by <unknown>
Han Xiao blinked, before speaking in a knowing tone, “Sorokin, twenty years have passed, and times have changed now. I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse.”
“Oh?”
“Haha, firstly, regarding consent of all shareholders… do you think the others will support or reject me?”
Sorokin was taken aback for a moment, and his brows then wrinkled sharply.
He suddenly discovered that for Black Star, this issue no longer posed any problem.
Black Star was no longer what he used to be, and his position in the universe far exceeded that of twenty years ago. He was also responsible for building a shared battlefront for the Beyond Grade As. Based on this alone, he would be able to obtain the support of both Manison and Kasuyi. Kant, as a fellow ally, was even less likely to oppose him.
Sorokin suddenly had a bad feeling about this.
At this point, Han Xiao smiled and slowly said, “As for the checks and balances between the three Universal Civilizations… Do you think the federation and the church are more willing to allow another dynasty shareholder to appear, or do you think they value the Evolutionary Totems more? In other words, do you think they will openly oppose me at this moment?”
Laying out his cards!
This was the only thought running through Sorokin’s mind.
His expression also sank.
Since the dynasty had opened up the sale of Evolutionary Totems, temporarily dissolving the hostility between the federation and the church, in order to ensure the smooth implementation of this decree, and Federation and the church might turn into boot-lickers, not just to please the dynasty, but also to please Black Star who held the Evolution Cube.
Furthermore, Black Star had their allies as captives, and he had enough chips to force both civilizations to compromise. If he insisted on including the conditions of being a shareholder inside the redemption clause for the captives, then both the church and the federation would not stop him. In the end, Black Star would still become a shareholder of the Limitless Financial Group!
At this moment, Sorokin suddenly noticed a detail he had ignored previously. Once the problem of the Evolutionary Totem was settled, he would obtain the benefits provided by the church and the federation as a result of completing the transaction, but he would also lose their protection at the same time.
This means that if Black Star wished to be a shareholder, he, as the head of the financial group, did not even have the veto power anymore!
Either he closed both eyes and allowed Black Star to become the shareholder, giving him an astronomical amount of dividends for nothing, or waited for the three Universal Civilizations to help Black Star sanction the Limitless Financial Group in the commercial field and force him to submit.
He could only say yes or yes!
Thinking to this point, Sorokin looked deeply at Han Xiao.
What an impeccable move, completely utilizing his influence. Could it be that Black Star had predicted such a point long ago?
Han Xiao only smiled, slowly savoring the liquor with a nonchalant expression, awaiting his answer.
Seeing this, Sorokin’s expression warped many times before he slowly spoke.
“Black Star, this hand of yours… was beautifully played.”
“Then, what will you choose?” Han Xiao playfully replied.
“… Do I have a choice?”
Hearing this, Han Xiao laughed, putting down the glass and stretching out his hand.
“Then… I wish us both a happy cooperation?”
Gazing at Han Xiao’s offered hand, Sorokin deeply breathed in, suppressing the feeling of having stepped into sh*t, and squeezed out a smile, gripping Han Xiao’s hand.
“Hope we have a pleasant cooperation.”
Seeing the derision in Han Xiao’s eyes, Sorokin almost could not hold back his urge to attack, but he quickly quenched the thought.
He recognized the reality. Since he could not resist, he could only take the lesser of two evils. Even if it meant carving out a piece of his flesh, he decisively promised and yielded to Han Xiao.
“Hmm?”
Han Xiao could clearly feel the killing intent released by Sorokin in that instant. It was as though he was faced with a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. The pressure was even stronger than Hila’s, and it was not possible to obtain such an aura without reaping the lives of millions if not billions.
This old fogey was indeed once a cold-blooded murderer…
However, Han Xiao did not put it to heart, smiling as he withdrew his hand. He knew that Sorokin was used to pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger, only knowing how to bully the other party but not daring to take action.
After all these years, Han Xiao had sort of understood how Sorokin behaved, and he did not care one whit about his personal reputation at all.
If one took the initiative to attack, Sorokin would definitely pretend to lose and get himself beaten up, then make use of public opinion to add fuel and jealousy to let the whole universe know of your unreasonable attitude. It would lower his reputation, and the chance of obtaining the shareholder position would be forever lost. Even without the support from the federation and the church now, his identity as the head of the Limitless Financial Group was still a shield of sorts for him. After all, he did not belong to any random organization or a gray area but rather a legal galactic business. Using violence against such people would have huge repercussions, which will definitely appear in headlines.
Now that Han Xiao had gotten what he wanted, he stopped teasing Sorokin but wiped his smile off his face. “Since we have reached a consensus, please announce this to the universe as soon as possible. I won’t bother you any further.”
“Alright, have a nice trip back.” Sorokin reluctantly smiled, sending him off.
The moment Han Xiao left the room, Sorokin’s expression sank thoroughly.
He got wrecked this time!
This was not as simple as the shareholder changing from Gorutan to Black Star. It had also undermined Sorokin’s business strategy, causing him to miss the opportunity to enter the Galactic Black Market.
As a businessman, watching an important business opportunity slip through one’s fingers was a pain that could not be described in words.
Moreover, with Black Star guarding against him, he would not sincerely cooperate with the Limitless Financial Group. Thus, it would be difficult to obtain any benefit off this shareholder. He could only give Black Star the dividends in vain and maybe even need to deal with any potential backlash from Black Star’s end.
Just thinking about it made Sorokin upset.
For a long time, the Limitless Financial Group had been using commercial means to hinder the development of the Black Star Army and had only recently stopped their attacks. However, their circumstances were actually flipped over, to get suppressed by Han Xiao now.
Ka-cha!
The glass of liquor he was holding shattered, the shards falling all over the floor.
Sorokin however did not wipe his hands, allowing the amber liquid to drip between his fingers.
His expression was ugly as he muttered, “I hate these Beyond Grade As…”
Chapter 1068. Extortion |
As the spaceship left the Limitless Financial Group branch, Han Xiao looked through the window as the building diminished in size before pulling back his gaze and smiling.
“I’ve hit at a good time. Sorokin has finally compromised…”
By his estimation, there was a seventy-percent chance of the negotiation succeeding. Even if he had the right time and place, he dared not speak with absolute certainty that Sorokin would yield to him.
Fortunately, his judgment of Sorokin’s character was not wrong, and the final result was favorable to him.
If it was another Beyond Grade A with a temper, they would most likely have fought. However, Sorokin was good at enduring, and it was probably not the first time he had dealt with such matters. After weighing the benefits and costs, he im
mediately chose to compromise.
“Speaking of which, Sorokin is so shy about showing his strength. There must be a lot of factors within…”
Han Xiao stroked his chin as he pondered.
This guy was not like the other Beyond Grade As, who relied on their own personal power to influence their organization’s development. He had almost no record worth mentioning, and his business was run through the normal and legal way.
The advanced civilizations had always been alert to any non-allied Beyond Grade A organizations. As the top financial group in the universe, the stronger their power, the more jealousy they would attract. Commercial organizations were not armed forces and had their own set of industry rules to follow. The moment they were targeted by the three Universal Civilizations, it would be hard for the financial group to maintain stable footing. If Sorokin decided to retaliate, others would know that he had been hiding his strength, and the civilizations’ fear would increase.
This was only one of the reasons. Han Xiao still remembered some of the information displayed about Sorokin on his interface. This guy had probably changed his skin many times and had been living in the universe with different identities.
But no matter how many times Sorokin changed his skin, his ability would not change, so he avoided any form of conflict so as not to be recognized. Maybe he had committed some huge offense, so he deliberately kept his name incognito.
“This guy is full of mystery.” Han Xiao shook his head. This was all speculation, and maybe Sorokin had another reason to do so.
No matter what those secrets were, he had squashed Sorokin this time and avenged the suppression he had suffered over the past two decades.
Shareholders would receive huge dividends from the Limitless Financial Group every year. This was no small amount, and while it was not too huge of a loss to Sorokin, Han Xiao could finally obtain some interest.
Under normal circumstances, such huge dividends would not be taken for free. Every shareholder position given by the Limitless Financial Group was coveted, and they would form another business cooperation with the Beyond Grade A organizations, mutually benefitting both parties.
But Han Xiao naturally would not allow the Limitless Financial Group to partake in the army’s business channels, otherwise it would just be a gift to Sorokin. He had made up his mind to only take the money and do nothing, just like a dog in the manger, deliberately creating trouble for Sorokin.
“The Evolutionary Totem is being released to the universe, and I’ll also obtain the shareholder position of the Limitless Financial Group. With these two sources of income, the abundant funds are enough to support the continued expansion of the army. The stock price of the Germinal Financial Group will also skyrocket.”
Han Xiao was overjoyed. He took out his communicator to send messages to the contact points of the three Universal Civilizations.
It was only the initial step for him and Sorokin to come to a consensus. He still had to file it with the three Universal Civilizations regarding this matter for their support. Because of the Evolutionary Totems, this was not a difficult task.
After sending out the news, Han Xiao let out a deep breath.
Once the dynasty, federation, and church had all expressed their opinions, Sorokin also folded, which meant that the follow-up affairs of Black Star’s Godlike Battle had almost come to an end. There was nothing left to do except to take care of Traveler and the Super Star Cluster Civilization behind him.
Traveler had already hidden himself, but Han Xiao knew which Super Star Cluster Civilization he belonged to. However, he had no plans to deal with the civilization behind the scenes at this moment.
On the one hand, the Super Star Cluster alliance was currently developing as a group and steadily expanding in the free competition zone, not creating any trouble, so there was no opportunity for him to take action. On the other hand, the three Universal Civilizations would not sit back and watch the Super Star Cluster develop in the Flickering World. Thus, they would definitely take action. Han Xiao decided to wait for the time the three Universal Civilizations launched an attack to cooperate with them, which would achieve twice the results with half the effort needed.
“Things are almost settled. The establishment of a platform for the Beyond Grade A united front should be placed on the agenda.” Han Xiao rolled his eyes in deep thought.
Both Manison and Kasuyi, one director and the other the actor, did not come to urge him after the incident. No matter what they had done before, at least he owed them a favor during the Hila Rescue mission, so he still had to put in some effort to maintain a united front.
“The purpose of this platform should be to take advantage of the opportunity of the Flickering World to unify all the Beyond Grade A organizations, allowing everyone to have a communication platform, binding all Beyond Grade As together. It cannot be hidden from the eyes of the three Universal Civilizations, yet it cannot be done with too much fanfare… united front… hang on, united front‽”
Han Xiao suddenly had a eureka moment and hurriedly recited a few phrases from the socialist mantras before deriving an ingenious idea.
…
At the same time, Secret Master in the faraway Beast Ancestor stronghold received a communication application from Sorokin.
“Sorokin, what’s happening?”
“Your Excellency Secret Master, I have a piece of bad news for you.” Sorokin sighed.
“Speak.”
“There’s now a problem in our previous deal.”
“What exactly happened?” Secret Master hurriedly asked.
“I promised to leave you one of the shareholder positions, but Black Star came over just now and used his current influence to threaten me. You also know, with the sale of the Evolutionary Totems, the three Universal Civilizations will surely support him. Thus, to reduce my losses, I could only agree to his request.”
“You mean Black Star stole my reserved shareholder seat?” Secret Master’s expression changed.
“Sigh, it’s indeed like that. I can actually create a new major shareholder seat, but I need to dilute the equity of the others, which is more troublesome. It will take a lot of time to carry out some commercial operations and complete the capital increase. Otherwise, the other Beyond Grade A shareholders will not be happy.” Sorokin could not take out his share, otherwise it would be painful if he lost control of the entire financial group.
“… Alright then. Let’s proceed with the deal when you’re done.”
Secret Master was helpless. While he said he would cooperate in the future, he had actually already planned to cancel the trade in his heart.
This Sorokin was obviously too unreliable.
I’m obviously first in line here…
Secret Master had no anger toward Han Xiao snatching his lollipop. After all, in his opinion, Black Star did not know about their private transaction and did not specifically target him.
…
A couple of days later…
“Flickering World Beyond Grade A Development Union?”
In the Black Star Palace, Sylvia looked at the prototype of the plan that Han Xiao had handed over and could not help but show some surprise.
Han Xiao placed his feet on the table, raising his eyebrows as he replied, “Any problems?”
“The problem is so big that I’m speechless. The dynasty will never agree.” Sylvia had an expression of helplessness. “To boldly unite all the Beyond Grade A organizations, isn’t this taking the initiative to anger with the three Universal Civilizations?”
“What are you talking about? The Flickering World Beyond Grade A Development Union is a non-governmental organization that aims to deal with the contradictions between the Beyond Grade A organizations involved in the expansion of the Flickering World. It’s always better to solve problems through negotiation rather than violence and jointly maintain the public security of the Flickering World. This is a good thing that will benefit the entire Star Field, and it is al
so an idea I developed after experiencing the previous incident. I’m worried that there might be more Beyond Grade As that will fall into my hands.” Han Xiao spoke with an expression as though he totally believed in his lies.
Sylvia was speechless. She waved the document in her hands. “You do know that such bullsh*t will not get past the three Universal Civilizations, right?”
Hearing this, Han Xiao stopped his scholarly act, rolling his eyes.
“Well duh, but what else can I do? If I wish to integrate the Beyond Grade As, I’ll need an excuse. Whether the three Universal Civilizations believe it or not, we still have to sugar coat it to prevent us from getting caught in an embarrassing situation.”
Sylvia still had a worried expression. “To have our Black Star Army be the pioneer, won’t this be too eye-catching? Especially in the eyes of the dynasty…”
“That’s why this is only a draft. I’ll still have to pull in more people to establish this union. Those who joined in the Meeting of the Gods with me will probably tacitly choose to join.” Han Xiao shook his head.
While the Beyond Grade As had similar unions, there had never been a union of such scale, akin to the Mercenary Association, Pharmacist Association, or even the Superheroes Association. While the name of this organization was called the Development Union, in the eyes of discerning people, this would be an association that gathered all the Beyond Grade As in the known universe.
So long as most of the current Beyond Grade As joined this organization, they would be able to drive the membership rate of any new Beyond Grade As in the future. Its scope far exceeded that of The Ancient Ones to encompass all Beyond Grade As.
And if one utilized the appeal of this organization to continue to expand the range of members included, it could even evolve into a Super Association for the entire universe. Such a scale would be terrifying because such associations were generally only established by the three Universal Civilizations.