bdsm-fiction Chapter 353 The Heart of Oil
Chapter 353 The Heart of Oil
On April 5, 1972, in Lagos, Nigeria, a heat wave carried the salty, humid air of the Atlantic Ocean.
Marcus stood by the window of his hotel room, overlooking the war-torn West African capital. The three-year civil war had just ended, the government coffers were empty, and morale was low—it was the perfect time for infiltration.
His goal was clear: the black gold beneath the Niger Delta. Nigeria produces 1.8 million barrels of crude oil per day, making it Africa's largest oil reservoir. Marcus divided his team into three groups, like three precise daggers:
The first approach, through the "International Reconstruction Foundation," provided the Nigerian government with a low-interest reconstruction loan of US$200 million. The conditions were straightforward: the loan agreement's annex stipulated that the foundation had the right to send "technical advisors" to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources to participate in "monitoring the use of funds and evaluating projects."
The second approach involved registering "Delta Security Services" in Lagos and making contact with Obasanjo, a powerful warlord entrenched in the Harcourt port area. Several boxes of US dollars and a batch of "high-performance" rifles (modified with low-level sleight of hand, resulting in exceptional accuracy and durability) quickly opened the door to cooperation. The agreement stipulated jointly "maintaining" the "security and order" of the Harcourt port oil terminal and sharing the terminal management fees.
The third team, disguised as a technical assistance team from the Italian Eni Group, successfully infiltrated the Nigerian National Oil Company with impeccable forged documents and technical background, and was responsible for evaluating technical renovation plans for some of the older facilities.
The crucial blow came on April 22.
Oil Minister Oulu Faraj's motorcade was traveling on the highway to the airport, bound for Vienna to attend an important OPEC meeting. At high speed, while navigating a gentle bend, the minister's vehicle's braking system suddenly failed completely, the wheels locked, and the vehicle, with a screeching sound, went out of control and crashed violently into the guardrail. The minister died instantly. The accident report quickly classified it as an "accident caused by vehicle mechanical failure."
Only Marcus and the Golden Core cultivator disguised as the driver in the car knew the truth: the moment the vehicle entered the curve, a "Mystic Ice Technique" invaded the brake fluid circuit, precisely freezing the liquid in the critical parts.
A week later, after "negotiations" and "balancing" among all parties, a new oil minister took office. Three months earlier, this person had "encountered" a charming psychologist at an energy forum in London and received several deep psychological counseling sessions to "relieve work stress." His mind had been subtly imprinted with this, turning him into a puppet who would not disobey core instructions.
On May 10th, the newly appointed minister signed his first major decree: granting exploration and mining rights for three undeveloped prospective blocks in the Niger Delta region to a local company called "West Africa Energy Company." On the surface, this is a patriotic enterprise jointly controlled by several retired Nigerian generals and businessmen. In reality, its shareholding structure is a complex five-layer offshore structure spanning Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, Panama, and Nigeria, with Lin Yi ultimately being the beneficiary. Preliminary geological assessments indicate that the three blocks may contain up to five billion barrels of potential reserves.
In June, our focus shifted back to the Middle East.
Inside a private golf club in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Li Ming (Abdul) is playing golf with John Brown, the U.S. Vice President of Aramco. Thanks to his position as a prince's advisor, he has successfully entered this circle. After a long putt into the hole, the two rest in the shade. Taking advantage of the opportunity to hand him water, Li Ming subtly trembles his fingertips, releasing a subtle "thread-pulling" technique that ripples through Brown's consciousness like water. This spell doesn't plunder or control; it simply greatly enhances affinity and trust, making the recipient subconsciously regard the caster as a "one of their own" with whom they can confide deeply.
Within two months, Brown and Li Ming's friendship rapidly deepened. After a dinner just the two of them, Brown loosened his tie, and with a hint of alcohol and a sense of having "met a kindred spirit," revealed a crucial piece of information:
"Listen, Abdul, these words are coming from my mouth and going into your ears... Washington has already given us (referring to Aramco's four major American shareholders: Chevron, Texaco, Exxon, and Mobil) the wind. They intend to, at the appropriate time, not only not hinder but even secretly support Riyadh in completely nationalizing Aramco."
Li Ming showed just the right amount of surprise.
Brown lowered his voice: "There are two conditions: First, Saudi Arabia's oil must still be sold in US dollars, and the settlement channels will remain unchanged; second, most of the greenbacks earned from selling oil must be obediently used to buy our treasury bonds or deposited in designated Wall Street banks. This is called... a bond, yes, a bond of fate."
Li Ming understood immediately—this was the original blueprint for what would later be known as the "petrodollar system." That very night, this intelligence was transmitted via divine sense and instantly reached Hong Kong.
July 8th, late at night, Hong Kong.
Lin Yan used his spatial imprint to bring Alexander, Li Ming, Albert, and others together for a "divine consciousness meeting."
Lin Yan analyzed, "The information revealed by Brown confirms our historical understanding. The construction of the petrodollar system will move from blueprint to reality within the next year or two."
Alexander's thinking resembled a sophisticated financial model: "This means two definite arbitrage opportunities: First, establish large-scale long positions in the futures market in advance, waiting for oil prices to rise due to policy, geopolitics, or nationalization expectations; second, tighten control over physical oil sources and transportation nodes at the spot level, so that in the future there will be a say in pricing power and physical allocation power."
Lin Yan made a decisive move: "Both in parallel! Alexander, starting in August, you and Albert will act simultaneously on the New York Mercantile Exchange and the London International Petroleum Exchange, initially using $500 million to establish diversified long positions. The accounts must be highly diversified, and the trading patterns should simulate retail investors and small and medium-sized institutions to avoid alerting the big players."
"Li Ming," Lin Yan's gaze shifted to the Saudi projection, "your group needs to adjust its focus. Before Saudi Arabia officially initiates the nationalization process, the value of Aramco's most crucial geological data, engineering drawings, customer lists, copies of long-term supply contracts... these intangible assets are sometimes higher than a few oil wells. You must obtain them."
"Three team members have infiltrated Aramco's data center and archives in Dhahran under different identities," Li Ming reported. "They are systematically copying the magnetic tape and microfilm data. A complete copy is expected to take another two months."
"Too slow." Lin Yan shook his head. "Use unconventional methods. When encountering physically isolated or heavily guarded areas, use the wall-penetrating technique to enter directly. For large amounts of stored magnetic tape data, use the imprinting technique for batch copying, which can increase efficiency by a hundred times. Note that you should not leave any traces of magic; disguise it as a technical malfunction or human error."
Albert then reported on the progress in Europe: "We won the bid for the Ekofisk field in Norway. We paid $520 million, $30 million more than BP's final offer, but we secured this benchmark reserve. We now face a shortfall of at least $1 billion in initial development funding."
"The funds will be specifically allocated from the profits repatriated from the 'Golden Silence' operation," Lin Yan instructed. "Follow the 'Swiss Route 3' plan: the funds will originate in Hong Kong, transit through a private bank in Zurich, enter a trust account in the Cayman Islands, and then be injected into a Norwegian company under the guise of project investment. The time spent at each level must not exceed seventy-two hours, cutting off the flow of funds and ensuring traceability."
James concluded by saying, "The North Lankin gas field project on Australia's Northwest Shelf is currently under tender. Our company, Ausea Resources, is one of the competitors, but facing local giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, we need political support."
"Approve a $20 million special fund for political lobbying," Lin Yan decided. "Target members of parliament who are positive about the Asian market or relatively open on energy policy. No single political donation may exceed $1 million, and it must be conducted through multiple legitimate political action committees (PACs) to ensure compliance and secrecy."
By August 1972, the Lin Group had made several key moves in its oil empire:
In the Middle East: Successfully acquired approximately 15% of Aramco's non-public core technical information and customer data; within the Saudi royal family, six key members now have "advisors" who can exert influence; and through technical service contracts, they have gained a foothold in the daily operations of the giant Ghawar oil field's marginal block.
In Africa: Nigeria has begun initial seismic exploration and drilling preparation work on three newly acquired blocks; and a secret communication channel has been established with the Gaddafi regime in Libya, offering "special military training advisors" in exchange for priority negotiation rights in future oil purchases.
In Europe: Norway's Ekofisk oil field has begun trial production, with daily crude oil output stabilizing at around 80,000 barrels, becoming the first solid stronghold of the Lin family in the European energy landscape.
In the Americas: its stake in the Maracaibo Lake oil field in Venezuela quietly increased from 12% to 24%, making it the second-largest shareholder after the national oil company; in Alberta, Canada, it acquired three oil sands-rich lands under the name of an environmental technology company, with total reserves estimated at over four billion barrels—despite the current high extraction costs, these are considered strategic reserves.
Financial positioning: In the futures markets of New York and London, long contracts equivalent to 200 million barrels of crude oil have been quietly accumulated, with an average cost of $2.1 to $2.3 per barrel, waiting for the right opportunity.
Logistics network: Through a complex ownership structure registered in Panama and Liberia, it controls a fleet of 22 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) with a total capacity of over 6.6 million tons, acting as a mobile oil depot, patrolling the world's major shipping routes.
By August 1973, through these intertwined, tangible and intangible forces, Lin's actual control or significant influence over daily crude oil production had reached 2.8 million barrels, approximately 5% of global production at the time. Meanwhile, the seeds sown in the financial markets held the potential for unrealized gains approaching four billion US dollars. A vast network covering global oil-producing regions, transportation routes, trading centers, and corridors of power had been silently woven, awaiting the moment when the clock of history was destined to strike and ignite everything.