Dual Worlds: I Have a Doomsday World

Chapter 323: Chapter 228: They Are Scared (Part 2)

Lin Qi looked at Xiao Gu. "Feel free to speak."

"Lin Qi, a rumor just started spreading in the Alliance Mansion. They’re saying a Floating Vehicle from the Liu Clan was just attacked, and... the LPD didn’t respond at all..."

Xiao Gu decided to go for it and asked the question directly.

Lin Qi raised an eyebrow slightly. ’The four major pharmaceutical companies really move fast.’

They were so eager to spread the news, obviously trying to create the illusion that the Liu Clan was isolated.

While they knew Lin Qi had ties to numerous small businesses, they could never have imagined his involvement with the Medical Small Business Alliance ran so deep that he was practically becoming its leader.

In the context of past corporate decision-making, this was unimaginable.

No one in charge of a major corporation would ever give a small business the time of day.

This was dictated by the rules of the Cyber World.

Intercontinental Giant Corporations, Big Business Alliances, major corporations...

Such a stable structure left no room for small businesses to grow.

Any company that managed to achieve anything nowadays inevitably had an Intercontinental Giant Corporation backing it. The other small businesses were just cannon fodder generated by the system, ready to be sacrificed at a moment’s notice.

Lin Qi had no intention of hiding anything. The security level of this conference room wasn’t low—it was a paid service provided by the Big Business Alliance.

Theoretically, monitoring the conversations in this room would require at least two members of the Permanent Council to request access, and doing so would leave a public record.

In the Cyber World, you had to pay for privacy.

But you got what you paid for.

"It was probably the four major pharmaceutical companies, with the tacit approval of members of the Permanent Council. They feel threatened—threatened by United Pharmaceutical."

Since the four major pharmaceutical companies wanted to create the illusion of the Liu Clan’s isolation to make it a reality, Lin Qi could use this show of force to establish United Pharmaceutical’s own power.

’Why an assassination attempt?’

’Why did the assassination turn into a mere demonstration?’

’Why didn’t they even dare to load a real S-Class warhead?’

’It means they’re scared!’

"A threat from United Pharmaceutical..."

Xiao Gu silently processed the sheer amount of information contained in those few words.

At that moment, Xiao Gu was absolutely certain: Lin Qi—or rather, United Pharmaceutical—was at the center of this vortex and had a real chance of emerging as the ultimate victor.

’This is a huge gamble. If we win, Rotor Pharmaceutical will have a future. If we lose... it couldn’t be any worse than our current situation.’

Having fought for a small company like Rotor Pharmaceutical for so many years, Xiao Gu had grown accustomed to being at the mercy of major corporations.

Now that he had finally secured a chance to break the stalemate, Rotor Pharmaceutical—or at least Xiao Gu himself—was not about to give up.

He said no more, quietly waiting for the others to arrive.

Before long, people started trickling into the conference room.

At the appointed time, the conference room doors closed and locked. Most of the members had arrived.

Xiao Gu glanced around the room, his expression sour. "Lin Qi, Baichuan Potion, BS Technology... those six just decided to withdraw from the Medical Small Business Alliance. Besides them, a dozen or so new members have also decided to pull out."

The room was emptier than it had been that morning. Six long-standing members and over a dozen new ones were absent. All told, the companies that had left represented a combined value in the tens of billions.

They had obviously received some back-channel news and decided to abandon their deep ties with United Pharmaceutical, choosing instead to wait and see.

"Damn it! A few shameless bastards. They freeloaded the intel and then decided to run? After all the firm promises they made this morning!"

"Don’t get worked up. There’s a reason the companies run by people like that never get big. At least the three of us are still here."

"Chairman Lin, we’ve made our decision. We will not betray United Pharmaceutical."

Tianshui Technology, Hongcao Potion, and Reid Divine Oil were all present, showing no intention of backing out of their promises from the morning. It looked like they were ready to fight alongside United Pharmaceutical to the very end.

Lin Qi smiled. "It’s fine. Fewer people just means a larger share of the profits for everyone present when this is all over."

The plan he and Liu Xuan had settled on involved a fixed amount of profit to be shared. With fewer companies participating, the remaining ones would simply get a larger slice of the pie.

Lin Qi’s words immediately captured everyone’s attention.

He sounded so confident!

In the face of Lin Qi’s calm demeanor and confident words, the outside rumors seemed laughably fragile, shattering at the slightest touch.

As he took in their looks of admiration, Lin Qi slowly began to speak.

"First, regarding the matter I mentioned this morning: I met with Chairman Liu and have been briefed on the summit’s schedule and main proceedings. I now know the resource allocation model and how to compete for a share of the Si Clan’s legacy."

As soon as the words left his mouth, everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath.

The first time!

This was the first time in their lives they had ever felt what it was like to be privileged!

This was a summit organized by the Big Business Alliance!

And for a High-Level summit like this, they were actually getting advance intelligence.

’Ma, your boy made it!’

Many of them were thinking something along those lines.

As everyone listened with bated breath, Lin Qi briefly went over the summit’s schedule and agenda, just as Liu Xuan had explained to him.

"To summarize, the summit will evaluate all Pharmacy-related companies based on three main dimensions: academic contributions, market share, and distribution channels. A comprehensive ranking will be compiled from these three metrics, and this ranking will be used to reset the resource allocation for all pharmaceutical companies in the Asian Administrative Region."

Everyone present had run their own companies for years; they immediately understood the deeper implications of this system.

It left no path to survival for small businesses. These were rules designed by and for the major corporations.

Under this system, any company that wasn’t already a major corporation would lose all competitiveness.

"Chairman Lin, under these rules, won’t it be nearly impossible for United Pharmaceutical to compete with the four big pharma giants?"

Someone voiced their concern.

’Going by these rules, United Pharmaceutical is guaranteed to lose.’

’Were those traitors right after all?’

’Maybe we could have preserved our companies by pulling out early to wait and see?’

"This is precisely why I’ve gathered you all here tonight. Chairman Liu and I have discussed this and formulated a plan."

"United Pharmaceutical is prepared to offer twenty percent of its shares for an equity swap with the companies you all control. However, it will not be a direct, proportional swap based on current valuations."

"During this swap, United Pharmaceutical must acquire at least a 51% stake in each of your companies. In return, you will receive a corresponding portion of that twenty percent stake in United Pharmaceutical, allocated proportionally based on your company’s current valuation."

The moment he said this, a storm of calculations erupted in everyone’s mind.

The sound of clashing Credit Points echoed in their heads.

A set of scales appeared in everyone’s mind, swinging wildly as they tried to weigh the options.

On one side of the scale was a 51% stake in their own company; on the other, a proportionally calculated sliver of United Pharmaceutical’s shares.

In this deal, a company might have to give up 51% of its own shares for less than even 0.1% of United Pharmaceutical.

But the weight on the other side of the scale was far more than just the current value of the shares.

It also included future growth potential, invaluable connections, and even a relationship with a mid-to-high-tier major corporation like Liu’s Heavy Industries...

For a moment, it was impossible for the scales to settle.

But someone always has to be the first to decide. "Rotor Pharmaceutical agrees!"

The speaker was Xiao Gu. He wasn’t actually the one in charge of Rotor Pharmaceutical, but he had been granted full proxy. He could speak for the company.

"According to the summit’s rules, this equity swap means United Pharmaceutical will be able to consolidate the market share from all our companies by holding a 51% stake, and it will also gain access to all of our distribution channels."

"Furthermore, even if we only receive a 0.1% stake in United Pharmaceutical, we can stipulate in the contract that all channels are to be shared. This would allow our small companies to achieve an extremely high score in the distribution channel category at the summit."

"When it comes to academic contributions or market share, we can’t compete with the four big pharma giants. But if we pool all our companies’ distribution channels together, even the big four might not be able to match us."

A ranking based on three dimensions... and now, even as small companies, it seemed that by uniting under United Pharmaceutical, they had a fighting chance against the four giants in at least one of them.