Threatening Me?

Find Bai Mo.

We shouldn't have brought Zhurong back.

And most importantly...

I'd been to Mars??

No, I went to Mars, and Jiang Xingye went to Mars too.

Rounding up, that meant we went to Mars together.

We went to Mars together. I came back, but she didn't. Then damn it, could that have been when we got divorced??

So what exactly happened on Mars? And what happened to Zhurong?

If Zhurong had been brought back by "us," but ultimately ended up "under official control," then perhaps I hadn't personally brought Zhurong back. Maybe I'd only provided technical support for the operation to bring it back, or participated in some kind of collaboration?

That seemed like the most logical deduction.

He was getting closer and closer to the truth.

Lin Xu glanced at his bracelet. The number on it had jumped straight from "3" when he entered to "1."

Just like his previous experience, this thing wasn't directly tied to the number of times he entered. Suffering serious injuries and expending large amounts of energy in Bracelet World would also make the number deplete faster.

No matter what, he definitely couldn't enter Bracelet World again today.

He updated the clues in his document, then lay back down on the bed.

Shut down. Sleep!

Early the next morning, Lin Xu was awakened by a call from Ren Jian's secretary.

At least Ren Jian hadn't called him personally this time.

But what the secretary said instantly woke Lin Xu up.

"Mr. Lin, the chairman has arranged an investor meeting for this afternoon."

"This meeting will mainly address the company's recent acquisition of Donghua Chemical Fiber Plant. It may involve certain technical details and specific plans for the later stages."

"The chairman has invited you to attend to ensure smooth communication."

"The meeting is scheduled for two o'clock this afternoon. Please arrive on time."

An investor meeting??

Lin Xu was dumbfounded.

He had never attended something like this before!

What was he supposed to say there?

Explain his plan to them? Explain that he wanted to build a space shuttle to escape the apocalypse?

What kind of joke was that?

Lin Xu frowned deeply, instinctively wanting to refuse.

But he quickly realized that he really wasn't in any position to refuse.

After all, he had led the acquisition forward, provided the technology, and tied the relationships with key personnel to himself. If he didn't go, how was Ren Jian supposed to handle those investors?

With nothing but the incomplete process documents in his hands?

He had to go!

Not only did he have to go, he had to handle this well!

There was no way he could count on Xu Jin. His Asperger's symptoms made him completely unsuitable for this kind of occasion.

The only thing he could do now was familiarize himself with the process documents as quickly as possible, or make further additions to them.

Lin Xu checked the time. It was only ten in the morning.

There were still four hours until the afternoon meeting.

There was enough time!

Without hesitation, he sent a brief reply confirming his attendance, then lay back down on the bed.

This time, he still followed the plan and headed straight for Donghua Chemical Fiber Plant, straight for the office that stored the information on the two materials.

After spending an hour there, Lin Xu used up the bracelet's final chance to activate.

He recopied the information he had memorized into the document. By then, the completeness of the material had reached more than seventy percent.

That was enough.

Even if there were questions he couldn't explain, he could pull Xu Jin out to take the hit.

And if someone questioned whether he was professional enough?

I wasn't a professional to begin with, okay!

Lin Xu instantly relaxed.

He grabbed a quick meal, read through the process materials from beginning to end, then took his laptop and hailed a cab straight to the company.

It was just past one in the afternoon when he arrived. He had barely sat down at his workstation when the board secretary called.

"Mr. Lin, the chairman would like you to come to his office. He wants to go over what will be discussed at the meeting in advance."

"I'll be right there."

Lin Xu didn't even have time for a sip of water. He got up and hurried to the chairman's office. By the time he entered, Ren Jian and chief engineer Chu Xu were already waiting inside.

"Mr. Lin, have a seat."

The tea set was still laid out in front of Ren Jian. He pushed a freshly brewed cup of tea toward Lin Xu, who didn't stand on ceremony. He took it and drained it in one gulp.

"Boss, what's the situation now?"

Lin Xu asked between breaths.

"Two situations."

Ren Jian didn't waste words and answered directly.

"First, we did not notify the investors in advance about our acquisition of Donghua Chemical Fiber Plant. The timeline was too tight, and my intention was to get this project moving as quickly as possible."

"Of course, this was compliant. After discussion by our board of directors, we theoretically had no need to notify them beforehand."

"However, the investors are very dissatisfied with our actions."

"They only finalized their investment recently, and the amount wasn't small—roughly two hundred million yuan."

"There were originally no restrictions on how the money was to be used, but it was obvious that the investors had invested because of Test Ship No. 3."

"Now that we're putting a large sum into a chemical fiber plant, it's only natural that they would question it."

"I understand. We need to give them an explanation."

Lin Xu nodded.

"That's right, but that's only the first situation."

"The second is that they brought in an expert."

"They believe that even if our investment plans are genuine, we couldn't possibly develop the two materials I described to them."

"This expert is coming to evaluate the authenticity of our documentation. He has demanded that we show him the process documents."

"What kind of joke is that?!"

Lin Xu stared in disbelief.

"These are confidential documents. The factory hasn't even been built yet, the equipment isn't in place, production trials haven't been conducted, and the process flow hasn't undergone final optimization or implementation."

"We haven't even filed for patents yet, and he wants to see our documents?"

"Is he insane, or is that so-called expert insane?"

"No. Absolutely not!"

Lin Xu spoke with absolute finality, leaving no room for argument.

Even though he was only a technical worker and didn't understand the rules of the business world, anyone could see that the investors were digging a pit for Skyvault Technology.

If they really handed over the documents, similar products and processes might appear on the market the very next day. What would be left for Donghua Chemical Fiber Plant? What would be left for him?

Seeing Lin Xu's reaction, Ren Jian shrugged helplessly.

"I guessed this would be your reaction."

"But the situation is indeed extremely troublesome for us."

"You know the investors we're dealing with are quite aggressive."

"If we can't meet their demands... they may withdraw their investment intention."

"...This is outright coercion."

Lin Xu was getting his first real taste of the darkness of the capital market.

That kind of demand was truly shameless to the extreme.

A dish made from a company's flesh and blood hadn't even met the knife yet, but it had already been written onto capital's menu.

Lin Xu took a deep breath, then said,

"No matter what, let's negotiate first."

"If it doesn't go well..."

"I'll think of another way!"

The moment he said that, delight immediately appeared on Ren Jian's face.

That was exactly what he wanted to hear!

Still putting on an act with me?

For a small company like ours, coercion from capital was indeed a major problem.

But for you, could this even count as a problem?

A confident smile appeared on Ren Jian's face. Lin Xu had no idea where that confidence came from, but he had the faint feeling that there was something...

Something he couldn't quite put into words...