"So, you’re threatening a strike because you’re not satisfied with the decision by the board?"
Before Helnord could challenge the duo, Vienna’s voice suddenly sounded in an inquisitive tone.
"It’s not exactly so, Miss Vienna. What I mean is that the decision affects the livelihood of-"
"Just give me a yes or no." Vienna cut him off.
"...Yes." Poch nodded after a bit of hesitation.
"I see. Do the rest of you share the same sentiments?" Vienna glanced at the ten or so vestige-smiths gathered behind the duo.
These vestige-smiths were all part of the Material manufacturing and Simulation & Testing departments.
They hesitated as anyone of them could see that Vienna’s mood didn’t seem right.
It was at this moment that another group approached the two sides.
"Orvel, what are you doing here?" Helnord’s expression turned dark.
Even a twelve year old could tell that Orvel’s timely arrival reeked of a conspiracy, but the problem was that the latter had lost the bet. Logically, he shouldn’t be able to make matters worse. But it was clear that they had underestimated him.
"I’m here in the interest of my fellow vestige-smiths. Anyone can tell that the matter of having an official vestige-smith sponsor affects the interest of all of us. As such, it would be problematic if I, as the head of designs, didn’t step up at this moment and show my support with my people."
Orvel righteously said as he patted his chest. However, everyone could tell that he was just blabbering, but that didn’t change the fact that he made a solid point.
"And what if nothing is done about it?" Vienna asked.
"Then, I’ll have to make a tough decision." Orvel’s expression turned serious as he stared at her.
At this point, Orvel was practically asking Vienna to choose between him and Lucas. But the stakes weren’t just that.
From two departments, it was now three departments threatening to go on a strike if the deal wasn’t rescinded.
Guilla, who had spoken earlier, had silently retreated behind at one point and had a smirk on his face. He was the informant during the meeting and the one that had notified Orvel and his group about the deal. However, his purpose for doing this wasn’t simply to just bring Lucas down.
Mr Jermaine and the other members of the board all thought that Guilla formed a faction of his own to rival Mr Jermaine and bring the latter down, but that wasn’t all. In fact, Guilla’s goal was more than just that; he wanted to replace Vienna as the chairman of the board.
The chairman of the board of directors oversaw not only the board but also the company’s executives. Although they were elected by the board, it was difficult to bring them down. Vienna was the chairwoman and having held seventh percent (70%) of the company’s shares in the past, overthrowing her was a dream since she held the most voting rights. However, her shares were recently cut down by more than half, and even though she still retained a superior position to the others, an idea was bred inside of Guilla’s mind; to replace her. But that was easier said than done.
In order to achieve this, Guilla needed to convince the others to side with him, take down Lucas and seize his shares, then challenge Vienna for the position. This was why he decided to team up with Orvel and his group. The latter would target Lucas and if Vienna constantly came to his aid, it would create a bad image for her in the company and even affect it.
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Take this scenario for instance. If Vienna was to side with Lucas, the three departments would go on strike The Nadir Underground League was still ongoing and with three valuable department on strike, their performance would be heavily affected. They might even drop down from eleventh place, with a slight possibility of getting relegated to the third tier. To further ensure their failure, there was even a hidden trump card Guilla was prepared to activate.
Once the team was relegated, no matter what backing Vienna had, she wouldn’t be able to save her position. Find exclusive stories on freewebnovel
’Now, what will you do, little miss?’ Guilla grinned.
"Miss..." Helnord glanced at Vienna.
Anyone could see that there was an underlying plot here, but until the true nature of this plot was revealed, it was best to not make any decision yet. As such, Helnord wanted to advise Vienna to think carefully, and if possible, pause the deal with Lucas until they got to the bottom of things.
However, before he even had the the chance to let out his thoughts, Vienna smiled.
"Okay."
"You made the right choice."
Orvel smiled.
"Indeed." Vienna nodded. "You can all vacate the premises. Forget about going on strike; you’re fired."
Orvel, Poch, Jovä and all the other vestige-smiths who worked alongside them from froze at the scene. No one expected Vienna to be so ruthless. There was no hesitation, consideration or whatever in her voice when she with her decision. To the spectators, this wasn’t the Vienna that they knew.
"Are you sure you want to do this? The season is already underway; firing us right now would greatly affect the team’s performance. Don’t you care about the team?" Orvel’s face had already gone dark, but he still wanted to receive confirmation from Vienna.
"Did I stutter?" Vienna’s eyes turned cold.
"The very second you let your greed take control, it was already clear to me what decision I needed to make. The team’s performance? Heh. You sound like you care about that, but here you are threatening me with mutiny if things don’t go your way. I’m starting to wonder who among the two of us doesn’t care about the team. Regardless, in my opinion, getting rid of you guys would be much better than retaining you."
"Miss, Vienna, please calm down."
Mr Jermaine stepped in. Even he felt that Vienna was going overboard.
The K1 drift racing league went on for three months with a total of thirteen races. The first two months had four races while the last had five races. It was already in the latter half of the second month. On the other hand, the NUL had ten races and went on for two and a half months. There was a race every week, but two in the last two weeks.
They were currently a month into the league with more time to go, which meant that their current position was not fixed; they could end in a better spot or worse. If Vienna was to axe out a lot of their vestige-smiths, there was a high chance that the team would end in a worse position at the end of the season. This was because finding suitable replacements so quickly would be difficult and require time. In that time, their performance might lag compared to the other top teams because repairs, modifications and so on were usually carried out on the racing shuttle before and after each race. And the department of design and energy headed this development alongside the on-site unit and the Vehicle manufacturing department.
"I’m very much calm. My decision is final. If there’s anyone else who wishes to join them, they can do so now."