The three-hundred-meter Taichu Golden Sky-Cruiser touched down on the snowy tarmac of Geneva International Airport with a deep, muffled thud. Outside the heated cabin windows, thick Alpine snow swirled across the private diplomatic apron.
Su Wan tapped her glowing glass tablet as the heavy boarding ramp hissed open against the freezing Swiss wind. She adjusted her earmuffs and fell into step beside Lin Mo.
“Chairman Lin, Lombard-Vane Private Bank just confirmed the freeze on our European medical clearing account,” Su Wan said, her voice crisp despite the sub-zero air. “They locked twelve million euros in operating funds and halted our shipment of pediatric spirit-herbs at customs.”
Lin Mo turned up his winter collar and stepped out onto the frost-covered steel ramp. The biting wind smelled of pine needles and jet fuel, though the subtle warmth circulating through his Rank 5 Mid Foundation Establishment meridians kept the chill an inch from his skin.
They locked our medical account to force us to the bargaining table, Lin Mo thought with deadpan amusement, glancing at the fifty billion High-Grade Spirit Stones sitting quietly in his system vault. They picked a great morning to test how fast our legal department works.
Tie Niu marched down the ramp first, his heavy combat boots crushing the fresh snow like iron cannonballs. Behind him, twenty guards from the Righteous Iron Guard formed a clean double perimeter alongside three waiting spirit-shielded Rolls-Royce sedans.
