Chapter 231: Chapter 185: The Pinnacle Summit
Lin Qi stared intently at Liu Xuan. Her facial expression didn’t change, but the blue light from her prosthetic left eye flickered continuously, its brightness fluctuating.
This made it hard for Lin Qi to figure out what Liu Xuan was thinking.
Liu Xuan continued, "The summit’s agenda hasn’t been officially released yet, but the Big Business Alliance is already pressuring the Liu Clan. They’ve proposed the formation of an ’Extraordinary Materials Supply Committee.’ The Big Business Alliance wants to take control of the supply chain of Extraordinary Materials for all Prosthetic Body companies, and the Liu Clan is in no position to refuse their demand."
"Liu’s Heavy Industries has given me a direct order: I must attend the summit and negotiate as best I can. Otherwise, the founding of United Pharmaceutical will have been for nothing."
"I’ve already decided. You will represent United Pharmaceutical as an A-level Researcher and accompany me to Alliance City for the summit. Pack your things after work today. We leave tomorrow."
Liu Xuan didn’t really need to tell Lin Qi so much, but for reasons she herself might not have understood, she explained the whole situation to him.
Of course, Lin Qi was in no position to refuse. As a company employee, he had to accept the arrangements the company made for his work.
Unless Lin Qi wanted to run for it and become unregistered in the Cyber World.
Besides, after everything Liu Xuan had said, Lin Qi had no intention of refusing anyway.
’Perfect. A trip to Alliance City might be a good chance to see if I can participate in any Mercenary Corps missions there.’
’As for safety in Alliance City?’
’It should be much safer than Greenfield City was, at least.’
’No matter how long the Round Table Conference’s reach is, it wouldn’t extend to Alliance City in the Asian Administrative Region. This is the home turf of the Asian Big Business Alliance, after all.’
’Besides, once I’m in Alliance City, I’ll have one more ace up my sleeve than I did in Greenfield City.’
’Member Number Three of the Highest-Level Mercenary Corps: Capitalist.’
’He’s stationed in Alliance City year-round and is suspected to be a high-ranking member of the Big Business Alliance.’
’If I run into a real crisis in Alliance City, I can call for help from within the Mercenary Corps.’
’There’s a risk of exposing my identity, but at least I’d save my life.’
"Okay, I understand."
Lin Qi nodded.
Liu Xuan kept her eyes on Lin Qi and instructed, "Meet me in the living room tomorrow. We’ll leave together."
The sentence sounded a bit strange, but Lin Qi nodded anyway.
Living with the Chairman was something Lin Qi had accepted mentally, but he still hadn’t completely adapted or gotten used to it.
As he walked out of Liu Xuan’s office, Lin Qi was still thinking about the summit.
’Liu Weicai might know something. Liu Xuan told me the gist of it, but maybe not the full details. I can go ask Liu Weicai.’
Thinking this, Lin Qi stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the thirteenth floor.
After arriving on the thirteenth floor, Lin Qi went straight to Liu Weicai’s office.
At the door, he entered an access request into the company system. Liu Weicai quickly confirmed it and opened the office door.
"Lin Qi? What’s up? You needed to see me?"
Liu Weicai was flipping through a stack of files from the Pharmaceutical Department and seemed surprised to see Lin Qi appear at this moment.
’In other words, Liu Weicai doesn’t know that Liu Xuan summoned me.’
"Liu Xuan just saw me. She said she’s taking me to Alliance City tomorrow for the Asia Political Zone Advanced Pharmaceutical Enterprise Summit. I wanted to learn a bit more about it."
Lin Qi and Liu Weicai were old acquaintances by now, and Lin Qi knew his personality. There was no need to beat around the bush; if he had a question, he could just ask directly.
"The summit? Chairman Liu is having you go?"
Liu Weicai was stunned for a moment, then a smile spread across his face. "That’s actually pretty normal. After all, the relationship between you two... COUGH, COUGH. Right now, there are only three A-level Researchers in the company suitable for the summit: you, me, and Old Dong. Old Dong is too old to travel, and I’ve spent most of my energy on management over the years. My Pharmacy skills have gotten pretty rusty."
Lin Qi agreed with Liu Weicai’s explanation.
’Elder Dong’s skill level might be higher than mine, but when it comes to practical application, he’s really no match for me and my cheats.’
"But Liu Xuan said the summit’s agenda isn’t set yet, so I’m not sure what I should be preparing for."
Lin Qi was asking Liu Weicai for advice, while also probing for more information about the summit.
Liu Weicai did indeed know more than Lin Qi. Much of his information came from the Liu Clan’s internal channels.
Theoretically, he shouldn’t tell an outsider, but Lin Qi probably didn’t count as an outsider.
He was even more of an "insider" than Liu Weicai, a man who had the blood of the Liu Clan flowing through his veins.
"Did Chairman Liu mention the Si Clan to you?"
Liu Weicai first asked to find out how much Lin Qi already knew.
Lin Qi nodded and relayed what he had been told. "According to Liu Xuan, the Si Clan is the main driving force behind this summit. Their goal is to get a share of the Extraordinary Materials supply. The Si and Liu Families’ corporations had already split, but for some reason, the Big Business Alliance has chosen to help the Si Clan at this time."
This was what Liu Xuan had told Lin Qi.
But in reality, Lin Qi knew even more of the inside story.
For example, that a Tier Three Wizard from the Liu Family had died at the hands of the Si Clan.
And that the Si Clan had long been colluding with the European Big Business Alliance, planning to use Liu’s Heavy Industries as a pledge of allegiance.
But now, the Si Clan’s scheme had already failed. They should have become a common target for everyone.
The Asian Administrative Region’s Big Business Alliance had never been a charitable organization.
When the Liu Clan fell on hard times, the Alliance had only thought of carving up the profits.
Now the Si Clan was in an even more hopeless situation than the Liu Clan had been. Why would the Big Business Alliance offer a helping hand at a time like this?
