but firm voice.
He beat her to it before Xu Haiyan could say anything more insulting.
Xiaoming bowed and left the meeting room as if she were running away.
From this chapter onward, updates will be posted every two days.