Gu Xie Chen rose, immediately taking Ms. Mei’s hand. Gripping her clean, slightly cool palm firmly, Gu Xie Chen chuckled lightly, “This is also our honor. The Hadetai Company is eager to form the most reliable alliance with Kunlun. I wonder what Ms. Mei thinks?”

A slight smile touched Ms. Mei’s rigid face. She squeezed Gu Xie Chen’s hand tightly and said very seriously, “This is what we desire as well. Kunlun would be very happy to gain another ally.”

Count Chuckum’s eyes widened in astonishment, his gaze darting rapidly around. A scornful sneer soon spread across his face.

Jin Bolai glared angrily at the two holding hands, gritting his teeth so hard that he was violently twisting the corner of his own suit jacket beneath the conference table.

A fierce glint flashed in Burton and Hans’s eyes; instinctively, both men rested their hands on the holsters at their waists.

Ms. Mei paid no mind to the fleeting glances directed at her from the other four individuals. She spoke kindly to Gu Xie Chen, “This Exchange Conference will also determine the market share our six major defense corporations will occupy in various fields over the next five years, as well as the fate of certain key projects—for instance, the management rights for the Federal New Recruit Training Camps, the routine defense work for the five major Federal banks, the construction and protection of mining bases for the top ten Federal mining companies, security for the headquarters of the top one thousand Federal enterprises, and the close personal protection of important members of various powerful families, among others.”

The Bodhi and Maha brothers glanced at each other in shock. Bodhi’s left hand and Maha’s right hand rapidly shifted hand seals, tapping each other quickly. Streams of vital energy and death energy flowed between them, swirling like a Taiji diagram, slowly calming their agitated states.

The scope of the five major defense corporations’ operations was unimaginable to the Hell’s Angels Mercenary Group. While the mercenaries of the group were risking their lives to earn a meager living guarding transport convoys for those massive corporations, battling harsh natural environments like meteors, asteroids, and solar storms in the void, and constantly confronting potential raids by the Romans, these defense companies were securing countless lucrative assignments that carried extremely low risk.

“We are, at best, roving bandits,” Qiao Mo He muttered in awe, “but they are the chieftains carving up the spoils from a fixed position!”

Gu Xie Chen leaned toward Ms. Mei, the cigar dangling from his lips, and asked with a smile, “So this exchange meeting has that purpose? Do we divide territories based on strength? This sudden piece of news caught Gu Xie Chen slightly off guard. Compared to this crucial information, what did being shot by a sniper rifle matter?

Ms. Mei nodded seriously. She stated calmly, “These are the rules established by the Consortium. Since the War of ’93, all defense companies have adhered to this regulation. Every five years, the Exchange Conference determines the market share allocation in various Federal sectors for the subsequent five years based on the performance of our subordinates. The strong prevail!” Behind her, a lean girl with short hair stood up and handed a thick file to Siren, who stood beside Gu Xie Chen.

Siren took the file, flipped through it, and placed it before Gu Xie Chen. The document listed tens of thousands of defense applications available for allocation among the present defense companies over the next five years, and the projected profit for nearly every single one was staggeringly high. Gu Xie Chen briefly scanned the first entry, which detailed a defense mission: assisting the Federal Academy of Sciences in constructing a high-security laboratory complex on the Moon and perfecting its defense systems. The total investment for this single laboratory construction project was likely to exceed one hundred billion, with a profit margin for the defense company hovering around twelve percent. Gu Xie Chen let out a light sigh. He recalled the very first mission he undertook with the Hell’s Angels Mercenary Group—thousands of brothers fighting desperately against a Roman smuggling team in the dense jungle, yielding a profit of only one cubic meter of Zakla energy crystal. Yet, this defense mission required only dispatching a crack team of defense specialists to secure it—effortless and immensely profitable.

He placed both hands heavily on the file, and Gu Xie Chen exchanged glances with Jin Bolai and the others. His gaze was icy and permeated with malign intent. Jin Bolai and the others instinctively lowered their heads, unnerved by his near-tangible stare. Gu Xie Chen asked profoundly, “Very well, the issue with that corncob seems to have merely been entertainment for amusement. I want to ask: how is the market share divided at this Exchange Conference?” Everyone looked toward Jin Bolai simultaneously. Jin Bolai took a deep breath, suppressing the fear and panic that had bubbled up from meeting Gu Xie Chen’s eyes. He forced himself to speak in his most steady voice, “The usual rule: the five major defense companies first allocate a guaranteed minimum percentage for ourselves. The Consortium gets eight percent, the Kunlun Group gets seven percent, the Vinkter Group and the Leighton Group each get six percent, and the Alps Integrated Defense Company gets five percent.”

Colonel Burton rumbled, chiming in, “The remaining sixty-eight percent of the market share will be divided among all the subordinates we brought, forming sixty-eight small teams. Whichever company’s people win in that group will gain an additional one percent share. Based on the quality of combat records and winning rates, the company with the highest success rate will have priority in selecting missions from the remaining share.” Count Chuckum chuckled, “This year’s market share allocation conference has an extra sideshow. Whichever company has the lowest win rate must have all its top executives run laps around Easter Island wearing nothing but their birthday suits and holding a corncob between their cheeks. Mr. Evil Dragon’s proposal, I personally find very interesting—an Iron Man Decathlon? Too exciting!” Count Chuckum’s pale face flushed slightly, resembling the complexion of a man in a drunken stupor.

Slamming his hand down forcefully on the file before him, Gu Xie Chen said in a deep voice, “I heard there are also direct confrontations between the Operations Directors of the major companies?”

Colonel Hans burst into loud laughter, “That is indeed a sideshow, entirely unrelated to the market share allocation. The direct combat among the Operations Directors of our major defense companies is just for friendly wagers, something for us to enjoy amongst ourselves. At the last Exchange Conference, Mr. Lin Kefeng of the Kunlun Group swept up five billion in betting money and two hundred million shares in two medium-sized mining companies.”

Bodhi and Maha sucked in a sharp breath—the confrontation among the Operations Directors was a veritable pot of gold of such immense scale!

Gu Xie Chen’s expression remained immovably cold as he sneered faintly. He stated dryly, “Such small figures are not interesting enough to bet with!”

The faces of the Bodhi and Maha brothers immediately lit up with a flush of red. Gu Xie Chen’s words struck a chord deep within them. The Hadetai Company now was not the desperate mercenary group struggling for scraps they once were. Their gains on Paradise Star alone were enough to place the Hadetai Company among the top two hundred corporations in the Federation.

If the ten percent mining rights on Paradise Star were added, the strength of the Hadetai Company would be sufficient to rank them among the top twenty giant corporate groups in the Federation. What did a mere ten billion in stakes even count as?

“Small figures? Not interesting?”

Count Chuckum and Jin Bolai’s eyes suddenly lit up.

Gu Xie Chen casually propped both legs up on the conference table, utterly unconcerned that such an improper posture caused the faces of Jin Bolai and the others to twitch.

He exhaled a thick plume of smoke, flicked the ash from his cigar onto the mirror-smooth floor of the conference room, and sneered, “However, before we discuss the wagers, we must first discuss the guaranteed minimum share for our Hadetai Company at the Exchange Conference. To give the Consortium face, the Hadetai Company will only ask for a seven percent guaranteed minimum share. Then, the six of us will compete for the remaining sixty-one percent of the market share. What do you think?”

Another dead silence fell over the conference hall. After a long pause, Colonel Hans finally let out a cold, chilling laugh, leaning forward and back until he was shaking. The steel-wire muscles on his lean body swelled, lending a touch of ferocity to his face. Colonel Hans looked mockingly at Gu Xie Chen and sneered, “Your Hadetai Company only managed to win the Paradise Star lottery ticket by sheer luck, and luckily obtained the Federal Defense Company approval. What strength, what foundation do you possess to demand a seven percent guaranteed minimum share?”

Jin Bolai, Burton, and Chuckum also looked at Gu Xie Chen with cold, continuous laughter. The guaranteed percentage share for the five-yearly Exchange Conference was a rational proportion that the five major defense companies had painstakingly determined through nearly a century of competition and clandestine struggles, based on their overall corporate strength. The Hadetai Company had only been established for less than three months, yet they were demanding a guaranteed share equal to that of the Kunlun Company—this was not even worth a laugh.

Jin Bolai looked coldly at Gu Xie Chen and said quietly, “According to our prior arrangement, the guaranteed market share for the Hadetai Company is one percent…”

“This signifies our five major defense companies’ respect for Federal legality. After all, you have secured the official defense company approval. Therefore, this shall serve as a gift from our five companies to the behind-the-scenes shareholders of the Hadetai Company.”

Gu Xie Chen looked at Jin Bolai, and Jin Bolai looked back at Gu Xie Chen.

So you think we obtained the defense company approval because of those so-called behind-the-scenes shareholders? Gu Xie Chen shook his head. The Hadetai Company truly had no such shareholders. If one had to be named, the Corpse Emperor would be the largest hidden shareholder of the Hadetai Company, but would he care for the worldly wealth and benefits of this secular realm? What use did an old zombie have for money?

Strictly speaking, the Corpse Emperor was the most harmless member of the Great Sacrificial Priests of the Evil Path in the Asian Dao Alliance. This old zombie had likely forgotten even the most basic functions of a man; perhaps he had truly reached the highest state of Zen practice, where the mind is like still water, devoid of desire or need.

Count Chuckum sneered, “One percent of the market share is the greatest concession we can make.”

Colonel Burton said grimly, “Alternatively, the Hadetai Company can choose not to participate in the commercial alliance of our five major defense companies. You can use your own influence to pull in projects.”

“……………Emerging forces must always be struck down…”