booktalesy Chapter 224 The Predictor's Dimensional Reduction Attack
Chapter 224 The Predictor's Dimensional Reduction Attack
Chapter 224 The Predictor's Dimensional Reduction Strike (1/71)
Outside the office building of a major specialty fabric supplier in Chiba Prefecture.
Sitting in the black sedan, looking at the top business lawyers standing guard around him, Ota Shoichi still felt a little unreal.
Although he always obeyed his boss's orders without question, it seemed a bit excessive for him to bring such a large legal team to block the door without any prior indication of breach of contract.
"Ring ring—"
'
Just as Ota Shoichi opened the car door and was about to step into the building, the heavy mobile phone in his hand rang out with an extremely shrill sound.
Da Tian glanced at the caller ID; it was the business manager of the fabric supplier. His heart skipped a beat, and he pressed the answer button.
"Minister Da Tian—I'm so sorry." The sales manager on the other end of the phone sounded sweaty, extremely guilty, and stammering. "Several core textile machines in our factory have suddenly suffered a serious, irreversible malfunction—we might not be able to deliver the batch of M-51 military green special fabric you ordered on time. As for the contract, we'd like to—"
Hearing the obviously made-up, low-quality excuse on the phone, Ota Masakazu stood there stunned.
An overwhelming chill ran down his spine and straight to the back of his head.
There's a problem! Just like the president said, there's a problem down to the last second!
Ota Masaya glanced at his watch. Less than an hour had passed since Kitahara Shin had called him from the set to warn him. In other words, the president had accurately predicted this supply disruption crisis before the other party had even come up with an excuse to break the contract or made the call!
This can no longer be described as "omnipotent"; it's practically prophetic!
Ota Masakazu took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the god-like awe he felt for Kitahara Shin, and his tone instantly became extremely cold and hard: "Is that so? The equipment is broken? That's quite a coincidence, I just arrived at your company building with my men. Let's discuss this face to face."
After saying that, Da Tian hung up the phone, waved his hand, and strode into the building with his legal team.
A few minutes later, the door to the fabric company's top-floor conference room was pushed open.
The high-ranking executives, who had just hung up the phone and were about to discuss countermeasures, were all stunned and stood there as if they had seen a ghost when they saw Ota Masakazu and a group of lawyers in suits suddenly appear at the door like gods.
"Mr. Ota? How could you—" The business manager stammered as he stood up, his face full of disbelief.
That's way too fast! Even if Ota Shoichi flew over by helicopter the instant he received the call, there's no way he could have appeared at the conference room door this quickly! The only explanation is that the other party was already waiting downstairs with their legal team before they even received the call!
Ota Masakazu gave them no time to react or argue. He pulled out a chair, sat down, and pulled a thick legal document from his briefcase, slamming it heavily on the conference table.
"Let's skip the pleasantries. Since you can't deliver the goods, that means you've unilaterally broken the supply agreement." Ota's gaze swept across the several sweating executives opposite him like a knife, directly revealing Kitahara Shin's trump card to their faces.
"This is a top-level commercial claim lawsuit. According to the penalty clause in the contract, you will be liable for all consequential losses that may arise from our subsequent pre-sale orders due to your breach of contract. Our legal team has applied to the court for asset preservation, and your company's liquidated damages account will be officially frozen this afternoon."
"Minister Ota! Please wait a moment. We can sit down and discuss this slowly. There's no need to be so extreme—" The supplier's president panicked completely and hurriedly tried to smooth things over.
According to the traditional practices of the Japanese business community, when such a situation arises, everyone will give each other a way out, renegotiate, or appropriately reduce the penalty for breach of contract.
However, Ota Shoichi strictly followed Kitahara Shin's instructions and didn't pay any attention to the traditional "basic law".
"There's nothing to discuss." Da Tian stood up, straightened the hem of his suit jacket, and looked at them coldly. "See you in court."
Watching Ota and his legal team turn and leave with lightning speed, the high-ranking executives in the conference room slumped in their chairs, completely frozen. They had thought it was just a matter of following the instructions of the conglomerate above to cut off the payment and cause some trouble for Kitahara Shin, but they never expected the other party's reaction to be so terrifying and deadly, directly overturning the table!
Meanwhile, a similar scene was unfolding at a large plastic raw material processing plant in Saitama Prefecture.
This time, however, the team was led by Ms. Aida, Kitahara Shin's extremely shrewd and capable chief female secretary.
Faced with the sudden obstruction from upstream raw material suppliers who demanded "non-compliance with environmental standards and suspension of PVC material supply," Ms. Aida didn't even flinch.
She pushed the two documents directly in front of the person in charge.
"The first document is a lawyer's letter demanding compensation for your illegal suspension of payments."
Aida adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, his tone extremely professional yet devoid of emotion: "The second document is a copy of the letter of intent for the purchase of raw materials of the same specifications that we urgently signed with an overseas supplier an hour ago. Also, the document tucked inside is a special application form for customs green channel approval personally approved by the office of Member of Parliament Kobayakawa."
Ms. Aida placed her hands on the table, her sharp eyes fixed on the other party, perfectly executing a psychological bluff: "Don't think that our production line will stop just because we're not receiving your supplies. The special approval process has already begun, and within two days at most, the overseas alternative materials will legally and compliantly fill our warehouses."
The factory manager, who was looking for trouble, almost popped his eyes out when he saw the application form, which, although it was just a letter of intent, was genuinely stamped with the official seal of a member of parliament's office.
They had just received instructions from the conglomerate to cause trouble. How could they have prepared for legal action, contacted backup suppliers overseas, and even smoothed things over with members of Congress in such a short time?!
Doesn't this usually require a month or two for response and negotiation? Even if this is a bluffing, urgent document, the fact that such a commotion could be generated in just one hour is quite alarming!
Unless—unless the other side has extremely high-level intelligence sources within their ranks who have known about the entire plan several days in advance, thus enabling them to launch all countermeasures today!
This powerful counterattack, leaving no room for error and revealing all its cards, completely stunned the traditional factory managers who were used to making things difficult in a step-by-step manner, plunging them into extreme passivity and panic.
Evening, Minato Ward, Tokyo.
The bigwigs in the capital market who had just held a secret meeting last night and decided to join forces to "set rules" for Kitahara Shin have now gathered together again in an emergency.
However, this time the atmosphere in the tatami room lacked the confident composure of the previous night; instead, it was filled with a suffocating silence.
"It all failed—"
The trading company representative looked at the compiled emergency report in his hand, his fingers trembling slightly as he held a cigar. "The fabric factory in Chiba Prefecture, the mold factory in Saitama Prefecture, and several logistical bottlenecks—all the supply disruptions haven't even been truly contained yet—"
Their attempts to take his neck were met with the strongest legal measures!
"Not only did they fight back, but that Kitahara Shin is completely unpredictable!" A senior executive from the brokerage firm added through gritted teeth, "He didn't come to us to beg for peace or negotiate like a typical entrepreneur; instead, he had his legal team file a maximum-limit breach of contract lawsuit! The official lawyer's letter and the application for asset preservation have already been submitted!"
The executive wiped the cold sweat from his brow, his voice tinged with exasperation: "Gentlemen, how should we handle these cards he's played? If he succeeds in his appeal, or if this lawsuit drags on for a year or two, the breach of contract penalties and reputational damage our contract manufacturers will face will be an astronomical figure!"
The bigwigs in the conference room exchanged bewildered glances, each seeing a hint of undisguised shock and headache in the other's eyes.
Originally intended to create trouble for Kitahara Shin, the trouble has now fallen on their own faces, turning into an extremely difficult legal crisis.
What terrified them even more was this incredibly accurate prediction. The terrifying speed at which Kitahara Shin's men slammed the indictment and overseas backup letter of intent onto the table the instant they issued the order, before even the factory manager had a chance to come up with a reason to breach the contract, was something that could never be achieved through on-the-spot reaction.
"A mole—there's definitely a mole among us!"
The trading company representative slammed his hand on the table, his eyes scanning the others present like a venomous snake. His tone was filled with extreme suspicion and rage: "This top-secret plan, involving simultaneous attacks from multiple supply chains, was finalized less than 24 hours ago, and Kitahara Shin has already prepared the letter of intent for overseas substitution and the special approval application from the congressman! If someone hadn't leaked the cards to him days in advance, how could he have prepared so perfectly?!"
This statement immediately caused an uproar among the bigwigs who were already anxious due to setbacks in their actions.
"What do you mean? Are you suspecting me of leaking secrets?"
"Who knows if one of your men took bribes from Kitahara Shin!"
"Enough!" The veteran president, sitting at the head of the table, his face ashen, sternly stopped the argument. But his eyes were also filled with deep suspicion. Kitahara Shin's counterattack was too perfect, too prescient, so perfect that they couldn't find any logical explanation other than "a leak from a very high-ranking mole."
"All operations are suspended." The veteran president took a deep breath, his tone chillingly grim. "Until we find out who leaked the information, no one is allowed to make any further moves. Everyone, go back and thoroughly investigate your trusted subordinates. Those who need to be purged, purge them completely!"
While the group of capital tycoons were distrusting each other and racking their brains over the vague "mole," Kitahara Shinya ruthlessly exposed the real "mole" on the real film set of the Wangan Police Station.
The low-level staff member who was secretly bribed by Johnny's and was in charge of peripheral odd jobs was caught red-handed by patrolling security personnel when he tried to secretly film Kitahara Shin dealing with the three veteran actors with a point-and-shoot film camera and a miniature cassette recorder hidden in the lining of his work clothes.
After all, under the absolute barrier of the system's [commercial vulnerability sniffer], such clumsy physical probing methods are as conspicuous as running naked under a spotlight.
"President! President Kitahara, I was wrong! I was truly blinded by greed and took their money—"
In the break room, the mole who had been found with film reels and cassettes collapsed to his knees with a thud. Sweating profusely, he grabbed Kitahara Shin's trouser leg, sobbing and desperately kowtowing, begging for mercy: "Please, please let me go this time! Please don't sue me! I have elderly parents and young children to support; a lawsuit would ruin my life!"
Faced with this tearful and pitiful plea for mercy, Kitahara Shin didn't even lift an eyelid.
He coldly withdrew his leg, ignoring the other person's cries of pain. With utmost composure, he pulled out his heavy mobile phone from his pocket and, right in front of the mole, dialed the number of the outsourced law firm.
"Bring two of the toughest commercial litigation lawyers to the set."
Kitahara Shin looked at the man sprawled on the ground, his tone devoid of any warmth, and instructed, "There's some scum here who violated the highest level of confidentiality agreement and is suspected of stealing trade secrets. Forget about calling the police; they don't have time for these kinds of business disputes."
"Go straight to civil litigation, preserve the evidence, and sue him to the bitter end. I want to freeze all his bank accounts so that he can't do anything for the rest of his life except work for me and pay exorbitant breach of contract fees."
After hanging up the phone, Kitahara Shin didn't even glance at him again and walked straight out of the lounge.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, with this irrefutable physical evidence and the help of the ruthless legal team at Kitahara's firm, this fool who coveted Johnny's dirty money is destined to spend the rest of his life in an endless hell of debt, reflecting on his actions.
Meanwhile, inside the Johnny & Associates headquarters building in Minato Ward.
Vice President Mary Kitagawa sat behind her large desk, looking at the few blurry photos that the mole had hastily faxed over before his arrest, her brows furrowed into a tight knot.
The photo was taken blindly with a point-and-shoot camera, so the angle was terrible, but the content of the picture disappointed her greatly.
There was no ugly display of anger and insults directed at his seniors by Kitahara Shin, nor any disrespectful or excessive behavior.
In the photo, Kitahara Shin is smiling and patting Katsuta on the shoulder in an extremely "polite" manner. It looks like a harmonious discussion, with absolutely no scandalous information that gossip media would sensationalize.
"What's going on?" Mary frowned, picked up the landline on her desk, and dialed the number of veteran actor Katsuta.
However, when she questioned him on the phone about why he hadn't angered Kitahara Shin as planned, Katsuta, who was usually extremely concerned with his image, sounded like he'd seen a ghost on the other end of the line. His voice trembled, and he stammered, not daring to utter a single word. He didn't even mention the cooperation agreement he had reached with Mary, as if he were desperately avoiding some terrifying plague, and hurriedly hung up the phone after only a few words.
Hearing the busy tone coming from the receiver, Mary Kitagawa's face turned ashen.
"What a bunch of good-for-nothings!" she said angrily, crumpling the photo in her hand into a ball and throwing it hard into the trash can.
The reason she rushed over to kick Kitahara Shin after hearing rumors that the conglomerate was going to deal with him was simply because she was holding a grudge.
Some time ago, she tried to get a few fresh faces from Johnny's Entertainment to work on Kitahara Shin's shows and get some freelance opportunities, but Kitahara Shin ruthlessly rejected them all, effectively blocking all avenues for collaboration.
Mary felt extremely uncomfortable with the feeling of being completely ignored and blacklisted by a younger colleague.
She had intended to take the opportunity to disgust the other party, but not only did her plan fail, the three old men were also terrified!
No matter how uncomfortable or infighting the external capital alliance was, Kitahara Shin's filming progress was not affected in the slightest.
After eliminating all external interference and internal troublemakers, the production team of "The Great Search" demonstrated an incredibly efficient workflow.
In just over a month, Kitahara Shin led the crew to complete the filming and post-production editing of the first four episodes with remarkable success.
As April 1994 arrived, the entire Japanese television industry officially ushered in the most fierce and intense "spring season" ratings battle.
At this time, the Japanese entertainment industry was a battle of titans. Major television stations and their production companies were all unleashing their own...
The ultimate weapon.
NTV (Japan Television) invested heavily in "Homeless Child," a social drama starring child prodigy Yumi Adachi, which sparked a huge social discussion upon its premiere. Meanwhile, TBS also launched a prime-time romance drama featuring top-tier celebrities, attempting to capture the young female market.
The most eye-catching is undoubtedly the hard-core mystery drama "Furuhata Ninzaburo," which is also produced by Fuji Television and scheduled to air on Wednesday nights at 9 pm, the "prime time slot."
This anthology drama, starring veteran national heartthrob Masakazu Tamura and written by Koki Mitani, is highly anticipated by Fuji TV executives and can be considered a worthy candidate for the "ratings champion" of this season.
In contrast, Kitahara Nobu's "The Great Search Line" not only failed to secure a prime time slot, but was instead relegated to the "midday garbage time" from 12:30 pm to 2 pm every day.
In the eyes of executives at traditional television stations and business tycoons, this was the painful price Kitahara Shin paid for forcibly controlling the copyright. At midday, aside from housewives doing housework, who would have time to sit in front of the television watching a drama about the daily life of a police station?
However, they greatly underestimated the terrifying appeal that the name "Kitahara Shin" truly represents in the minds of Japanese audiences today.
Countless ordinary viewers in front of their televisions didn't really care about scheduling or financial maneuvering. They only knew one thing: the "Demon King" Kitahara Shin, who had just delivered an unprecedented audiovisual shock to Japanese society in "Legal High" with his extremely manic and subversive verbal attacks, was finally back with his new drama!
Having experienced the ultimate thrill of "Legal High," viewers have become quite discerning. They are extremely curious and eager to see what kind of chilling new visual experience Kitahara Shin, now dressed in a police uniform, will bring to this new drama that claims to "subvert tradition."
It was an ordinary noon in April 1994.
Countless housewives who had just finished lunch, office workers who occasionally took time off to stay home, and even some students who secretly sneaked into video stores to watch TV all tuned to Fuji TV.
The clock hands quietly pointed to 12:30.
Accompanied by a line of extremely cold, huge black-and-white Ming Dynasty-style Chinese characters that occupied half the screen, "First Bay Shore Office," and an extremely crisp typewriter sound.
The first episode of "The Great Detective" is now airing!