Chapter 262: Chapter 200: Capitalist: Wizard, Don’t Tell Me You’ve Come to Alliance City?
Ever since getting to know Lin Qi, his status in the Medical Small Business Alliance had been rising steadily.
If the summit didn’t threaten the survival of the small businesses, one could predict that Rotor Pharmaceutical’s development would enter the fast lane in the very near future.
While it might not break the one-billion mark in one go, doubling its valuation to over five hundred million shouldn’t be difficult.
Xiao Gu relayed Lin Qi’s reply to Yuan Hong.
Yuan Hong immediately said, "We’ve upgraded the venue again, spending over ten million Credit Points. Regardless of whether there’s new intelligence this time, just having Lin Qi attend gives our Small Business Alliance face. We can also use this opportunity to unite more small businesses, to band together for mutual protection and have a loud enough voice at the summit."
Perhaps this was the fundamental reason for the establishment of the Medical Small Business Alliance.
The small businesses had too little say and were completely unable to make themselves heard at the summit.
Only by uniting a sufficient number of small businesses could they, within the framework jointly established by the big businesses, gain enough influence to secure sufficient benefits for themselves.
Everything was for the survival of their businesses.
Xiao Gu nodded, agreeing with Yuan Hong’s view.
...
At nine o’clock, Lin Qi arrived at the venue on time, along with Brother Green Hair.
The venue was clearly much larger and more upscale than yesterday’s.
Even the food provided for the banquet was of much higher quality than yesterday’s; one could already see many expensive dishes.
The venues at the Alliance Mansion were expensive, but you got what you paid for.
Lin Qi saw Xiao Gu, and they exchanged a few simple words.
As they chatted, the conversation turned to the current number of members in the Medical Small Business Alliance.
Lin Qi spoke up, "Based on the current numbers, in terms of valuation and capital alone, it should be close to breaking fifty billion, right?"
Lin Qi’s words seemed to carry a hidden meaning.
Xiao Gu’s comprehension was sharp, and he knew what Lin Qi was getting at. "If all the small businesses here were to unite firmly," he said, "our combined capital might not match a single large corporation, but if we were to go head-to-head with one, we wouldn’t be afraid."
Xiao Gu was also gratified. He hadn’t expected this so-called Medical Small Business Alliance to grow to its current scale.
"Brother Xiao Gu, what do you think of United Pharmaceutical’s size?" Lin Qi’s words were again loaded with meaning.
Xiao Gu wasn’t sure what Lin Qi was planning, but he had a faint suspicion. Instead of answering directly, he asked, "Brother Lin Qi, could it be that you want United Pharmaceutical to join...?"
He didn’t finish his sentence, but Lin Qi nodded.
’That’s right!’
’This so-called Medical Small Business Alliance might be a motley crew, but with numbers this large, they’re a considerable force.’
’Right now, United Pharmaceutical is under too much pressure, and looking around, it’s hard to find a single ally.’
’As it happens, this Medical Small Business Alliance now has the scale to clash head-on with a large corporation.’
’If I could tie them to my warship...’
Seeing the look in Lin Qi’s eyes, Xiao Gu knew he had guessed correctly.
But Xiao Gu hesitated. None of the small business members present knew about the power plays happening at the very top.
A significant portion of the information they could obtain came from Lin Qi.
"Brother Lin Qi, I can’t make this decision on my own. I need to discuss it with the other managing companies."
Lin Qi nodded. That was only right.
But Lin Qi wasn’t particularly concerned about the outcome. This was just a casual move on his part. If it had a positive effect, that would be a pleasant surprise.
If there were clever people in the Medical Small Business Alliance who could see United Pharmaceutical’s current decline and didn’t want to get involved, Lin Qi didn’t care either.
Lin Qi walked to a corner of the venue by himself and sat down.
Many of the small business owners participating in the meeting silently looked in Lin Qi’s direction.
Most of them wanted to approach Lin Qi but didn’t dare, so an empty area had instead formed around him.
As for Xiao Gu, he had gone over to a small circle of people.
Standing there were the representatives of the Medical Small Business Alliance’s managing companies, led by Yuan Hong.
Xiao Gu relayed Lin Qi’s intentions, and the group began discussing it on the spot.
"United Pharmaceutical wants to join our Medical Small Business Alliance? Why? They’re small and they’re a new company, but they’re backed by the behemoth Liu’s Heavy Industries. To Liu’s Heavy Industries, even all of us combined are nothing, right?"
"True. Even among the big corporations, Liu’s Heavy Industries is in the upper-middle tier. There’s no reason they’d take an interest in us."
"No, that’s not it! United Pharmaceutical was founded by the daughter of Liu’s Heavy Industries’ head, but their chairwoman isn’t the Liu Clan’s heir. Do you think it’s possible there’s been a disagreement within the Liu Clan over a major decision, and Miss Liu wants to strike out on her own?"
"That’s possible! If so, this could be an opportunity for us."
The small businesses’ intelligence channels could never reach the level of the Big Business Alliance’s Permanent Council, so they had no idea about the crisis the Liu Clan was currently facing.
Instead, they saw it as an opportunity for the Medical Small Business Alliance.
Thus, they quickly reached a consensus, which Xiao Gu went to convey.
...
"They agreed?"
Lin Qi’s expression didn’t change much.
’Bringing this group of small businesses on board can bolster United Pharmaceutical’s presence a bit, but I can’t expect them to have a major impact. Not really.’
All in all, this was a spare move for Lin Qi.
If Capitalist and the Eastern Alliance could really help Liu Xuan break the deadlock, then this spare move might bring even more benefits to United Pharmaceutical.
But if they ultimately failed to break the deadlock, then these small businesses would probably go down with United Pharmaceutical.
For the small businesses, this was an investment made with incomplete information—one with extremely high risk and a potentially high reward.
"It is our honor that United Pharmaceutical is willing to join our Medical Small Business Alliance."
Xiao Gu was still unaware of the risks involved; he only saw the benefits of being "backed by Liu’s Heavy Industries."
Lin Qi nodded and said, "I hope that one day, we can give this alliance a new name. It won’t require a big change—just one word will do."
Making empty promises—that was something Lin Qi was very good at.
In his daily work life, Lin Qi had been fed his fair share of them.
Now that he was the one making them for others, he was a natural.
Hearing Lin Qi’s words, Xiao Gu became quite excited.
After chatting with Xiao Gu for a while, the meeting continued with its normal proceedings.
It wasn’t much different from yesterday. A group of small businesses exchanged information, but it wasn’t of high value, and Lin Qi didn’t even hear anything new.
After the information exchange came the so-called academic exchange segment.
Lin Qi had no interest whatsoever in this kind of academic exchange. At eleven-thirty, he said a word to Xiao Gu and left the venue early.
Together with Brother Green Hair, he returned to his room.
Lin Qi took a deep breath, quietly waiting for twelve o’clock to arrive.
...
At exactly twelve o’clock, an email from Guang Ling arrived punctually in Lin Qi’s inbox.
[You have received an invitation to an unnamed meeting. Would you like to join?]
The format was similar to the regular meetings of the Highest-Level Mercenary Corps, except the name had been changed to "unnamed." ’Guang Ling was probably too lazy to name it,’ Lin Qi thought, ’since it was just a temporary meeting anyway.’
Lin Qi immediately chose to accept.
Soon, the Intelligent Brain began transmitting an image to Lin Qi’s retina via electrodes.
An almost pure white conference room appeared before Lin Qi’s eyes.
This wasn’t the conference room the Highest-Level Mercenary Corps usually used, but a temporary one set up on a server provided by Capitalist.
Guang Ling was not in the conference room.
Across from Lin Qi sat a figure in a white suit. It had no face, no features, and was sitting quietly at the conference table.
Raising his hands to look at himself, Lin Qi saw that he too was wearing a white suit. Even his build was identical to the person opposite him.
"Capitalist?"
Lin Qi’s voice, however, was exactly the same as it was in the Highest-Level Mercenary Corps’ conference room.
"Wizard, why did you contact me? You didn’t actually come to Alliance City, did you?"
