From Gotham to Night City, my infamy is known to all.

But the retired officer calmly raised a hand and stopped them.

"Don't panic. It's too late to dodge this kind of wide-range attack. Since it's just a demonstration, he should have a way to control it."

His voice was steady and powerful, without the slightest hesitation.

Even when faced with a collapsing mountain, Xu Shiming remained calm and composed, successfully stopping the two representatives who were about to run away.

That's true, you don't need to run during a small earthquake, but you can't run during a big one...

Judging from the level of the crisis alert, if this "show" goes wrong, the company square might even disappear from the map. It's too late to run now!

What a madman! He actually brought this deadly "verification machine" to "demonstrate"!

They prayed in their hearts and finally a miracle happened.

In the final stages before the miniature black hole was to take shape, Leo ordered Deep Blue to reverse course and quell the crisis.

[Understood, begin execution.]

Deep Blue exerted its power once again, quickly calming the strange phenomenon in the conference room.

however,

The destructive traces caused by the spatial distortion are still shocking, deeply etched on the ground, in the walls, and in the hearts of all the witnesses, and will never be forgotten.

Once the electricity on the Infinity Gauntlet had completely subsided, Leo lowered his arm and walked towards the conference table with a smile.

"How about it? Our company's technical level is pretty good, isn't it?"

Xu Shiming looked deeply into his eyes and slowly nodded: "It's really quite good. With this kind of technology, even big companies can't easily do anything to you."

Immediately after raising security concerns, they displayed this dangerous weapon.

The other party's intention to demonstrate was blatantly obvious.

But... how was such an incredible technology as the gravity singularity bomb developed? And how could it be integrated into a glove...?

Lost technology from a bygone era?

Even as the chairman of Kangtao, he had never heard of such outrageous technology and could only keep his doubts and shock to himself.

"Good technology. Is this technology for sale?"

Even though he knew it was impossible, he couldn't help but ask.

Leo calmly sat back down in his original seat and said ambiguously:

"The Infinity Gauntlet is still in the prototype stage, and its stability and functionality are not yet up to standard. Maybe in the future. Our current research focus is on the sixth-generation prosthetic body. If we can produce results, perhaps we can cooperate with Kangtao... oh, with the Chinese forces."

"Maybe" and "perhaps" are ambiguous words, but the lack of a clear rejection is already satisfactory enough.

The three representatives exchanged a glance and made their decision.

Xu Shiming extended his hand to Li Ao again, his attitude even more friendly: "Then, on behalf of Kangtao and the Chinese forces, I am willing to sign a Strategic Cooperation Agreement with Lanmeng Company, and the terms will be drafted in accordance with the Third Edition Business Plan."

Leo stood up with satisfaction and shook hands with him again.

"Showing off one's strength" helps negotiations go smoothly; the rules of Night City are not limited to local use!

Chapter 382 Blue Dream Kangtao, Quasi-Military Alliance Established!

The strong, firm clasp of hands signifies the formation of a quasi-military alliance.

The soon-to-be-launched Blue Dream Company has gained its first ally, Kangtao Company from China... as well as a group of cheerleaders who are temporarily of no use.

A strong sense of satisfaction filled his chest, making Leo want to raise his head and sing a song called "The Emancipated Serfs Sing".

With funding, subordinates, technology, and allies, nothing could stop him from establishing a company and officially participating in a higher level of competition!

Now, he is about to—

"this is for you."

Xu Shiming's words interrupted his wild thoughts.

Leo looked closely and saw a small brown notebook on the table.

I took a look, and it was a damn household registration booklet! The national emblem was even on the front!

I subconsciously turned to the first page—

Name: Leo

Head of household or relationship to head of household: Head of household

Sex: Male

Place of birth, ethnicity, ancestral home, date of birth...

All the information was complete; it was the set that Chunbai had initially made up on the spot.

No, there is a slight difference. His trendy, super long English name is gone, and it has become "Leo".

What seems real can become fake... Kang Tao managed to make his fake identity real!

With Kang Tao and government representatives backing him, he is now undeniably Chinese. He's likely still on a high-priority classified list, and anyone trying to investigate him later might find themselves in the hands of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics…

While he was still in a daze, Xu Shiming said loudly, "Before we came, we investigated your information and found that it was all false. But it doesn't matter. Our motherland has always maintained an open attitude towards ambitious young people and outstanding talents, and welcomes overseas Chinese like you to return to the country."

We've processed all your documents so you can use them whenever you want to come back. Oh, and by the way, we've also registered your partner's information; it's on the back.

Leo blankly turned the page, and on the second page was Vivian... They weren't even married yet, but their household registrations had already been combined.

Turn the page to the next page,

That's all; they're all blank pages.

Alas, even Kangtao has his oversights; a household registration booklet only has sixteen pages. Who does he think he is...?

With mixed feelings, Leo closed his household registration booklet and stuffed it into his pocket along with his ID card.

This is really strange; why would someone give away "household registration" as a souvenir?

Seeing him accept the household registration book, a hint of joy flashed in the eyes of the negotiating team, which lessened the shock they had just experienced.

If they are willing to accept my household registration, it means that they still recognize the motherland deep down. Then I can get to know them better in the future and try to bring the research team back to China.

These high-tech talents, left to drift around in Night City, can't even sleep soundly.

The atmosphere on their side became harmonious, and they started chatting and laughing, successfully waking up the female researcher who was hiding in the corner, still shaken.

When the unexpected happened, she was engrossed in her research and almost thought the negotiations had broken down and the two sides were about to fight.

Seeing that they seemed to have made up, she carefully carried the pot of algae back to the conference table.

Xu Shiming was very friendly to Yuan Lao's descendants: "Little Yuan, did I scare you? It's alright, it's just a technology demonstration. The cooperation has been agreed upon, and we'll discuss the specific allocation when we get back to China. I don't think you're good at this anyway."

Yuan Tinglu nodded quickly: "That's right, that's right, you're right. I'm just a researcher, you should handle negotiations with the people in the business department! Um, I just did a simple study on this algae, do I need to report that?"

"Go ahead."

"Okay! Through research, I discovered that this is a type of algae with strong water purification capabilities, possessing—uh, what's wrong?"

Leo raised his hand to signal her to stop for a moment, and then took out another data chip.

"This is the first product that Blue Dream Company is about to launch—water-purifying algae. The data is all in the chip; it's been prepared for a long time."

"Oh, let me see!"

Yuan Tinglu was completely unpretentious. She took the chip and was about to put it into her neural slot, displaying a completely innocent and guileless nature.

Fortunately, there were other people present, so they didn't let her run wild.

In the blink of an eye, Zhu Kaixuan arrived in his S.A.S ...

"Ms. Yuan, it's safer to let a machine read this kind of data chip."

He chose a more palatable version of events, but the truth is that major companies are wary of each other and have agreed to collect data together, so no one can try to play any tricks!

Yuan Tinglu shook her head speechlessly and leaned closer to the monitor to check the information on water-purifying algae.

A few minutes later, the brief information had been read several times by everyone, and they all showed slightly confused looks.

"Young friend Leo, does your company intend to use this algae as a commodity?"

Xu Shiming organized his thoughts, "Excuse my bluntness, but this kind of algae that can purify water is indeed quite good. However, you haven't even set up basic genetic locks, so any large company can steal your research results. It might be a bit difficult to make money from this."

Leo nodded repeatedly: "We've considered that. The solution is to open-source it directly. We don't intend to make money from this product, but rather to use it to demonstrate our company's stance—"

Lanmeng Company is a benevolent company dedicated to restoring the ecological environment and improving the quality of human life. Our primary label is environmental protection!

"Ring...what the heck?"

The representative from Dongfang Petrochemical was dumbfounded.

"Environmental protection, environmental protection!" Leo reiterated, "This concept has probably been forgotten for decades. Many companies are busy with arms races and technology races, but they have no interest in the collapsing Earth's ecosystem. This is not good."

His words left the audience dumbfounded.

First they brought out Alcohol-2 rice, then they brought out the bizarre "gravity singularity bomb" black technology, and finally they said that Lanmeng Company is a company that focuses on environmental protection... Is this thought process for real?

Leo knew that highbrow culture was unpopular and that these common people couldn't understand the importance of environmental protection... Wait, that's not right, this is what he said to Poison Ivy, how did he end up fooling himself!

"Ahem, to put it simply, Lanmeng Company is just starting out and doesn't want to compete head-on with other companies right away, so it chose the environmental theme to build up a good reputation first and then develop slowly."

Now everyone understood—"Openly repair the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang pass."

This is such a classic tactic that even large companies have used quite a bit.

Xu Shiming nodded: "That's right. Using environmental protection as a starting point will reduce the initial resistance your company will face. If you need development funds, Kangtao can help you find a way. Does your company plan to go public? How many shares do you plan to release?"

The topic took a sharp turn that almost strained Leo's back.

He had no doubt that if he dared to sell, Xu Shiming would buy all of Lanmeng's shares, and might even want to become a shareholder of Lanmeng.

This was a question he hadn't considered yet, so he could only brush it off.

Xu Shiming didn't insist and casually agreed to his request to share the gene template of the water-purifying algae on Kangtao's official website.

Leo was very satisfied—with Comto's endorsement, it wouldn't be so easy for other large companies to pull strings. He had, in a way, made a contribution to humanity worldwide.

Xu Shiming was also very satisfied—he got a technology for free, and since rice cultivation also requires clean water, why not?

Both sides felt they had gotten a good deal, and the matter was settled.

The negotiations have now been successfully concluded.

Leo had a sudden thought and remembered his "Taipingzhou Strategy". With Xu Shiming in charge, he thought he might as well resolve the matter in one go.

He pondered for a moment, and the more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. So he said, "In fact, I do have a few small things I'd like to ask you for help with this time."

"Go on," Xu Shiming said, looking over with interest.

"In our plan, the headquarters of Blue Dream Company will be set up in the Grand Empire Shopping Mall in Taiping Continent. Currently, the entire Taiping Continent area is controlled by the Voodoo Gang. We have established an armed force called Wings of Freedom in the eastern suburbs, intending to attack Taiping Continent tomorrow, eliminate the Voodoo Gang entrenched there, and seize territory."

"The Voodoo Gang?"

Xu Shiming frowned. This gang's name was quite imposing. What was its background?

He was extremely busy and naturally couldn't pay attention to the local gangs in Night City, so he could only urge his think tank to send over the data.

A few seconds later, he saw the information about the Voodoo Gang, and his brows furrowed even more deeply…

Gang Name: Voodoo Gang

[Estimated size: 50 to 250 members]

What is this thing...?

It doesn't even have the strength of a battalion.

Judging from the name, I thought it was some powerful gang, but it's just... truly a bunch of idiots!

In comparison, Kangtao's employee size this year is around 120 million, which is almost equal to the combined number of employees at Arasaka and Junke.

Xu Shiming, who commanded a million soldiers, felt a headache upon receiving this request:

"Your Wings of Freedom has over a thousand people, right? If that's not enough... Kangtao also has some unofficial staff in Night City, about four hundred or so, who we can lend you. If we let Kangtao's full-time employees handle it, other companies might have objections..."

Leo immediately realized he had misunderstood and quickly explained, "That's not what I meant. We have enough manpower. We're worried that other large companies might cause trouble or even seize the territory we've captured while we're attacking Taipingzhou."

Since it involved a large company, Xu Shiming returned to his comfort zone.

He tapped his fingers lightly on the table a few times and pondered, "Taipingzhou can't be considered your territory. It's under the jurisdiction of the Night City government. If it's just ordinary gang fighting, no one will care if you fight to the death. But if you want to establish a company, you have to abide by the rules of the game, at least on the surface."

Leo nodded: "We've already rented the property in advance, so we can use it legally once we take it over. I hope that while we're conquering Taipingzhou, you can keep other big companies away and prevent them from causing trouble. Once I've dealt with the Voodoo Gang and taken over Taipingzhou, then we can deal with the other companies."

Xu Shiming's gaze was deep: "Then they will definitely think that your actions are instigated by Kang Tao, and even regard Lanmeng Company as a subsidiary of Kang Tao, just like Qianti. Hmm... we don't care. It's safer for you to occupy an independent territory and produce awakening reagents. If you think it's okay, then it's okay."