Chen Ming drew himself up, offering a respectful bow to the Chairman with a smile that appeared friendly, yet his eyes remained as cold as a Siberian winter.
"VCC and the CK Group have walked side-by-side like brothers for nearly a decade," he began smoothly. "To demonstrate our absolute sincerity, our board is prepared to unconditionally waive the debt-to-equity conversion rights."
A collective sigh of relief rippled through the boardroom. To many, the nightmare of a hostile takeover seemed to have vanished. But it was a honeyed trap, meticulously smeared over a razor blade.
"However... we have one small condition," Chen Ming's gaze swept the room with predatory intent. "CK Group must pledge all its Hydrogen technology patents as collateral, granting VCC exclusive lien rights until the debt is paid in full."
The room fell deathly silent. This was more than a collateral agreement; it was a shackle on the company's future. If CK Group missed a single step, the very project supporting the Chairman's throne would crumble in an instant.
Lu Rong seized the moment, leaning toward the Chairman with a soothing tone. "Chairman, using the patents as collateral is merely a legal formality to appease the creditors." The CFO's silver-tongued reassurance was designed to lull the board into complacency. But for Li Ming, it was a blatant act of defiance. The fury he had suppressed for months finally breached the surface; a vein throbbed visibly at his temple. He knew exactly what was happening: these two foxes were conspiring to hijack the legacy he had spent his life building.
"You expect me to hand over the Hydrogen Project on a silver platter to these bloodsuckers?!" The Chairman's voice thundered, echoing off the walls and causing several board members to flinch.
Every eye in the room was fixed on Li Ming in shock. Meanwhile, Lu Rong's lips curled into a subtle, triumphant smirk. He had successfully cornered the old lion. To him, this was the perfect retaliation for Li Ming's order to merge KCC and CLS—a move designed to purge Miling from power. This was "an eye for an eye" in the most brutal fashion.
"We announced this project to the world only yesterday! And today, you want me to pawn the patents? What is wrong with you?!"
Lu Rong remained unshaken, weaponizing the board's collective anxiety against the Chairman. "But bringing in an anonymous entity like ZX Capital is no different from gambling our patents with a con artist. Would you truly trade a decade-long partnership for a ghost that just appeared out of nowhere?" He glanced at Chen Ming, who immediately reinforced the line.
"Precisely. A last-minute change of creditors could trigger a massive financial dispute between long-standing allies."
Li Ming stared at the two foxes before him. His mind raced. If he rejected the proposal without a sound counter-argument, the board would defect to Lu Rong's side immediately.