Chapter 294 : Negotiation
Chapter 294: Negotiation
President's Office, Stingray Entertainment.
“23.4% in total...”
“M-My apologies, President.”
“Wasn't it you who said leaking the news that my brother's contract with Technomodules had been terminated would give us an advantage in buying shares? You said we could secure as much as 25%. I thought we'd at least surpass 24%.”
“I-I have no excuse.”
“You know better than I do just how much money it took to gain a mere one percent.”
“......”
Under Kalia's relentless questioning, her economic advisor lowered his head deeply, his face deathly pale.
Just as Kalia had said, the difference between 25% and 23.4% was like the difference between heaven and earth.
A mere 1.6%.
Yet its value amounted to tens of billions of Credits.
That was simply how numbers worked.
Just as a spacecraft launched from Earth toward the moon would end up at an entirely different destination if its trajectory were off by only 0.01 degrees.
Just as corporations and banks agonized over a mere 0.1% interest rate increase announced by the City Government.
To Kalia, that 1.6% difference determined whether or not she could obtain one more weapon upon which her very survival depended.
Fortunately, she had already comfortably exceeded her original target of 20%.
That was why she was only offering relatively mild criticism.
Had they still been struggling to even reach 20%, she would have replaced her economic advisor today without hesitation.
“...Sigh. Still, I'm sure you've prepared some excuses.”
Leaning deeply into her chair, Kalia looked toward her economic advisor once more.
As the distinctive golden eyes of the Stingray family settled upon him, he felt like a rabbit standing before a predator.
Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he answered,
“O-Of course. There are two reasons.”
“Then let's hear them.”
“First, neither Chairman Aaron Stingray nor Chairman Drake Stingray made any response whatsoever.”
“At present, nearly every media outlet is closely following the Stingray family's battle for management control.”
“Most experts predicted that the stock price would temporarily surge during the competition between the two of you before falling again after management was reshuffled at the Shareholders' Meeting two weeks from now.”
“And?”
“However, because neither Chairman Drake Stingray nor Chairman Aaron Stingray responded in any way, more and more people have begun viewing you as the virtually confirmed next Chairman.”
“At the same time, others are expecting Chairman Aaron Stingray to make his move soon.”
Those who believed the succession battle had already ended concluded that the group's instability had disappeared and that it remained a highly valuable investment.
Meanwhile, those who believed Aaron simply had yet to act expected the siblings to clash spectacularly before long, sending the stock price soaring even higher.
Their reasoning differed.
But in the end, everyone reached the same conclusion.
'The stock is going to rise sooner or later.'
As a result, the stock price remained firmly supported.
“So from the outside, we look like a peaceful family.”
“You could put it that way.”
“I never expected my brother's complete lack of response would produce this kind of outcome.”
“Tsk.”
Kalia clicked her tongue.
Ironically, the very thing she had once considered fortunate had now cost her tens of billions of Credits.
“And the second reason?”
“The second reason is...”
“I believe a force has become involved.”
A force.
Ordinarily, the word referred to political power or influence.
Within the stock market, however, it carried a different meaning.
It referred to an individual or group possessing sufficient capital and influence to manipulate stock prices through trading.
Such groups frequently became the subject of market manipulation investigations.
In other words...
Someone was deliberately playing games with the stock price using enormous amounts of money.
Naturally, from Kalia's perspective, someone fighting for management control, such a force was nothing short of an eyesore.
“What?”
“Who would dare...!”
“We're still investigating.”
“But it appears several newly established investment firms have become involved.”
“However, after digging deeper, they all appear to be shell companies used for money laundering.”
“Money laundering?”
“Wait... then that means...”
“Judging by their methods, there's a possibility the Mafia is involved.”
“I've heard the underworld's ecosystem has changed considerably recently.”
“......”
At that moment, someone from several months ago surfaced in Kalia's mind.
Her brow immediately furrowed.
“P-President?”
“What's wrong?”
“No.”
“I think I understand the situation now.”
“I'll handle that matter personally.”
“So don't concern yourself with it.”
“But...”
“I said I'll handle it.”
Kalia cut him off sharply.
She gestured for her economic advisor to leave.
Then she immediately contacted her secretary.
“I need to meet my brother.”
“Immediately.”
Several hours later.
Despite the countless failed attempts to contact him over the past few months...
Aaron readily accepted Kalia's request today.
For Kalia, who had even resorted to a slight show of force as a last resort, the timing couldn't have been more complicated.
Under the pretense of a sibling dinner, the two reserved an entire restaurant for themselves.
Expensive dishes and fine wines rested elegantly upon the white tablecloth, as though begging to be eaten.
Yet Kalia paid them no attention whatsoever.
She looked only at Aaron's face as she spoke.
“So...”
“You finally agreed to see me.”
“I happened to have time today.”
“Please don't lie.”
Kalia replied with a somewhat sharper tone.
Her fear of Aaron had certainly not disappeared.
However...
She now possessed something she could rely upon.
That was also why she had staged that small demonstration of force the last time.
“You decided this was the right moment.”
“I have no idea what you're talking about.”
“The pieces fit together naturally.”
“I finally understood why, setting Father aside, you never made a single move.”
“And why you disappeared from work while the gangs of the E Sector underworld were fighting one another.”
“Did you have someone following me?”
“No.”
“A high-level Adaptee like you couldn't be tracked unless Father dispatched his personal ninja unit.”
“So naturally, I have no evidence.”
“This is merely my own deduction.”
Kalia took a deep breath before continuing.
“You were the one supporting Kim Cheolsu's faction from behind several months ago.”
“That 'Dragon' those scum kept searching for... it was actually you.”
“You stood beside Kim Cheolsu, lending him your strength and helping his faction grow.”
“As a result, the war ended with Kim Cheolsu's faction victorious.”
“And he became the King of the Underworld.”
“You seem remarkably well informed about affairs over there.”
“Stop pretending.”
Kalia pressed even harder.
“You were definitely involved.”
“Otherwise, there is no way the Organizational Alliance, armed with the Nanomachines and modules I provided them, could have been crushed so helplessly by Kim Cheolsu's faction.”
“And naturally, you must also know that I maintained contact with them for a short while.”
“I wonder.”
“I don't know.”
“Though if my younger sister has withdrawn from dangerous activities, then I'm simply relieved.”
“......You're controlling Kim Cheolsu's faction from the shadows as well.”
“So you can't use what I did against me.”
“The score is one to one.”
Aaron calmly continued cutting his steak without the slightest reaction.
Kalia continued speaking.
“So don't think about trying to shake me.”
“I figured out long ago that you're manipulating Stingray stock using Mafia black money.”
“I could cooperate with the government and have you subjected to a tax investigation immediately.”
“How amusing.”
Setting his knife down upon the table, Aaron asked,
“So...”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to acknowledge my victory.”
Kalia declared proudly.
“Do not interfere with me becoming the next Chairman.”
“You've become rather bold, Kalia.”
“I have something to rely on.”
“More importantly, I currently possess twenty-three percent of the shares.”
“I earned this victory ticket through fair and honorable means.”
“Father will surely acknowledge it as well.”
“And once that happens...”
“No matter who you are...”
“Kalia.”
Aaron interrupted her.
“I'll say it again.”
“Do as you wish.”
“......Do you truly mean that?”
“Yes.”
“My conditions are only two.”
“First, allow me to continue serving as Chairman of the Foundation for the next four years.”
“Second, do not harm the people currently under my care.”
“No.”
“I can't agree.”
Kalia immediately shook her head.
“The Stingray Foundation, where you currently serve, occupies an incredibly important position within the entire group.”
“If you wished, you could influence personnel appointments throughout every subsidiary.”
“And you're asking me to leave that untouched for four years?”
“It's only four years.”
“An entire four years!”
“Do you have any idea how many employees enter the group through the Foundation during those four years?”
“How many?”
“Dozens?”
“No.”
“Far more than ten thousand.”
“And if we include all the students who've passed through your hands while you served as Chairman, the number becomes even greater.”
“......”
“Even if you truly have no such intentions, you need to recognize the risk.”
“Twenty or thirty years from now...”
“The employees who graduated through the Foundation under your leadership will occupy key positions throughout every subsidiary.”
“What am I supposed to do if they all rebel against me at once?”
“That's paranoia.”
“Don't call it paranoia.”
“It's reality.”
Kalia firmly drew the line.
“I cannot trust you.”
“But this one time...”
“I can choose to trust your words.”
“On one condition.”
“Step down as Chairman.”
“And never again attempt to exert influence within the group.”
“If you do that...”
“I'll make sure you're well taken care of.”
“Kalia.”
“You're too greedy.”
Aaron let out a sigh.
“Excessive greed invites disaster.”
“It's not greed.”
“I'm simply being cautious.”
“I'm making a careful plea.”
“And even if it is greed...”
“What's wrong with being greedy?”
“I'll repeat myself.”
“That is the furthest I am willing to compromise.”
“Otherwise...”
“I'll have no choice but to use my own methods.”
“W-What are you planning?”
“Don't worry.”
“This time, I have no intention of using force.”
“No matter who I am...”
“I don't particularly feel like fighting every Adaptee in the entire city with a weapon.”
“......!”
Kalia was inwardly horrified.
He hadn't said it was impossible.
He had merely said he didn't feel like doing it.
“Then?”
“Two weeks until the Shareholders' Meeting, was it?”
“Accept my proposal before then.”
Having said that, Aaron rose from his seat before even finishing his meal.
The negotiations had ultimately broken down.
Biting her lip, Kalia muttered,
“It's... it's fine.”
“There's nothing my brother can do now...!”
And then...
The following day.
Stingray's stock began to fluctuate violently.