Invasion of the United States

When the plane slowly descended, preparing to land at Modu International Airport, Kelly looked out from the business class window and was greeted by a massive modern city.

Skyscrapers stood like a forest, with glass facades glittering blindingly in the sunlight.

On the crisscrossing overpasses, traffic flowed like rivers, resembling veins that delivered vitality to every corner of the city.

It wasn't Kelly's first time in the "Eastern Metropolis," but it had been a full ten years since her last visit.

In these ten years, she had almost traveled to every corner of the world.

She had been to the bustling Tokyo and Seoul, strolled down the Champs Elysees in Paris and the Ancient Colosseum in Rome;

She had chased sunsets on the African savannah, explored ancient relics in the rainforests of South America, and witnessed the hardships of the native people in Southeast Asia.

Ten years ago, the world was still a place of prosperity and growth.

The yellow-haired real estate mogul hadn't taken office, the United States was still indisputably the world leader, the global economy was flourishing, and everyone was full of hope for the future. This is part of a series from My Virtual Library Empire (M|V|L1EMPYR).

Back then, Kelly was still young, unmarried, without children.

She was full of passion, thinking she could escape her father's control and live a truly independent life.

But ten years later, the world had taken a complete 180-degree turn.

Economies were either stagnant or declining, public sentiment was becoming increasingly extreme, and politicians, in an effort to please voters, had to perform like actors.

The greatest act of rebellion Kelly had against her father was refusing the arranged marriage he had chosen and instead marrying a young dentist just starting his career.

However, this marriage did not free her from her dependence on her father.

On the contrary, her dentist husband, relying on her billionaire father, opened three dental clinics and achieved an annual income of over a million US Dollars.

Every time her father, Jeff Connally, mentioned this, he did so with a tone of sarcasm: "Kelly, you chose a loser as your husband.

If you had listened to me and married a promising young man, your family income would be at least thirty or forty million US Dollars a year, maybe even over a hundred million."

Kelly could only respond with silence. She knew her father was right. If she hadn't been born into a wealthy family, she would be nothing.

The root of the conflict between her and her father dated back to when Kelly was twelve.

At that time, her parents were still an enviable "perfect couple," the family was happy and carefree.

Kelly felt like the happiest little princess in the world.

Until one day, her parents announced their divorce without any warning, citing boredom with each other as the reason.

In that moment, her world collapsed.

From then on, Kelly's feelings toward her father became complex and contradictory—both dependent and resentful; both longing for his approval and desperately wanting to escape his control.

As the plane slowly landed on the runway, Kelly took a deep breath, bringing her thoughts back to reality.

She knew that this visit to Shanghai was not just to tour "Electric Flight," but to seek a new possibility.

She had chosen a new man, a young, wealthy, impulsive, and inexperienced outsider. She hoped this new character could turn the chessboard upside down.

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When Kelly decided to come, during the "background check" by Electric Flight's legal department, they found her resume and background truly astonishing.

She was from a prestigious university, a senior manager at "JP Morgan," with a billionaire father, especially since her father controlled a professional investment firm called "Pioneer Holdings."

The key point was the investment scale of over ten billion US Dollars—though not a major investment bank, it wasn't small either.

Immediately, everyone at "Electric Flight" threw all previous doubts aside—this was a golden opportunity, if they couldn't capitalize on it, they deserved to starve.

The startup team was mostly engineering geeks, and the company management was relaxed, with everyone usually wearing slippers, sporting messy hair, and being unkempt without anyone saying a word.

To pick Kelly up at the airport, everyone at "Electric Flight," all dozens of them, racked their brains—everyone had to present themselves well and wear their best attire.

So, as Kelly walked out of the arrival hall, she saw the company CEO with seven or eight well-dressed technical backbones smiling foolishly outside.

"You all are truly Victor's compatriots, your fashion sense is predictably terrible," Kelly, having seen many workplace elites in the financial circle, had never encountered many in the industrial sector.

Her critical opening made the few at "Electric Flight" feel awkward, thinking they had offended this heiress.

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On the day of the pickup, Kelly checked into a five-star hotel in the city center.

The next morning, accompanied by the vice president of "Electric Flight," Marco, Kelly toured the company headquarters.

To save money, the company was based in a converted office building in the suburbs, which was originally an abandoned factory.

Even though it had been thoroughly cleaned, the office environment was neat and bright, but the decor was very simple.

The employees sat in small cubicles, busy and orderly.

As she walked and observed, Kelly nodded occasionally, seemingly satisfied.

When she walked into the research and development department, she threw a tough question at Marco, who was accompanying her on the tour: "What are the annual salaries of your employees here?"

Marco was stunned, not expecting Kelly to ask so directly.

He hesitated for a moment, thinking about how to answer tactfully, but Kelly had already continued on her own:

"I checked your website's recruitment information; the annual salary for undergraduates is less than one hundred and fifty thousand, for master's degrees just above two hundred thousand, and even for PhDs, it's impressive to get three to four hundred thousand."