Homo Sapiens

November 1st.

The cooperation agreement reached between Homo Sapiens Company and Tianzhu was announced immediately.

Instantly, international grain prices dropped slightly.

At that moment, the Homo Sapiens Company’s commodity trade center in Yangon announced its special assistance plan.

Ahaxi, the head of the Persian International Trade Company in Yangon, looked at the document in his hand, his eyes glinting with understanding.

’What a clever move. This is an attack on America’s food hegemony!’

The so-called special assistance plan involved Qingye Bank, a subsidiary of Homo Sapiens Company, lending money to regions in need. Those regions would then use the funds to purchase products from Homo Sapiens Company.

Furthermore, Homo Sapiens Company would offer varying discounts to these borrowing regions, calculated based on their economic standing and the collateral they provided.

Of course, this so-called loan wasn’t a direct cash transfer. The money remained in Qingye Bank’s hands; the borrowers could only use a credit draft to purchase Homo Sapiens Company products.

Ahaxi put down the document and sat back in his office chair, pondering how to report this back home.

As one of the oil powers of West Asia, Persia wasn’t short on US Dollars, so there was no need to borrow from Qingye Bank. Even though Qingye Bank offered low-interest loans, that didn’t mean the money was easy to take.

Take Tianzhu, for example. In the cooperation agreement they had just signed, they’d borrowed 50 billion US Dollars from Qingye Bank in a low-interest loan, with an annual rate of only 4.2%.

But Ahaxi knew that if they failed to repay the loan, the consequences would be severe. Homo Sapiens Company was no pushover.

As for trying to default on the debt... well, Homo Sapiens Company’s escort fleet wasn’t just for show.

Ahaxi mulled it over for twenty-some minutes before he had a clear idea. He quickly wrote up a report and sent it back to Persia.

Meanwhile, the Zhongliang Group, which had been forced to return to Yangon, conglomerates like the Samsung Group and Mitsui Group, the West Asia Trade Group established by Saudia Arabia via offshore regions, and the Suez Grain and Food Company all received Homo Sapiens Company’s special assistance plan.

Mitsui Toshimasa and Saito Ka of the Fujifilm Group stared at each other in dismay.

”Mr. Mitsui, Homo Sapiens Company is making a play for food hegemony!”

As a member of the Mitsui Group’s core management, Mitsui Toshimasa was no fool. Considering the current situation, he could easily see that Homo Sapiens Company was challenging America’s food hegemony.

He took a deep breath. ”Hsss... haaah. This money... it’s not something we can take lightly.”

”It’s more than just difficult to take, it’s a hot potato!” Saito Ka, who had a background in international relations, added with a wry smile.

Other, smaller countries might not have a problem. They have nothing to lose, so they don’t fear the consequences.

But East Japan was in a different position. If they dared to borrow money from Homo Sapiens Company, they’d probably ”commit suicide” by shooting themselves seven times in the back the very next day.

Mitsui Toshimasa gritted his teeth. ”Damned fools! Cursed America... at this rate, East Japan is finished.”

As a traditional, old-school man of East Japan, Mitsui Toshimasa was no Heisei-era pushover. He was only superficially respectful toward America; deep down, he was full of rebellious spirit and ruthless ambition.

”It’s too difficult,” Saito Ka lamented.

He knew full well that if things continued like this, East Japan was doomed sooner or later.

But even if he were a genius, he had no way to change East Japan’s abysmal geopolitical landscape.

To the east was America, to the west was the Far East Old Dad, to the north was Lucia, and to the south was Homo Sapiens Company.

They were surrounded by great powers on all sides. How could they possibly break free from such a predicament?

’Waiting for an answer online, urgent!’

This situation was a geopolitical hell.

If they clung to America, the other three powers wouldn’t trust East Japan. But if they tried to switch allegiances, America, which was constantly increasing its military presence in East Japan, clearly had no intention of loosening the leash.

And while Homo Sapiens Company could contend with America, that didn’t mean it would go to war with America for East Japan’s sake.

Right now, East Japan was just a buffer zone—and a buffer zone for four great powers at that.

Caught in the middle, East Japan had no real autonomy to speak of.

...

Compared to the deep reservations of the people from East Japan, South Korea was torn between desire and fear.

The heads of the Samsung and Hyundai branches in Yangon, Park Haotze and Zheng Yingzhi, were also meeting in secret.

”Mr. Park, what are your thoughts?”

Park Haotze frowned. ”Borrowing money is out of the question. We’re a developed country, after all.”

’Heh... what sort of ridiculous idea is that?’ Zheng Yingzhi thought with a scoff. He quickly reminded him, ”Homo Sapiens Company is a megacorporation, an entity that surpasses even developed nations. There’s nothing shameful about borrowing from them.”

Park Haotze, meanwhile, was inwardly scorning the other man’s shortsightedness. The loan from Homo Sapiens Company was easy to get, but the problem was how to repay it. He had only made his earlier comment to be provocative.

”Yingzhi Jun, have you thought about how we’ll repay the loan when the time comes?”

”Er...” Zheng Yingzhi was at a loss for words.

South Korea’s industries—shipbuilding, automobiles, semiconductors, and electronics—overlapped heavily with those of Homo Sapiens Company, and they were unable to compete with its products.

Their current foreign exchange income, a few billion US Dollars per month, still relied on girl groups selling their bodies, on comics, and on remittances from overseas nationals.

After thinking for a moment, Zheng Yingzhi still felt they had to borrow the money. ”What choice do we have? All America knows how to do is harvest us. You should know what the prices in Seoul are like right now! A single tomato costs 20,000!”

”But the price of rice and flour hasn’t gone up, has it?” Park Haotze said dismissively. In any case, with his salary, price hikes of this level barely affected him.

”...” Zheng Yingzhi stared at him, his eyes wide.

...

Not far from the Samsung branch in Yangon was the office of the Suez Grain and Food Company.

The head of the office, Barris, was also reviewing Homo Sapiens Company’s special assistance plan.

His assistant, Sheikh, had just finished reporting the matter to their headquarters in Suez. He knocked on the office door and entered.

Without looking up, Barris asked, ”What was the response from headquarters?”

”They’re holding an emergency meeting. It’ll probably be two or three days before we get a decision.”

Barris rubbed his temples and sighed softly. ”Haaah... This is so difficult. Borrowing money is easy, but repaying it is hard.”

”But if we don’t borrow, how will we deal with the food shortage?”

Barris stroked his big beard, not looking overly troubled. ”Food isn’t something we need to worry about. We control the Suez Canal. Europe and America would never stand by and watch us fall into a food crisis.”

Barris understood this point perfectly.

He also knew that with Homo Sapiens Company issuing massive loans worldwide, international grain prices were bound to fall further. When that happened, Suez could use its US Dollars to buy grain from Kangaroo Country, Lucia, and the Kyiv Duchy.

Even though relations between Lucia and Europe and America had deteriorated, a large part of its grain trade was still in the hands of the ABCD companies.

Therefore, as long as Suez controlled the Suez Canal, Europe and America had to guarantee its food supply to ensure the waterway remained stable.

However, Barris did not advise headquarters to reject the loan from Homo Sapiens Company. On the contrary, he recommended taking it.

He hoped to bring Homo Sapiens Company into the fold to act as a counterbalance to the influence of Europe and America in Suez.

Of course, Barris knew this was tantamount to letting a wolf in the door. But so what? The house was already full of vampires; what was one more disruptor like Homo Sapiens Company?

With the announcement of Homo Sapiens Company’s special assistance plan, undercurrents began to surge among the various powers.

Some were eager to make a move, some were weighed down by reservations, some were impatient to act, and still others watched coldly from the sidelines, burning with rage.

The international food crisis had reached a whole new match point.