Reborn in Tokyo: From Heiress to Global Tycoon

Chapter 260 The Battle of Time Difference

(Thanks to "Uncle Cai on Tomato" for the author certification! Thank you to "Sweetheart Xiaolan on Narrow Street" for the author certification! Thank you to "Night+" for the author certification! An extra chapter today!)

Early July 1990.

Marunouchi, Tokyo.

The core strategic room on the fourth basement floor of the Saionji Industrial Headquarters.

Satsuki was nestled deep in the large leather swivel chair.

On the rosewood table in front of her, besides the usual bone china teacups, there was now a white medical tray. On the tray were two strong fever-reducing pills and an electronic thermometer with a reading of 38.5 degrees Celsius.

Ten minutes ago, Takeda, the chief private physician of the Saionji family, had just left this secret room.

Before leaving, the old doctor, who had watched her grow up, unusually disregarded the proper etiquette and gave her a stern medical warning—a week of extreme mental exhaustion had brought this young body to the brink of collapse. If she didn't immediately stop working and rest for at least 72 hours, she risked developing acute myocarditis and irreversible neurasthenia.

Satsuki knew that her body had reached its limit.

Now, her back was covered in cold sweat, and her high-thread-count cashmere sweater clung to her skin, damp and cold. She even had a faint ringing in her ears, like steel needles rubbing against glass, and occasionally, half-second blurry images would appear at the edge of her vision.

But I can't give up now...

She stretched out her somewhat pale fingers, picked up the pills from the tray, and put them in her mouth. She then picked up the warm black tea, tilted her head back, and forced the pills down.

The bitter taste of medicine spread in my mouth.

She leaned back in her chair, head tilted back, glancing at the three top-secret files placed in the center of the table.

One document is a satellite surveillance image of Iraqi troops gathering on the Kuwaiti border, which SIS had just transmitted from its Middle East intelligence network; another is a confidential memorandum from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty and the Peace Constitution; and the last document is original evidence document stolen from Sumitomo Bank and Fuji Bank, recording executives' illegal accounting practices.

For the past week, aside from eating and sleeping, she has locked herself in here whenever she has a spare moment.

The reason is simple—the Gulf War is about to break out.

My arrival has indeed brought about many changes in the world. Market indices and the fates of conglomerates have all deviated from their original paths. However, the immense inertia of global geopolitics continues to roll forward along its inherent underlying laws. Those predetermined major events stemming from conflicts of core national interests will not cease to unfold due to slight deviations in the Tokyo financial market.

According to top-secret briefings from the SIS (Saionji Intelligence System), Iraqi armored forces have begun to assemble in the Middle Eastern desert towards the southern border.

The eight-year Iran-Iraq War completely emptied Baghdad's treasury, while Kuwait's excessive oil production and massive debt are pushing this military power to the brink of collapse. In order to plunder oil fields to fill the deficit and divert attention from domestic survival conflicts, they have crossed the border to launch an armed annexation, which has become a highly probable option in strategic planning.

If the map of the Middle East were violently rewritten, one-fifth of the world's oil reserves would be directly threatened. Furthermore, the "dollar-oil" settlement system is the foundation of US hegemony, and Washington would most likely mobilize a multinational force for armed intervention and impose heavy military spending and troop support on its allies.

So, here's the problem.

Japan, being an ally heavily reliant on Middle Eastern oil, would inevitably be included in Washington's list of countries to contribute military spending and manpower. However, constrained by its pacifist constitution, the Japanese cabinet is unable to send a single soldier overseas. Historically, Japan only provided economic support for this war.

Washington politicians are certainly aware of this constitution's existence. After all, it was the very shackles they themselves placed on Japan years ago.

But when that time comes, they will all tacitly choose to collectively forget their memories.

Amidst the tense atmosphere of trade friction between Japan and the United States, the American public is already hostile towards Japanese zaibatsu's large-scale acquisition of overseas assets. If war breaks out, American soldiers will bleed in the desert while Japan only intends to hide in the safe rear and write checks. Washington politicians, in order to pander to voters, will inevitably go along with the trend, stirring up domestic anger and firmly pinning the label of "free-riding" on Tokyo.

This kind of politically projected anger is essentially a calculated act of blackmail. It is enough to force the defenseless Japanese cabinet into a diplomatic deadlock with no way out.

If, before the first shot is fired, a "private engineering and logistics rescue company" is registered in an offshore island, and the elite security personnel are infiltrated into it as "commercial security employees" for deployment.

At that time, the Saionji family will be able to use this plan, disguised as "purely commercial logistical support," to negotiate with Washington.

Washington politicians and the Pentagon aren't fools; they can certainly see through the Saionji family's little schemes. But right now, more than anyone else, they desperately need to show their domestic public that "allies are sharing the burden of casualties." A civilian logistics unit registered in a third country, secretly funded entirely by Japanese zaibatsu, can handle engineering, transportation, and casualty relief for the US military outside the war zone.

For American politicians who desperately need to reduce their own military casualties while also needing to put on a political show, this is an irresistible gift. Faced with enormous practical benefits and votes, they will tacitly choose to "play dumb," actively ignoring the armed demands hidden behind this offshore company and viewing it as a mercenary serving American interests.

If the plan succeeds, the Saionji family will not only make a breakthrough in its military capabilities, but also use this enormous political capital to naturally push a clean-cut member of the main family into the core of power in Nagata-cho.

Of course, that's all in the future. What needs to be done now is to get the security personnel into the outskirts of the Middle East as legitimate employees before the Pentagon completely blocks information about the war zone.

At the same time, the energy shock triggered by the war will be the final blow that completely shatters the foundation of the Japanese economy. This island nation, which is heavily reliant on imports of Middle Eastern crude oil, will see its manufacturing costs and inflation spiral out of control the moment crude oil futures prices surge several times over.

The massive amount of US dollars currently hidden overseas in the form of short-term US Treasury bonds must relocate.

And it has to be fast. We must do this before the CIA's satellite photos reach the White House president's desk, and before Wall Street's astute hedge funds incorporate geopolitical risks into their quantitative models. Using the highest leverage, we must preemptively and covertly establish long positions in crude oil on the international futures market.

The time lag in cross-border intelligence gathering is extremely short. Once tensions rise in the trading hall, the premium for crude oil call options will skyrocket.

Meanwhile, the domestic hunting ground is equally urgent. The evidence of executive misconduct in balancing accounts, stolen from Fuji and Sumitomo, on the table has an extremely short shelf life. The continuous decline in the stock market has left the accounts of major city banks riddled with holes, and those high-ranking bank presidents are doing everything they can to try to balance the books before the mid-year financial audit arrives.

We must use this original evidence to blackmail the bank presidents who are eager to cover up bad debts before they hold closed-door board meetings and completely destroy all traces of accounting fraud. We must force them to secretly transfer the debts of the underlying semiconductor companies to an overseas trust under Saionji's name.

The timing of establishing political springboards, the window of opportunity for buying crude oil futures, and the specific dates for auditing the financial statements of major banks—three nooses straddling the global political, business, and military spheres—were tightly compressed within the next few short months.

If any one of the transnational financial channels is delayed, or if the prediction of the interests of any party is even slightly off by a single day, this massive global network will completely collapse.

Satsuki leaned back in the leather chair.

She has been meticulously planning these past few days, doing almost everything she could think of to the extreme.

Unexpectedly, the only weakness of this plan is his own health.

Is that still too much of a stretch?

Satsuki pressed her knuckles firmly against her throbbing temples. This underage body, when subjected to such a cross-border simulation with zero margin for error, ultimately had an insurmountable upper limit.

However, the current game is at its most critical juncture.

She picked up the cup of black tea in front of her, tilted her head back, and drank the bitter liquid in one gulp, forcibly suppressing the dizziness in her mind.

Now is not the time to close our eyes.

"Click".

The heavy explosion-proof door slid open silently to both sides.

Executive Director Endo, carrying a black briefcase, strode into the room. He stopped at the long table and pushed a thick briefing onto the center of the table with both hands.

"Young...Miss?"

Endo stared at Satsuki's pale face and the glaring white medical tray on the table. The prepared report was abruptly stuck in his throat.

"Why don't you rest for a while? The meeting can be postponed..."

"Speak," Satsuki said, leaning back in her chair and interrupting Endo.

Endo looked at Satsuki with concern, but he quickly adjusted his breathing.

"The follow-up report on Da Rong Group and that distressed asset fund on Wall Street has been completed."

"Daiei has completely stepped into a minefield." Endo looked at the data on the briefing. "President Nakanai attempted to use the influence of the Kansai Yakuza to suppress the local Kanto gangsters, getting the Yamaguchi-gumi leader from Kansai to personally negotiate, but it seems that the two sides have broken down. Recently, large-scale bloody clashes have occurred between the two sides' Yakuza, and Daiei's construction team can't even get through the gate, making it impossible for them to open for business."

"Furthermore, the Yamaguchi-gumi in Kansai, using the bloodshed as a pretext, turned around and accused Daiei. They claimed that it was because they intervened on Daiei's behalf that this serious conflict occurred. Now, the Kansai side has not only withheld the previous negotiation funds, but is also forcibly demanding that Chuneigong pay an exorbitant amount of billions of yen in 'medical expenses' and 'settlement fees' by bringing along the so-called 'seriously wounded'."

Endo turned a page.

"As for Mr. Smith from Wall Street... he hired a top-notch legal team to apply for an eviction order, but the judge rejected it in court based on the provisions of the Lease and House Act that favor the actual occupant. A mandatory pre-trial mediation procedure was initiated in accordance with the law."

"Currently, Wall Street's funds are stuck in court. However, Mr. Smith doesn't seem to intend to waste time in court. He plans to use physical means, such as cutting off water and electricity, to force the yakuza to compromise. And..."

At this point, Endo paused, his expression becoming somewhat strange.

"Just an hour ago, his lawyer approached Minister Dojima's SA Security Department with a promissory note for three million dollars. They wanted to hire our tactical team for a hefty sum to block the outer passages of those shops 24 hours a day and cut off the supplies to those yakuza members inside."

Satsuki listened quietly.

She raised her left hand, bent her index finger, and gently pressed her knuckle against her throbbing temple. With this seemingly casual supporting movement, she stabilized her slightly shifted center of gravity.

"Since a Wall Street client is offering money to us, let Dojima accept this commission."

Satsuki lowered her left hand and spoke as if nothing had happened.

"Send people over there. As long as those yakuza don't step out of the shop, don't interfere."

"The level of attention we need to pay to these two companies can be lowered a bit. The legal quagmire in the courts and the messy debts of the underworld at the bottom are enough to drag down their cash flow for the next three years. Let them fester in there."

"Understood." Executive Director Endo nodded slightly.

After reporting on Daiei's messy accounts with Wall Street, Endo did not leave immediately.

His gaze fell on Satsuki's pale, almost transparent face, and then he glanced at the medical tray on the table with the empty aluminum foil tray of fever reducers.

"Young Miss".

Endo's tone revealed a deep sense of worry and hesitation.

"Can your body really hold up?"

He leaned forward slightly, his voice extremely low.

"You are the pillar of the entire Saionji family. If you were to meet with the main family members while running a low-grade fever and extremely weak, and word got out, it could cause unnecessary speculation and unrest within the family..."

"My authority is built on consistently correct decisions, and it has nothing to do with whether I have a fever or not."

Satsuki leaned back in her leather chair, directly interrupting Endo's concerns.

"If my prestige is based on physical strength, then I should go to the gym and build up my muscles, instead of sitting in a secret room every day plotting some conspiracy."

"Moreover, the geopolitical shifts in August and the audits of local banks' financial statements won't stop to wait for my fever reducer to take effect."

She picked up the bone china teacup, feeling the lingering warmth on the cup, her expression completely unfazed.

"Let's continue with the next part of the schedule."

"……yes."

Endo took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the worries in his heart.

"drop--"

At that moment, the internal communicator at the edge of the control panel emitted a very faint beep.

Endo turned around and pressed the answer button. After listening to a brief report from the perimeter security, he turned to look at Satsuki.

"Young Miss, the person you secretly arranged has arrived at the outer gate."

"Let him in."

"Click".

The door opened, and the cold light from the corridor shone in.

The light seemed blurry, yet remarkably clear.

Regardless, this massive plan, which forcibly binds Middle Eastern geopolitics, macro-finance, and the domestic semiconductor industry, has officially entered an irreversible countdown to execution.