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

Bruce understood from his expression that he was a complete novice in this area.

But it's good that we can't hand over projects like this that are related to public security to others.

"Alright, you haven't prepared anything. So how much initial capital do you expect to need?"

"10 billion?"

Leo cautiously uttered a number that seemed unrealistic to him.

But the person on the other end is Gotham's richest man; what if he doesn't care?

Unfortunately, there's no such thing as "what if"...

"I may be rich, but I'm not stupid."

After saying that, Bruce stood up, turned around and left.

Leo was completely dumbfounded.

Asking for an exorbitant price and then settling for a lower one—isn't that how it always works?

They just left without even saying a word!

"...What is this?"

“I don’t have time to deal with these trivial matters; I just need to know your intentions. The specific negotiations will be handled by professionals.”

Bruce walked away without looking back, leaving Leo bewildered in the wind.

Is starting a company with partners a minor matter?

Is this what real rich people are like...?

First Signs of Talent: Chapter 82 - Funds Arrive, Everything Goes Smoothly!

The wealthy man's aloof figure disappeared from sight, and suddenly the sound of a sofa being squeezed came from his side.

Leo turned around and saw Alfred sitting upright opposite him.

Today he was dressed in a formal suit, his hair neatly combed, a stark contrast to his usual image as a cheerful and humorous old butler.

He is now more like a social elite.

"Ah Fu...you're the professional?"

“That’s right. Young Master is actually not very suitable for business negotiation. He has too little concept of money.”

Leo nodded in understanding: "I thought Lucius Fox would be in charge of business negotiations, after all, the website shows that he is the president and chief technology officer of Wayne Group."

Alfred chuckled. "Lucius is indeed more suitable than me. He's in charge of Wayne Enterprises' business operations and also understands technology. But there's a small difference—"

He placed a document on the table and pushed it toward Leo.

Leo took it and saw that the cover boldly proclaimed: [Home Surveillance System Business Plan]

"?"

Isn't this something he should have prepared?

Bruce has already prepared everything, so why ask him for it?

Leo frowned, and suddenly a thought flashed through his mind: I understand, he's waiting for me to produce the plan, and then he'll use this more rigorous plan to slap me in the face!

Batman is so evil!

They've laid an ambush everywhere!

Fortunately, he wasn't prepared at all, leaving Batman with no way to use his energy!

Great, we won again...

Leo made a concerted effort to control his facial expressions, managing not to reveal a gritted-teeth look.

After calling out Pure White in their minds, the two of them studied the plan together and quickly figured out why it was Afu who was negotiating, instead of Lucius, who was more professionally suited to the role.

"Are Bruce and I the company partners?"

"Yes, to be precise, it's just the two of you. There can be no Wayne Group or anyone else. If you want to sell your company shares later, the young master has the right to buy back all the shares sold at twice the highest market price."

Leo was shocked. Bruce had kicked Wayne Enterprises aside and was now going to work with him in a personal capacity.

As if reading his mind, Afu patiently explained, "Young Master Bruce is the chairman of Wayne Enterprises, but the company doesn't belong to him alone. There are other shareholders and directors. Since this technology is capable of affecting public order, the fewer people involved, the better."

"I see, he left me 51% of the shares. If I want to sell some shares, the company will become his..."

Afu smiled without saying a word.

Leo and Chunbai quickly discussed it and decided it didn't matter. It was just a technology he found on a whim, and as long as it earned enough start-up capital and helped set up a data center, that would be fine.

To truly make big money, we need to look at Alcohol-2 wheat, prosthetic technology, and anti-gravity technology used in hovercraft, etc. Any one of these is enough to drive an industrial revolution or even trigger a world war.

After discussing it, they quickly reached an agreement on these trivial matters.

The final disagreement lay in the amount of the first round of investment.

“Mr. Leo, given that you don’t understand business very well, I’ll be frank—”

The trial version of the product you provided is still in the early prototype stage; it's just a very attractive concept. Whether it can be successfully rolled out and launched is still uncertain. Generally speaking, this is called seed round investment, and the amount of funding that can be raised is limited.

"We're willing to provide 20 million in initial funding for the construction of an internet data center. We'll handle all the personnel, facilities, and miscellaneous expenses. You'll only need to focus on the server room and software. What do you think?"

Leo thought...it was alright, much higher than he had expected.

The only pity is this so-called seed round. If only we had released a slightly more advanced version instead of this EA0.1 stripped-down version.

Seeing that he was still hesitant, Afu continued to increase his offer: "Actually, we think $10 billion is an acceptable investment price, but the premise is that you have to make a formal version of the software first and let us see the revenue prospects before we will increase our investment."

Leo felt reassured. He prepared several Early Access (EA) versions just to pretend he was working and to prove his importance.

If you can easily produce a complete version, and do it a few more times, Batman won't be so easily fooled...

The somewhat rushed business negotiations ended quickly.

Alfred, on behalf of Bruce, promised that additional investment would be available immediately as long as his software made effective progress.

Both parties reached an agreement.

Leo's total assets in Gotham reached $2063 million, placing him among the middle class.

"Then let's get moving, Mr. Leo. I'll take you to visit the venue the young master has chosen first, and then we can discuss the purchase of equipment."

Oh, by the way, your suit is clean and in the cabinet by the door. But I suggest you don't wear it when you go out.

"Okay, I'll go back and change my clothes."

*

Fifteen minutes later, Leo, dressed in a casual suit, took the elevator to the underground parking lot.

Afu was already waiting for him by the car, a sapphire blue convertible sports car.

Leo walked briskly to the driver's seat: "I'll drive. I've been lying in the room for days, and my body is practically rusting."

Afu handed him the keys and sat in the passenger seat himself.

Boom boom boom——

The engine roared as the luxury sports car sped out of the parking lot.

After being "confined" for 72 hours, Leo finally saw the light of day again, feeling a sense of joy at surviving a disaster.

The sports car entered the main road and sped northward.

After driving for only ten minutes or so, the navigation indicated that we had arrived at our destination.

Leo parked his car on the side of the road and looked to his right. There was a small industrial park there, surrounded by an electrified fence and a security guardhouse. Inside were several low-rise buildings and factory buildings; the paint on the exterior walls looked quite new.

"This is one of the young master's properties, and it was recently rebuilt. Since you're planning to build an internet data center, we've approved this place for you."

"It looks really good. The initial construction shouldn't require such a large site."

"Then let's choose one we like."

After the negotiations ended, Afu regained his sense of humor.

Leo did not refuse, quickly looked around, and chose a three-story factory building as the initial location for the machine room.

A single floor has an area of ​​over 2000 square meters, so three floors would be 6000 square meters, which should be big enough.

Pure White excitedly sent him a barrage of messages in his mind, urging him to buy the equipment quickly and start construction today.

Leo used to be just a programmer who wrote code; he had no idea about this.

So he humbly learned from Bruce and handed over all his work to the all-powerful butler.

“No problem. Wayne Group has the relevant industry. We can use our internal channels to buy the most cost-effective equipment and start construction immediately.”

Ah Fu took on everything, allowing him to experience the joy of being a hands-off manager.

At this point, only one problem remained for Leo – naming the company.

Leo, who suffers from naming difficulties, was stumped. He looked up at the sky and began to think.

First Glimpse of Talent: Chapter 83 Its Name is—Umbrella Corporation!

A security company whose main business is urban surveillance systems.

According to more realistic naming conventions, it should be something like "XX Security Service Company," but that's really low-class...

DC really does have superheroes, supervillains, mad scientists, and aliens. To run a company in a place like that, the name has to be catchy.

Think about the keywords... This is a company that openly provides security services, so the keywords are undoubtedly things like guarding, watching over, and protecting.

Guardians of life?

Eternal protection?

Watchmen?

Wait, that won't do. DC already has the Watchmen organization.

Protect...protect, a protective umbrella!

A glint flashed in Leo's eyes, and his fingers unconsciously began to gesture in the air.

Yes, a protective umbrella!

What a resounding, impressive, and powerful name!

Anyone who hears this name will associate it with T-cell disease... oh, no, it will associate it with safety and reliability!

He had already come up with the company logo—it was an umbrella viewed from above. To embody humanitarianism, the color scheme was inspired by the Red Cross, using classic red and white to highlight the spirit of universal love!

It's wonderful, let's give it another name: Umbrella.

High-end, classy, ​​and sophisticated – that feeling comes instantly!

"Ah Fu, I've got it!"

Leo shared his extraordinary wisdom with Afu, successfully eliciting amazement from the latter.

"I didn't expect Mr. Leo to be so good at this. Umbrella Corporation... well, you can tell what they do just by hearing the name. The company logo is also very recognizable."

"That's right! This is what I do, I'm a professional in the technical aspects!"

Once the company name is finalized, the final step is basically complete, and operations can officially begin.

Leo discovered that Bruce seemed even more anxious than him, and had even lent him the all-powerful butler to help the Umbrella Corporation get off to a smooth start.

With the help of this butler who possesses the "Face Fruit" ability in Gotham, everything went smoothly.

Afu took out two Apple computers from his briefcase, and the two of them each carried one as they conducted an on-site inspection and discussed solutions in the factory.

Leo himself had experience building his own data center, and with his recent focus on researching online and the assistance of Chunbai, he spoke eloquently about setting up an IDC data center.

He was in charge of the server room layout and equipment selection, while Afu was in charge of recording and making phone calls. The two worked together seamlessly and quickly completed the initial blueprint.

"Initial investment... 1500 million, I need to keep some money for other uses."

"No problem, but please remember that we will only make additional investments after we see results."

"I know, I know, it's the client, I understand..."

Leo glanced at his bank account with a pang of heartache; the 2000 million he had just received was about to shrink to 500 million.