novelslam Chapter 319 Seven Envelopes
Chapter 319 Seven Envelopes
The first envelope. New York postmark. The encrypted serial number begins with "F".
Frank.
The paper cutter cut along the seal and took out three pages of A4 paper, all in English.
Satsuki's gaze lingered longest on the numbers. She skimmed the rest of the text, turning the page almost instantly after each line.
"How much is it?" Shuichi asked from the side. Although he had promised not to open the letter, it didn't mean he hadn't been mentally calculating the number these past few days.
"Three hundred and eighty billion US dollars."
Shuichi took a breath. His hand, holding the teacup, paused in mid-air.
Three hundred and eighty billion.
This number has become so large that it feels unreal.
The Solomon Brothers' liquidation channel was like an underground river, quietly swallowing and spitting out this astronomical sum of money, without even a ripple visible on the surface.
"Frank did a good job." Shuichi slowly put down his teacup. "He played a huge role in getting this undercover operation to this scale without being noticed."
"Yes." Satsuki nodded. "However—"
Her gaze fell on the last line. A footnote. The font size was two sizes smaller than the main text, and it was placed at the bottom of the page margin.
"Arthur Vance has recently been transferred to the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission). This warrants attention."
Satsuki tapped the line of text with her index finger. The curved surface of her fingernail pressed against the four letters "CFTC".
"Vans?" Shuichi frowned. "Someone from the SEC?"
"Yes. He's been transferred to the CFTC."
"From securities regulation to commodity futures regulation..." Xiu Yi's brows furrowed even more. "He's got his eye on our crude oil positions?"
"It's too early to draw conclusions." Satsuki drew a tiny circle next to the footnote with a pencil—meaning "continue to monitor."
"However, since Frank specifically mentioned it in a footnote, it means he must have noticed something. Let Frank keep an eye on things."
Xiu nodded. "I remember Endo mentioned this Vance before. He's a very stubborn person."
"Yes. That's why we need to keep a close eye on it."
The second envelope. No postmark. Delivered directly via SIS internal logistics. The envelope is made of anti-static composite paper with a slightly frosted texture.
A letter from Dr. Klaus Weber.
open.
It was a handwritten report in German. The letter was on standard A4 engineering paper with pre-printed grid lines along the edges. Weber's handwriting filled five pages densely.
"Weber just can't stop writing once he starts." Xiu Yi peeked at the dense German handwriting. "Wasn't the last report three pages long? How come there are two more pages this time?"
"Because we've encountered new problems."
Satsuki turned to the middle of page four. The schematic diagram of the reflective optical system occupied the entire second page.
Her gaze lingered on a passage of text.
"Multilayer film coating process - Mo/Si alternating sputtering - target purity needs to reach 99.999% - the highest domestic supplier can only provide 99.99% - the difference is to the fifth decimal place - impurities in this decimal place will cause the reflectivity to drop from the theoretical value of 67.5% to 61.2% - unacceptable."
"The fifth decimal place." Satsuki turned the report so Shuichi could see the numbers clearly. "A six percentage point difference in reflectivity."
Shuichi stared at the numbers and remained silent for two seconds.
"Is it really that bad... just a little bit more?"
"This is the world of semiconductor lithography machines." Satsuki turned the report back and continued reading. "Even a speck of dust can determine success or failure. That zero between 99.99% and 99.999% could be a difference of billions of dollars."
She turned to the last page. Weber's handwritten German had become a bit messy, as if he was in a rush at the end.
"Wenn wir die Magnetron-Sputteranlage aus Jena bekommen könnten, wäre das Problem gelöst."
—If we could get our hands on that magnetron sputtering equipment in Jena, the problem would be solved.
"Jena..." Shuichi murmured the place name, "Zeiss."
"Yes. Zeiss's stronghold."
Satsuki closed the report and placed it on the left side of the desk. Two letters were written on the cover in pencil: "JK".
"Weber wants Zeiss equipment." Shuichi leaned back in his chair. "This isn't something you can just buy with money."
"That's why we need to think of other ways." Satsuki didn't elaborate. But Xiu could tell from her expression that she was already thinking of a solution.
The third envelope. Brown kraft paper. Very thin. Sealed with sealing wax, and embossed with a tiny chrysanthemum pattern.
It was sent by Kagawa.
Open it up. There are two things inside.
An A3-sized table, folded into thirds. When unfolded, the horizontal axis represents the date, and the vertical axis represents the company name.
The internal credit ratings of Furong Group's three core affiliated companies—Nippon Steel Pipe, Nissan Chemical, and Taisei Construction—are all listed. Red arrows are marked next to the numbers.
All facing down.
The other document is the first monthly statement for the Akasaka branch's "enclave account." It's just two thin pages. But the numbers on it—
Satsuki's eyes narrowed slightly. A slow smile crept onto her lips.
"Deliveries have begun in Kagawa."
Shuichi also leaned over to take a look at the flowing water.
"Speaking of Kagawa—" he picked up his teacup, "he sent a message through an intermediary last week. He said his position in the bank is temporarily secure. But Fuji Bank has a round of internal personnel changes next month."
Shuichi lowered his voice by half a octave.
"He wants us to inform him of the list in advance."
Satsuki folded the two documents in half, stuffed them back into the envelope, and placed them on the right side of the table.
"He's just a coward." Gaoyue shook her head, her tone tinged with helplessness. "Whenever there's any trouble in the industry, he's the first one to panic."
"However..." she wrote four words on the back of the envelope, "Endo follow up."
"People who are timid are actually more useful." Xiu Yi smiled.
"Father... is wise~."
The fourth envelope. White. SIS letterhead.
Mitsubishi Audit.
Scan completion rate: 80%. Preliminary anomaly detected – a special purpose entity (SPC) under Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Size: approximately 120 billion yen.
Satsuki tapped her index finger lightly on the table.
"Father."
"Um?"
"There's an unexpected surprise; Mitsubishi has a big one up their sleeve."
Shuichi leaned forward slightly. "How big?"
"120 billion. Off-balance-sheet SPC."
Shuichi raised an eyebrow. He placed the teacup he was holding on the armrest.
"Twelve hundred billion..." he repeated the number, "hidden off-the-books?"
"Hmm. If we hadn't forcibly scanned each page of the ten truckloads of paper files to build a database, this entity would probably have remained hidden for several more years." Satsuki wrote a line of small print in the upper right corner of the report: "Remaining 20%, deadline: one week."
"Heh." Shuichi leaned back in his chair and shook his head. "They really know how to hide."
"This means what's inside is worth our effort to dig out." Satsuki closed the report and placed it on her right. "The remaining twenty percent must be swept within a week. We can't give them time to react."
the fifth.
There was a sticky note attached to the envelope. The note was addressed to the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, and there was a crooked smiley face drawn on it in black marker.
Amy.
When Satsuki saw that smiling face, her entire aura softened.
"Another smiley face." Shuichi also saw the note, shook his head with a smile, "This girl always draws them."
"Because it's Amy." Satsuki opened the envelope, her tone clearly biased.
Three pages. The first two pages are the test report for the third-generation prototype of the hardware gateway board. It includes data, charts, and timing diagrams. Throughput is four times higher than the second generation.
"Four times." Satsuki looked at the number, her eyes shining with satisfaction. "This girl's progress is even faster than I expected."
The third page contains Amy's handwritten memo. The handwriting is crooked and sloppy, with some parts covered by correction fluid, and it has been rewritten next to it.
Professor Murai said that the main line of the WIDE backbone network will be expanded and upgraded next month. He asked if I could make a customized gateway adapted to the new bandwidth. I said yes. (Actually, I haven't completely figured out how to do it yet, but I agreed first!)
Amy crossed out the sentence in parentheses with a wavy line. But the ink was too light to erase it completely, and every word was still clearly visible.
Satsuki held up the page and looked at it again in the window light. Then she laughed.
"This girl...'agree first, then talk.'" She put down the paper and gently shook her head. "That's so typical of her."
Shuichi also came over to take a look at the line of parentheses that had been crossed out.
"...Her personality is quite similar to yours back then."
Satsuki paused, taken aback. "Me?"
"Hmm." Shuichi's gaze became somewhat distant. "You were like this when you were a kid. You'd make grand promises first, and then desperately try to fulfill them. And you always succeeded."
Satsuki pursed her lips. Unusually, she didn't reply.
She wrote a single word in the bottom right corner of the report: "Approved".
The sixth one. A dark gray envelope. No markings. The sealing wax stamp on the seal is a miniature dagger—the internal mark of the SA Security Department.
Dojima Iwao.
Middle East security briefing.
The second rotation of the Special Operations Brigade has been completed. Personnel are in good condition. Ammunition and medical supplies are in ample reserve. The coalition forces within a 30-kilometer radius continue to expand. Prediction: The window for launching a ground offensive is within 60 to 90 days.
The report ended with only one line: "Request for instructions: Should non-combat personnel be evacuated ahead of schedule?"
Shuichi, standing nearby, noticed the heading of the report and remained silent for two seconds. The situation in the Middle East—it was always a heavy weight on his mind.
"How's it going over there?" His tone became serious.
"Dojima is asking if we should evacuate earlier." Satsuki drew a line under "sixty to ninety days" with a pencil. "Don't evacuate for now. Let them stand by."
Shuichi didn't press for specific military assessments—that wasn't his area of expertise. But he couldn't help adding:
"Have Endo double-check the logistical supplies for the front lines. They can't be short. People are the most important thing."
Satsuki put down her pen and glanced at Shuuichi.
A father's focus is always on "people".
Well, that makes sense.
"Okay. I'll have Endo double-check it."
She wrote a note in the blank space: "Not withdrawn for now. On standby."
The last one. A white envelope with a tiny anchor-shaped pattern printed in the upper left corner. It's the Itakura mark.
open.
Registration progress chart for the Hong Kong shell company "SA Industrial (Shanghai) Limited".
The legal representative has been selected. Name: Liang Zhicheng. Canadian passport. Vancouver resident. Over 20 years of experience in trade brokerage. No political affiliation. No criminal record. No history of media exposure.
Itakura wrote in the remarks section: "This person's cleanliness is rare even in Vancouver's Chinese business community. Confirmed available. All procedures expected to be completed within two weeks."
Satsuki closed the document.
"The shell company in Pudong will be established within two weeks." She placed the documents on her right, turned to look at Xiu Yi, and smiled slightly. "You see, the arrangements for going to Shenhai three years from now have already begun."
Xiu smiled. He thought of what his daughter had just said about "going to eat crab roe xiaolongbao" and "pan-fried buns".
"Okay. You'll lead the way, and I'll take care of the food."