Chapter 530 Levels
One hour later.
Martin's face trembled as he looked at the young man in the black suit before him.
This investment manager from Witness had just shown him a predictive analysis.
Simply put, if his Rich Source Catering didn't make changes, in seven years there would be nothing left.
"Hehe, Mr. Castillo."
Martin pursed his lips and said, "I'm willing to cooperate with your company, reduce the share price by 20%."
"That was the price from an hour ago."
The young man's expression remained unchanged. "The company has provided the latest calculation. The price must drop further."
"What?"
Martin was stunned. "Isn't your company known for being generous?"
The young man said, "Depends on the person."
Martin paused, then smiled apologetically. "What are your company's conditions? We can negotiate!"
"I'm short on time, let me be brief."
The young man paused, then suddenly said, "You're going to have an affair, get sued by your wife, and lose half your assets!"
Martin's body stiffened. "What?"
The young man continued, "Your subordinate will also gamble away everything and secretly sell off the stores!"
Martin's face turned pale. "What?"
The young man stood up. "In short, if your share price drops another 40%, I can save your stores, or rather, save your life."
Martin was completely dumbfounded. "Mr. Castillo, this..."
The young man chuckled. "Mr. Collins, no need to thank me. Just call me Martin."
Martin was completely stunned!
Martin?
How does he know about my affair!
He does have a subordinate who loves gambling!
Martin continued, "Of course you have time to verify all this, but I'll kindly remind you that in our eyes, your company's valuation is dropping by the minute."
Martin felt like he'd been struck by lightning.
After hesitating for a long time, he finally gritted his teeth. "I agree to cooperate!"
"Good."
Martin nodded. "Three minutes just passed. Your acquisition price has dropped another 2%!"
Martin was stunned again!
Rich Source Catering's compromise caused huge waves in the industry!
Other large chain stores also panicked!
They all started reaching out to TO!
As a result, once they met with Witness's investment managers, they all fell one by one!
Fortunately, the deals were somewhat satisfactory, though the share prices were low!
But TO didn't completely acquire their brands as imagined, instead turning it into partnerships!
Staff were mostly retained, and after training, sent to independent stores that TO had fully acquired!
Some industries can't completely eliminate human workers!
But there was one condition.
Besides intelligent operations, the signs had to be changed to TO branches!
Over the course of a month.
The streets of Veridiania's major cities had completely changed their appearance!
TO's glowing signs sprouted up like mushrooms after rain!
Many stores rushed to open.
Unified branding, unified membership system, unified service robots!
At the same time, each store's original characteristics were preserved!
Traditional food, hand-ground coffee—what you could eat before, you could still eat now!
Just with a completely new service model!
Ordinary people were curious and set off another wave of consumer enthusiasm!
The most distinctive feature was the payment system in various stores!
The moment customers entered, facial recognition activated, identifying their information and matching them with the most suitable service!
After finishing their purchase, they just needed to walk out the door, and facial recognition would activate again, paying the fees through online banking!
No need to take out phones or wallets the entire time!
Customers were amazed!
Celestria City.
In the Finance Department office, Aaron looked at the data in his hands.
'In one month, TO has opened 8,000 stores across various industries!'
'About 30,000 in preparation!'
'60,000 stores completed acquisition! (Not including IL Group's international stores)'
'Total sales of 3 billion.'
'National consumption data in major cities increased by 1.6%.'
'Many chain stores showed performance growth after being acquired.'
Aaron sighed softly.
He put down the documents.
A subordinate shook his head. "Director, this data at the national level... is quite ordinary, not even matching many large real estate companies."
"Even if all his stores open with huge cash flow, the profit won't be much. After all, these are all small businesses."
"Hehe."
Aaron suddenly smiled. "You haven't seen the point. The focus isn't on these businesses, but on his system!"
"This guy has hidden a payment process in his service system!"
Aaron slowly stood up, hands behind his back, looking out the window. "As his stores increase, ordinary people will inevitably form consumption habits, with more and more money flowing through it."
"Haven't you seen his promotions?"
"TO membership top-ups get 10-20% discounts on all purchases!"
"Seems pretty basic, right?"
"But imagine this."
"If TO is involved in all industries and visible everywhere."
"Then more and more ordinary people, for convenience, will store their money on it."
"Never mind the whole world, just Veridiania's 1.6 billion citizens—if each person puts a little spare cash on it, what a huge number that would be!"
The Finance Department subordinate suddenly froze!
Vaguely realizing something!
Aaron shook his head slightly. "Ordinary people think this money is in their own hands, but it's actually just a string of code in TO!"
"TO covers all industries. This money flowing around and around—isn't it all in their own pocket?"
"As for this wealth, whether he uses it to expand power or upgrade technology, he can do whatever he wants!"
The Finance Department subordinate suddenly trembled!
Doesn't that mean TO could develop into a hidden money empire!
Aaron sighed again. "That's not even the main thing!"
"Through daily consumption, he can simultaneously build a credit system!"
"Who has how much assets, their spending habits, who defaults, who doesn't—he knows it all clearly!"
"If he goes into financial lending, the repayment rate would be terrifyingly high!"
"Inside and out, earning interest with idle funds, he's making something from nothing with data!"
"Those banks are still pleased with themselves for lending money to Witness, when in reality, their business has been stolen, and they might be played to death without even knowing it!"
Aaron's brow remained furrowed. "If he wants, before long, he'll be richer than a country!"
The Commerce Department subordinate was somewhat dazed. "Gathering idle funds, collecting user credit... such a terrifying move, other countries won't agree either!"
Aaron frowned deeply. "That guy has another name... Paul Five."
The subordinate immediately broke out in a cold sweat!
Aaron's gaze was profound. "We work in economics, so we worry about these things, but Mr. Fields is worried about that guy deploying combat robots!"
The subordinate asked nervously, "Can't we stop him?"
Aaron pondered. "Mr. Fields has already arranged everything. As long as he loses to the Miller family, all of this will belong to Veridiania."
Meanwhile, in Lab Graveyard.
The data popping up above Robert's head had changed to +1866, +6632, +40000!
Although this data was still far from enough.
Elbert was immersed in the joy of harvest.
The payment function of TO was indeed his idea.
Even the intelligent robots in the stores had some hidden combat functions!
But as for Aaron's so-called financial control.
And Mr. Fields's so-called robot threat.
Elbert didn't care about those. They were just casual operations, preparations for unexpected needs!
The two old men could never imagine that what Elbert was doing was actually trying to nurture an unprecedented super artificial intelligence!
Robert's upgrades could unveil mysteries one by one, even glimpse into a completely new world!
No matter what powerful enemies came.
He could face them calmly, remaining invincible forever!
If ordinary people were on the first level, then Aaron was on the second level, and Mr. Fields was on the third level!
And Elbert? The stratosphere!
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
