Corpo Age

Chapter 205: Connections & Connections

I resolved myself for the upcoming conversation as Kai, the representative from Ferrumus Corp, approached. He had just ignored Joey, so the tension in the air was high.

A number of our allies within the West Coast Agroindustry were here. They all knew that Joey was the one who had remained in contact with Ferrumus throughout all this time due to the contract we signed. We gave them a share of our profits in exchange for keeping the High Gate Group’s supporters in check.

That was why Kai’s conduct had added to the tension. It was evident that he had something serious to discuss with me.

The almost bald man soon reached me and the surrounding people swiftly took a few steps back. Without missing a beat, Kai activated some device, something similar to what I had seen Titus from AeroDynamic use. It created a hazy barrier around us, cutting me off from any sounds beyond the dome.

“I have activated an anti-eavesdropping device, but I prefer we go somewhere private before we chat.”

“Of course…Follow me.”

It wasn’t like I had a choice. While their conduct was forceful and frowned upon, the disparity in our companies made it inconsequential.

I led him off to one of the side rooms. SocialCorp was the leading corporation for a reason. They accounted for every need their customer would have and fulfilled them. In this case, our holographic party room had several smaller rooms for private conversations.

“We should be good here,” I declared. “And please excuse me, I have yet to greet you yet, Representative Kai.”

I bowed and gestured for us to take a seat. While he did so, I took the opportunity to reexamine his cybernetics, as it had been some time since I last saw him. Many things have changed since then, and my ability to analyze the technology used in cybernetics has risen.

The man was a lean cyborg, but I had seen him in action. His swiftness and agility complimented his company’s blades really well. He easily closed the distance and cut through any foe, whether they had energy shields or not.

“Mr. Halls, it has been some time. I’m sure we have a lot to catch up on, but I hope you don’t mind me cutting straight to the point first. My employers have a few things they wanted me to convey to you.”

“I don’t mind at all. Please speak freely.”

“Thank you. My employers wanted me to discuss potential partnerships together. Now that your company has reached the D-Class, we’d be happy to help you navigate the intricacies of operating in space.”

“Hmm, I have yet to decide if we would expand into space yet.”

“Mr. Halls, I highly doubt that. Well, even if we considered you have no intention of taking your business off-planet for now, we can still help set up your foundations. We can help you with that aircraft you recently created. We can help you design a variant that is space-worthy with our years of experience.”

I contained myself upon hearing those words. He was barely keeping up with appearances, basically telling me directly that he knew everything we were up to. I had expected they would keep an eye on whatever they could, so the new aircraft wasn’t a surprise. However, it was unavoidable that I felt uncomfortable that someone from such a large company had dissected my actions.

I quickly recomposed myself and formulated a response.

“Like I said, I haven’t decided when or if I will be expanding off-planet, but I’m still open to hearing about some partnerships you have in mind.”

“We’d be happy to sell you our mining ships and provide various technical support in establishing any type of manufacturing you may wish to pursue. Your business is welcome to use the facilities on our highly secured stations as well.”

That may mean paying ‘taxes’ to them and making us vulnerable to their whims. I’d rather pay the consortium for more neutral ground.

“Hmm, these are too specific to discuss right now. It’ll have to wait until we have a development plan first.”

Kai then proceeded to spew some other ways we could cooperate, making me learn that he wasn’t just a cyborg bodyguard. He fluently barraged me with potential business deals one after the other. If I hadn’t met him before, I would’ve thought he was a seasoned salesman.

No matter what he offered, I responded in the same way, as politely as I could. I dig my heel into the position of not being ready yet.

It took an entire hour for Kai to finally give up. From there, he left the private room and socialized with the other guests briefly before taking his leave.

“What’d he want?” my SAID immediately received a message from Claire upon Kai’s exit from the venue.

“Not a warning, at least. It seems like he’s desperate to deepen business connections with us.”

“Did he say why?”

“No, but it’s not hard to infer. Whatever political faction Ferrumus is part of wants to get on the good side of Mr. NPC. Or at the very least, they are opposed to Nova Tech’s faction that is against us.”

“I don’t like this, Rollo. We’re just small pieces in their colossal chessboard.”

“This is the hand we’ve been dealt. We can only play it to the best of our abilities. We should be glad that Ferrumus isn’t antagonistic to us or warning us about an imminent threat.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Claire didn’t say anything after that, and the celebration for our promotion quickly resumed.

Numerous people came up to me to congratulate us on our promotion, but the only thing that I had on my mind was our future plans. I had to find a way to accelerate our growth as fast as possible. We’ve become too exposed, with several large corporations with their sights on us.

It had its pros and cons.

On one side, we could make connections with powerful corporations much easier. Normally, these large corporations above A-Class wouldn’t spare us the time of day. If we utilized these connections correctly, we could gain access to various exclusive goods and knowledge.

On the flip side, malicious parties also took notice of us. My guardian angel said he was keeping them in check, but that could be rescinded at any time. He had been kept occupied once before, so it stands to reason it could happen again.

I felt like we were on a slippery tightrope. One wrong step and it could all come crumbling, but if I survived, it was an unmatched opportunity to rise up.

The celebration continued while I was barely able to keep up my facade. That was fine when dealing with people I was unfamiliar with, but the perceptive few I had met previously could see the cloud covering my face.

“Rollo, congratulations on your promotion.”

I glanced over at the voice to find a young man.

“Luford, thank you for coming.”

The young man who greeted me was Luford Perez, the current CEO of Sensorial Corporation whom my company partnered up with. We had a dozen or so products in the sensor market, and someone who I had met often before the incident with Nova Tech.

They were able to bolster our product catalog, making us less prone to disruptions due to the performance of a few products. While we had to share our profits with them, being able to diversify our portfolio was more than worth it.

“I’m happy to see your company rising so fast. I thought it was only yesterday that you guys were still at F-Class, an entire grade below us. Now you’ve already surpassed us.”

“Please, we couldn’t have done it without the help of your company. We’ll be continuing to rely on you in the future as well.”

While it was true we were growing quickly, we still had to maintain good relationships with our allies. When we were near equal in power, our beneficial relationship allowed us to stand as a united front, deterring any other company from messing with us. Even when we surpassed them by a wider margin in the future, we could still make use of them.

In my old world, big companies would engage in corporate takeovers. It allowed them to take over the business at a much faster rate than forming their own team to fill the same role their valued partners once did. It would reduce any disruption as well.

Here, corporate takeovers only consisted of hostile takeovers. It was literally a matter of life and death. Those who lost the backing of their company became vulnerable. It wasn’t like my world where one could retire peacefully with the money from the acquisition.

That was why the more common way things proceeded was subordinate business, or vassals, as some would say. It was basically another term for a friendly takeover, but allowing a little more independence to the child company.

“Anyway, Rollo,” Luford’s words woke me from my musing. “I’d love to explore more ways our company can continue to work with you. We’re already partners, so it should be easy to work on other projects together. In fact, why don’t we talk more at a later date?”

“Sure, just make an appointment for when you’re free.”

“Oh, why don’t we just directly talk over Legend of the Mythic War? I’ll add you.”

“...That works.”

Rollo’s curiosity was piqued and his SAID was smart enough to provide him with an answer. It automatically pulled up Luford’s account record.

The man had spent an average of sixty hours a week in the game. He even bought a plethora of cosmetic options, making him one of the big spenders of the game. His account had spent no less than a hundred thousand credits.

A whale…I don’t know what to think about being responsible for turning my friend into an addict.

Rollo didn’t dare to dwell on the topic for too long. There were others at the party watching or waiting for him. Most of them didn’t have any important matters to discuss yet and were mainly looking to form a connection.

The surface-level discussion passed the time quickly until a certain bald personage approached.

This is awkward. I’m not sure how to act after seeing him get ignored by Kai in front of all these people. I guess the safe way is to act as if nothing happened.

“Joey, how’s everything going? Did all of your guests arrive yet?”

Engaging me in conversation, I watched as he put on his signature smile and nodded.

“Yes, of course. I can go get them now if you’d like.”

I nodded and quickly came face to face with three individuals.

One of them was much like Joey, bald. However, he had a wide frame and large eyes. He had some conspicuous scars around his forehead.

“This here is Wa, assistant manager to the Oasis Tree Corporation Aegis branch.”

Joey had given me some preface to their companies, so I knew Oasis Tree was a company specialized in life-support products. It was no surprise they operated mainly in space, where their target market was. Not only did ships need a functional life-support system, but so too did the space stations.

I shook his hand and exchanged polite greetings before Joey moved on to the next person. It was a middle-aged woman of short stature.

“This is Kaitlyn, sales manager at Apollo Corporation. If you need any propulsion system or to find the perfect fuel for your ship, they’re the ones to go to.”

Next came a lanky old man. He felt like someone I would find in a research lab instead of some social party.

“Last but not least, we have Julius. He’s from A-Flux Incorporated. If you have money to spare, you should trust me and buy power generators from them instead of paying the station fees. They are one of a select few who are licensed to deal in nuclear power.”

The last man came from a company I was very interested in. They dealt in nuclear reactors, very similar to the ones used in power armor. The difference was that they only dealt in full-sized reactors and not the miniature ones that could fit in my pocket. The tech involved in that was much more mature and easier to implement. The miniaturization tech required for the power armor version was something only top corporations could produce.

Nevertheless, there was no denying the high demand for energy, even in space. It made companies like A-Flux essential to anyone without the tech to do the same. If I wanted to build my own ships in the future, I would definitely need the help of a company like them.

Particle Physics had given me some knowledge of nuclear fusion, but I only had a small part of the larger picture. So far, I hadn’t invested in nuclear physics, so I believed it would be better to outsource these specialty parts unless that has changed.

However, before I would embark on such an ambitious journey, I would brush up my skills with smaller-scale implementations first. My first prototype transport aircraft was complete. It was a great start, but I wanted to test space-worthy vessels as soon as possible.

The costs of these spacecraft were not to be taken lightly, which was why I had arrived at my drone idea. It had both commercial earning capabilities and the ability to allow me to test numerous features I would like on my future spacecraft thanks to its low cost.

I couldn’t wait for the party to be over and dive back into my lab.