About... Aurum Alley?
Xiaohan's expression grew a shade more serious. The company had given him a mission. As the Interastral Peace Corporation's commercial representative stationed in the Luofu's Exalting Sanctum, he needed to acquire a starport for the company.
A large-scale starport, big enough to handle the company's trade volume and provide a staging ground for the company's future commercial development on the Xianzhou [Luofu].
And Aurum Alley was precisely the best target identified by his colleagues in the IPC's Market Development Department, a decision he and another company representative, Scott, had jointly affirmed.
Although Aurum Alley's starport had fallen into near-total disuse due to the Merchant's Guild's mismanagement, its commercial potential was not completely lost.
Aurum Alley was situated deep within the Exalting Sanctum, yet close to the Luofu's border. Its geographical location was nothing short of superb.
On the Xianzhou [Luofu], despite its countless grotto-heavens and vast territory, with numerous commercial centers scattered across different prosperous domains, and even with the main vessel's commerce split between the Starskiff Haven Central Hub and the Exalting Sanctum, no one could deny the importance of the Exalting Sanctum to the [Luofu].
The Exalting Sanctum was the most important commercial center on the Xianzhou [Luofu]... bar none.
The IPC's branch on the Luofu was located in a luxurious area of the Exalting Sanctum. If they could acquire Aurum Alley and transform it into a starport dedicated to trade between the company and the [Luofu], the IPC could eliminate the vast majority of its shipping costs, allowing it to trade with the [Luofu] at near-cost prices.
And the Luofu, as the flagship of the Xianzhou Alliance, was the Alliance's most prosperous trade hub.
Even though the IPC had already established a foothold on the Xianzhou [Yaoqing] and practically controlled its trade market, they still believed that if they could open up broad trade with the Luofu, the profits they could reap would far exceed those from the [Yaoqing].
Acquiring Aurum Alley as a starport was an essential part of their plan. Even if they ultimately failed to secure the alley, they would still have to find an alternative location to bid for and contract. The Interastral Peace Corporation needed a starport, and right now, Aurum Alley was the best target.
However... this target had only just been evaluated and proposed by the Market Development Department. It had been approved by him and Scott just this morning.
After work, Xiaohan had only intended to head home for a look. He never expected that just moments after returning to his family's shop in Aurum Alley, Ron would show up, calling him by name, wanting to complete a big business deal concerning Aurum Alley.
Did someone leak the company's plan?
A thousand thoughts raced through Xiaohan's mind. He suspected a colleague from the Market Development Department had leaked the information, but then he remembered that the evaluation was completed by colleagues at the head office. Colleagues all the way at the Pier Point megastructure would have no incentive to leak information to the Luofu; there was no profit in it for them.
Could it be the other company representative? Although Scott had always acted high and mighty because of his company status, he was from Pier Point, a high-level employee dispatched from headquarters. His only loyalty was to the Amber Lord.
For the sake of building the IPC's commercial empire, he would do anything.
A leak of commercial secrets might happen with Xiaohan himself, but it was absolutely impossible for it to happen with Scott.
His mind raced, dismissing one possibility after another. He looked at Ron's faint smile and pushed his suspicions deep down.
He wiped the gravity from his face, his expression as warm and unchanged as ever.
He looked at Ron, a trace of vigilance in his eyes, but his tone remained gentle as he probed:
"The shops in Aurum Alley are numerous, and the business that can be done here is quite varied…"
He spoke as if he knew nothing of the company's business plans for the Luofu, trying to steer the conversation in another direction.
"Could it be that you, sir, have taken a fancy to our Xiaohan family's shop? It's a pity. Although this shop has never been very popular, it is a place my father tended to for half his life…"
"I have indeed taken a fancy to the Xiaohan family's shop… but I'm looking at it on your behalf."
Ron didn't fall for Xiaohan's misdirection at all, bluntly puncturing his facade.
"Not just the Xiaohan family's shop, but the land deeds for the entire Aurum Alley—the company wants to take this place to be a starport on par with Cloudford, so naturally, you need to acquire all the businesses."
"Relying on Aurum Alley's current small port is not enough to dock the company's large starships."
Hearing Ron's words, Xiaohan fell silent for a long time. It was unclear whether he was internally replaying who could have leaked the news or contemplating what Ron truly wanted.
After a moment, he suddenly asked:
"I have no intention of analyzing how you, sir, learned of our bidding plan… but since you have come before me, we should at least discuss the matter of Aurum Alley."
"May I know which shops' land deeds you hold, sir? If you are willing to part with them, the company will not be stingy and will certainly provide you with sufficient compensation…"
"I don't have any land deeds."
But Ron shook his head, cutting Xiaohan off.
"I'm here to find you because I want you to contract me for the Aurum Alley bidding… To buy out all the numerous shops in Aurum Alley and give their owners enough severance pay, you'd need at least a hundred thousand strales, correct?"
"And to bid for this plot of land from the Sky-Faring Commission, you'd need close to another hundred thousand strales. Give me three hundred thousand, and I will help the company take Aurum Alley, and there will be absolutely no loose ends."
"Three hundred thousand strales?"
Xiaohan's previously warm expression instantly turned cold. Although the Xianzhou Alliance had long digitized strales from a physical currency, they had never closed the channel for converting digital strales back into physical currency.
As a currency minted from pure precious metals, the value of a strale was extremely stable. Its conversion rate to credits, a deliberately devalued currency, was almost ten thousand to one.
A whole three hundred billion credits. How could this person have the gall to ask for so much money in one go?
Although headquarters had indeed allocated over three hundred billion for this operation, the current state of Aurum Alley was very delicate. The inaction of the Merchant's Guild had already led the shop owners to prepare to find other ventures. Although there were always some who were reluctant to part with this little alley that held so much memory, life would always wear them down.
A compensation price that would satisfy them was nowhere near one hundred thousand strales, and including the bidding funds, the total would be far from three hundred thousand—this was almost a third over budget.
Did he really think the company was full of rich fools?
A trace of dissatisfaction with Ron grew in Xiaohan's heart, but this dissatisfaction did not show on his face. His smile just seemed a little less natural as he said tactfully:
"My apologies, sir, but the company currently has no plans to outsource its bidding operations…"
"There will be… and if there aren't, there will be."
A faint, subtle smile played on Ron's lips. "In half a month, if the young master has a need to outsource, you can come find me at the Luofu's Divination Commission…"
With that, he turned and left briskly.
"I am Ron. Remember to find me after work hours. I am not available during work hours."
The scene on the screen faded, and a new line of text appeared:
[You attempted to get the necessary funds from the company's commercial representative at the very beginning, but because your asking price was too high, the representative rejected you without hesitation.]
---o---
Looking at the scene and text on the screen, Ron couldn't help but sigh with a bit of resignation, but he had already expected this.
The compensation he asked for was indeed a bit high. Although the company had definitely allocated funds far exceeding this amount, he had no credibility and couldn't gain Xiaohan's trust. Naturally, there was no way to get the money from him.
Frankly, Ron didn't actually need this money. After all, money in a simulation was meaningless to him. He could have just offered to help the company for free, using various means to take down Aurum Alley, "destroying" the place completely to achieve his goal.
But who told him his moral bottom line was so high?
Although Ron had already decided to walk the Path of [Destruction] in this simulation, he knew that regardless of the objective, "destruction" would inevitably bring disaster to others.
While "destroying" Aurum Alley was the gentlest way to practice [Destruction], one that didn't even involve bloodshed, that didn't mean no one would have to make a sacrifice after Aurum Alley was "destroyed."
The people of the Xianzhou would lose the snack street of their memories, and the shop owners of Aurum Alley would lose their original livelihoods and their shops. These people, with direct ties to Aurum Alley, were the most direct, innocent victims of Ron's "destruction."
Even if this was just a simulation, Ron still hoped to give these shop owners who would lose their stores more compensation—
At the very least, enough for them to start a new life with this compensation, so that they wouldn't completely lose their means of survival just because they lost their shops, without even the capital to start anew.
That was why Ron wanted to get more funds from the company: so that after "destroying" Aurum Alley, he could provide the victims with ample compensation.
To bring about "new life" after the "destruction."
Although Nanook of [The Destruction] himself didn't care about the concept of new life emerging from the embers after the destruction of all things, that didn't mean this concept wasn't engraved upon the Path of [Destruction].
If he could complete such a destruction of a "civilization" and also bring new life to the survivors of that "civilization," Ron felt that his one-hundred-point Path Progression for [Destruction] would probably jump by seventy or eighty points upon completion.
After all, this was a "destruction" that completely aligned with all the concepts of the Path of [Destruction], a true completion of the cycle from the destruction of a civilization to its rebirth.
But right now, Xiaohan didn't trust him. He could only proceed with his original plan, a warning shot to show Xiaohan that without him, taking Aurum Alley was impossible.
With this thought, Ron clicked on the simulation screen, letting the simulation proceed according to his plan.
The text on the screen faded and was replaced by new lines:
[You leave the Synchrony Guild, but you do not leave Aurum Alley immediately.]
[You find the Aurum Alley Merchant's Guild and, under the banner of the Divination Commission and the Sky-Faring Commission, you bring them "commercial aid," telling them that Heron Express has decided to develop in Aurum Alley and can provide logistics services to the shops in the alley at an extremely low price. This is a support agreement that you, as a diviner of the Divination Commission, managed to secure from Heron Express with great difficulty.]
[The long-declining Aurum Alley Merchant's Guild naturally wouldn't pass up such a good opportunity. They immediately entered into detailed negotiations with you. The president of the Merchant's Guild personally negotiated with you and finally decided to sign a letter of intent for cooperation with Heron Express.]
[You then leave Aurum Alley with brisk steps, carrying the letter of intent, and once again enter the headquarters of Heron Express.]
[You inform the upper management of Heron Express that the shops of Aurum Alley are thriving, and that you have persuaded these old-brand shops to try out delivery services. This is a great opportunity for Heron Express to expand its logistics map.]
[You have already persuaded Aurum Alley for them. Heron Express's costs are already low; they shouldn't pass up this opportunity.]
[After extremely detailed consideration, the upper management of Heron Express agrees to your proposal and signs a letter of intent for cooperation with Aurum Alley.]
[Heron Express's logistics skiffs, under your detailed plan, begin flying in Aurum Alley. The stubborn merchants, under the influence of your status as a diviner and so-called "trigrams," decide to try offering delivery services.]
[The cooperation between Heron Express and these old-brand shops yields considerable results. Many people are reminded of this old street from their childhood memories.]
[As time passes, Aurum Alley gradually begins to revive...]
[Half a month later, as you are leaving the Divination Commission after work, you see a formally dressed and solemn-faced Xiaohan.]
The text on the screen faded, and a new scene appeared:
Standing before the main gate of the Divination Commission, a helpless-looking Xiaohan looked at Ron, a bitter smile on his lips.
"You were right. The company does have a need for outsourcing…"
"Let's talk about the deal we didn't finish… Three hundred thousand strales can be paid now. What do you think, Sir Ron?"
But Ron just smiled at him and said calmly:
"We can talk business. I am still willing to cooperate with the company."
"However, half a month has passed, and because of market fluctuations, I have to adjust my expectations slightly…"
He curled his lips into a smile and said apologetically:
"Sorry, the price just went up."