Chapter 240

Amber: "Speaking of which, the company just wants to enter Penacony?"

Amber: "I thought the company's goal was to completely recover Penacony."

Jade: "You can't become a fat man in one bite, everything must be planned slowly."

Jade: "The Family has been operating in Penacony for many years, wanting to completely recover it, even two more Stonehearts would be difficult to do."

Jade: "So... might as well reach in first, and talk about other things later."

Welt: "Hmm, it seems the company's goal is very clear from the beginning."

Welt: "In this way, perhaps the future Penacony will become a scene of mutual checks and balances between the Family and the company."

Jade: "It may not necessarily be checks and balances between the two sides."

Jade: "Maybe it's a mutually beneficial situation for three parties?"

Jade: "After all, you don't want to see the Penacony you saved with your own hands fall again, right?"

Himeko: "Oh?"

Himeko: "Heh... I might understand what Miss Jade means."

The video continues.

Topaz and Jade together,

walk into the conference room.

【Whoa ho ho ho!】

【Two smart and beautiful ladies, welcome to my Radiant Feldspar!】

【Come quickly, please sit, we have to have a good chat!】

As soon as the two arrived in the conference room,

they heard old Oti's hearty laughter.

Paimon: "Eh???"

Paimon: "Is this the head of the Iris Family, the big shot in Penacony now, Oti Alfalfa?"

Paimon: "I didn't expect it to be just an old man with a loud voice and short stature?"

Miss Yunli: "Hmm... looks about the same height as Grandpa."

Stelle: "Ah, eh? Is General General Huaiyan so short?"

Stelle: "Can such a short person be a general?"

General Huaiyan: "Heh... this little friend, you might have some misunderstanding about the position of general."

General Huaiyan: "I am not a general good at fighting on the battlefield, height has no effect."

Jing Yuan: "Old Yan is the Hundred-Smelting of the Artisanship Commission, he is a craftsman."

Stelle: "Oh, got it!"

Stelle: "Is a general specializing in forging divine weapons!"

Stelle: "Woooo, Old Yan, when I have the opportunity to step on the Zhuming Luofu Xianzhou, you must give me a supreme treasure sword!"

March 7th: "Hey, how are you embarrassed to ask?"

March 7th: "General General Huaiyan and we are not related, why should he give us things?"

General Huaiyan: "Hahaha, although not related, you are the distinguished guests of the Luofu Xianzhou Alliance."

General Huaiyan: "Giving a treasure sword as a gift is not excessive."

General Huaiyan: "Just little friend, can you use sword skills?"

General Huaiyan: "If you can't, even if this treasure sword is at the divine weapon level, in your hands, it won't be able to exert more power than your baseball bat."

Stelle: "Ah this... isn't a treasure sword just for chopping and stabbing?"

Stelle: "Still have to practice..."

Stelle: "Then I don't want the treasure sword, Old Yan, give me another baseball bat!"

Stelle: "This thing is handy to swing, when the time comes, double bats will come out, I guarantee I can beat the enemy to howl!"

Silver Wolf: "Tsk, what kind of style is this?"

Silver Wolf: "Everyone is double sword style, double knife style, you play double bat style?"

Miss Qingque: "Hey, you don't say, Stelle might be able to become the founding ancestor of double bat style?"

March 7th: "Forget it, which normal person would learn double bat style?"

March 7th: "Double sword style is cooler, right?"

Stelle: "What's the use of being cool?"

Stelle: "Being able to beat the opponent to howl is the real skill!"

General Feixiao: "Good, well said!"

General Feixiao: "You said this... I like it!"

General Feixiao: "The so-called eighteen martial arts are just killing skills."

General Feixiao: "If you pursue fancy things, you are putting the cart before the horse."

Stelle: "Oh my, General General Feixiao is really a fellow traveler!"

Stelle: "Can you teach me a few awesome bat techniques when you have time?"

Stelle: "Oh right, I also want to learn marksmanship, and hat techniques,"

General Feixiao: "Small meaning, when you come to the Yaoqing Luofu Xianzhou, feel free to find me."

General Feixiao: "But this hat technique... hey, I really haven't studied it, you have to wait for me to buy a hat and practice."

Seeing Jiaoqiu: "..."

Seeing Jiaoqiu: "Is it really appropriate to use a hat as a weapon?"

Hearing Moze: "How would you know if you don't try?"

Hearing Moze: "Don't you also use a fan as a weapon?"

Seeing Jiaoqiu: "A fan can fan the flames, can it be the same as a hat?"

Hearing Moze: "I can also fan the fire with a hat."

Seeing Jiaoqiu: "..."

The video continues.

Jade and Topaz look at each other,

and sit down opposite old Oti one after another.

【Whoa ho ho ho!】

【Welcome, welcome two ladies aboard!】

【Blame me for not taking good care of you, making you wait outside for a long time, right?】

After Topaz and Jade sit down,

old Oti starts to say polite words.

【Not at all, Mr. Oti.】

【It is our honor to see you.】

【You may not know, "The Biography of Oti Alfalfa" is a must-read book for employees of the Strategic Investment Department after joining.】

Stelle: "Must-read book for company employees?"

Stelle: "March, buy me a copy when you have time, I want to appreciate it."

March 7th: "Appreciate this?"

March 7th: "You don't do any business, what's the use of reading this?"

Stelle: "Naturally, it's for emergencies!"

Aventurine: "Heh, books are dead, people are alive."

Aventurine: "If you read this, you might as well learn two tricks from Topaz."

Stelle: "That's right!"

Stelle: "Topaz, teach me two unique secrets of doing business!"

Stelle: "So I won't be pitted in the future!"

Topaz: "Can, this is no problem."

Furina: "It seems that this old Oti is indeed a legendary tycoon."

Fu Xuan: "Even Lady Jade is being so polite to him."

Miss Qingque: "Tsk, tsk, tsk. There's a saying: courtesy first, force later!"

Miss Qingque: "I'm guessing Lady Jade is employing that exact strategy right now, isn't she?"

Miss Sushang: "Got it!"

Miss Sushang: "Lady Jade must be thinking: 'If this old geezer is sensible, fine. If not, don't blame me for being ruthless. Heh heh heh!'"

Guinaifen: "Shangshang, did you stay up all night reading adventure novels again?"

Guinaifen: "That sounds exactly like something a villain would say, doesn't it?"

Jade: "Heh heh heh... although that wasn't very elegant."

Jade: "It does, however, align with my mindset."

Topaz: "Don't let Old Odi's smiling face fool you; he's no pushover."

Topaz: "Following Lady Jade's three-step negotiation method, we'll play along with him for now and see what he has to say."

Boothill: "Son of a biscuit, negotiations are such a pain!"

Boothill: "Turns out the 'gun-to-the-head' negotiation method is the one that suits me best!"

Stelle: "Looks like you're a kindred spirit of mine!"

The video continues.

【After all, in the eyes of many, you are a legendary figure who single-handedly propped up the economic system of Penacony.】

As Jade finished speaking,

Topaz added a compliment of her own.

【Ho ho ho! As expected of the IPC's Stonehearts, you two truly understand the art of conversation.】

【Old Odi loves chatting with smart people; we can skip the games and superficial pleasantries and get straight to the point!】

【Since you've been invited aboard my ship as IPC representatives, you two can probably guess the topic I wish to discuss, right?】

Old Odi said with a smile.

【The future of Penacony—if I'm not mistaken, that is what you wish to discuss.】

Jade replied, also smiling.

【Ho ho ho, exactly, you hit the nail on the head!】

【Those few simple words involve interests that are tangled and complex!】

【Take that blond kid who didn't show up as an example; he went through all that trouble and nearly lost his life. What was it all for?】

Hu Tao: "Blond... blond kid??"

Hu Tao: "Pfft, Mr. Aventurine has inexplicably gained another nickname!"

Aventurine: "I am a member of the Stonehearts, at least."

Aventurine: "What right does this Old Odi have to disrespect me?"

Dr. Ratio: "Hilarious. Do you not have a clue yourself?"

Dr. Ratio: "You are holding Penacony's leverage in your hands."

Dr. Ratio: "Do you really think he'd look at you favorably?"

Stelle: "How bold, to dare disrespect the mysterious Aventurine!"

Stelle: "This Old Odi has already invited his own demise!"

March 7th: "Hey, Stelle, you've been reading too many Luofu Xianzhou adventure novels, haven't you?"

Furina: "Speaking of which, isn't the person who truly propped up Penacony's economic system the Clockmaker, Mr. Mikhail?"

Hu Tao: "Mr. Mikhail was the founder, right?"

Hu Tao: "Without the story of the Clockmaker that he fabricated, there would have been no possibility for Penacony's economy to rise."

Xiangling: "This Old Odi must have made his fortune by standing in the right place at the right time back then."

Xiangling: "Come to think of it, he's essentially standing on the shoulders of giants."

Stelle: "With his short stature, isn't standing on the shoulders of giants the only way he could succeed? (Smirk. pg)"

The video continues.

【In the end, wasn't it just to create an opportunity for the IPC, giving you a reason to retake this piece of fat meat, Asdana?】

【Ho ho ho...】

After Old Odi finished speaking,

he let out a cold, soft laugh.

【The wisdom and experience accumulated over ten Amber Eras of navigating the business world—truly well-deserved.】

【Assuming your guess is true, Mr. Odi—how do you intend to respond to this move by the IPC?】

Paimon: "Navigating the business world... for ten Amber Eras?!"

Paimon: "Turns out we underestimated him before?"

Lumine: "By that count... this Old Odi is at least over a thousand years old."

Lumine: "Hmm... he's certainly not easy to deal with."

Stelle: "The IPC has leverage now. I think no matter how shrewd this Old Odi is, he can't make a comeback."

March 7th: "Although I think so too, can someone who has navigated the business world for ten Amber Eras really lack the ability to break this deadlock?"

The video continues.

【I admire your composure, Lady Jade!】

【You must have seen a lot of the world.】

【But your understanding of Penacony is not deep enough... Ho ho ho... Facing a greedy wolf drooling over its prey, I, Old Odi, do not intend to sit and wait for death.】

After Old Odi finished this sentence,

the scene fell into a brief silence.

【Well, I have no intention of interrupting... Please, continue.】

Jade said with a calm expression.

【Ho ho ho... Then I shall get straight to the point.】

【Meeting you two before the formal talks is to persuade the Strategic Investment Department to completely abandon its designs on Penacony.】

【If you retreat now while you still can, you will be able to exit with more dignity...】

【And it will save the IPC from losing face at the grand negotiation table.】

Stelle: "Good grief, what gives him such confidence?"

Stelle: "He's actually threatening the IPC directly?"

March 7th: "Feels like he's just bragging and bluffing."

March 7th: "The leverage is already in someone else's hands, yet he's still this arrogant. Is he in a rush to die?"

Furina: "Looks like he's deliberately putting on a tough front, trying to scare away the two IPC representatives, Miss Topaz and Lady Jade?"

Topaz: "Then he's looking down on us far too much."

Jade: "Hmm, he understands negotiation."

Jade: "Even while in a weak position, he has created an atmosphere where we are the ones at a disadvantage."

Jade: "It's just a pity that while this tactic might work on ordinary IPC employees, on us..."

Jade: "I can only say he's out of options."

Aventurine: "Trying to scare us away with a few words?"

Aventurine: "Then who is going to compensate me for the knife I took?"

Aventurine: "He really is delusional."

Dr. Ratio: "He should be thankful that it was the Strategic Investment Department that came to negotiate with him."

Dr. Ratio: "If it had been those people from the Marketing Development Department..."

Dr. Ratio: "He might already be locked up in an IPC starship as a prisoner."

Paimon: "Uh... are the people from the Marketing Development Department that ruthless?"

Paimon: "They act just like villains."

Boothill: "Hey, miss, I think you can drop the 'just like'."

Boothill: "They're a bunch of people who will stop at nothing for profit; calling them villains is no exaggeration."

Boothill: "I have no doubt that if the Marketing Development Department had come, Penacony would have been bombed into ruins by starships by now."

Boothill: "At that point, that bastard Oswald would probably say that in order to eliminate the remnants of the Order, he had no choice but to use force."