Negotiation

A dozen minutes later, the meeting room door was pushed open again.

Matt Wallace walked in, his expression now calm, even displaying a shrewdness typical of a businessman.

He sat back down, his hands clasped together in front of him, clearly having regained his confidence in the negotiations after that phone call.

"The board of directors, in principle, accepts Mr. Nakayama's distribution plan." Matt's voice was calm and firm; he deliberately emphasized "in principle."

The emphasis was placed on those three words.

"However, we have one small condition." He looked at Takuya like an eagle finally finding an opportunity to strike back, "Regarding the one percent stake held by Sega, our Colt Company hopes to hold its voting rights on its behalf."

Clancy's brows furrowed immediately. He was all too familiar with this tactic; it was a typical Wall Street game, where seemingly insignificant demands were all part of a power struggle for control.

Takuya's smile remained unchanged.

He wanted clean, unbiased data, not to get entangled in the decades-long feuds and conflicts between United States gun manufacturers.

Should Colt be allowed to hold the voting rights on his behalf?

If Colt uses that one percent of the votes to fight with Smith & Wesson or Remington in the future, when they settle old scores, will they also hold a grudge against Sega, the "licensor"?

What if one day he is shot eight times in the back and commits suicide?

"Can."

Takuya nodded so quickly that Matt was somewhat surprised, and the whole speech he had prepared instantly got stuck in his throat.

"However," Takuya his index finger lightly on the table, the sound soft but enough to freeze the air in the entire conference room, "This matter cannot be a private agreement between our two companies."

He met Matt's scrutinizing gaze.

"Since Colt Company is going to hold the voting rights on our behalf, it must do so openly and fairly, and with everyone's approval."

Takuya and deliberately, "This nominee arrangement requires the written consent of all member companies of the National Rifle Association. In other words, Mr. Wallace, you have to personally persuade Smith & Wesson, Remington, Ruger —persuade every company on the list—to agree to let Colt represent our one percent."

Finally, he casually added, "Sega will not participate in this persuasion process in any way. We only care about the results."

Matt Wallace's professional smile froze inch by inch.

He felt as if he had thrown a punch with all his might, only to land on a ball of cotton and get pricked by a steel needle hidden inside.

This Japan didn't agree to the additional conditions at all; he was clearly given the most difficult and troublesome task by mistake!

Want to be the leader of this standards alliance? Sure.

First, use Sega's one percent stake as a pledge of loyalty to subdue those unruly competitors in the association one by one.

If it succeeds, Colt can rightfully take control of everything; if it fails, it's Colt's own incompetence, and has nothing to do with Sega, who is far away in Japan.

Matt Wallace even had a fine layer of sweat on his forehead.

Looking at Takuya's excessively youthful face, he felt as if he were facing not a game designer, but an old fox who had been at the negotiating table for decades.

After a long silence, he took a deep breath, as if making a difficult decision, and finally squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth.

"Okay, we agree."

In any case, the worst-case scenario is that Sega's 1% will abstain from voting.

So Takuya first took out two agreements that he had prepared in advance: one was a confidentiality agreement, and the other was a licensing framework agreement.

He pushed the documents to the center of the conference table, his movements unhurried and deliberate.

"The additional conditions imposed by Colt Company have already been added."

Matt Wallace's gaze lingered on those pages for a moment, then he gave the lawyer beside him a wink.

The lawyer immediately stepped forward, picked up the document, and began to carefully review it word by word.

The only sound in the meeting room was the rustling of papers turning.

Tom Clancy, holding his coffee, watched the scene with great interest.

He felt less like a witness and more like he was watching the premiere of a thrilling business spy drama.

A few minutes later, the lawyer whispered something in Matt's ear and then nodded.

Matt nodded, picked up the expensive Parker gold pen, and signed his name at the end of both agreements without hesitation.

As witnesses, James White and Tom Clancy also signed confidentiality agreements.

Once the last document was signed, Takuya leisurely opened his briefcase, took out a black hard folder, and gently placed it on the table.

"This is my plan."

Matt Wallace leaned forward instinctively, expecting to see a stack of complex engineering drawings, but when he opened the folder, it contained only a few overly simplistic renderings.

The image shows a grooved metal strip mounted on top of the rifle's receiver.

"I call it, ' Small Arms Tactical Rail '." Takuya tapped the drawing lightly with his finger. "Its core can be summed up in one word: 'Standard'."

He didn't go into detail about the complex technical parameters, but instead explained them in the most intuitive way.

"Imagine, Mr. Wallace. A soldier on the battlefield, he needs to attach a night vision scope to his rifle. He no longer needs to rummage through his toolbox, worry about whether the screws are the right size, or painstakingly calibrate them under stress."

"He simply pulls the lever, slides the scope along the rail, clicks it in, and then locks it with a torque wrench. The whole process takes no more than five seconds, requires minimal calibration and adjustment, and the accuracy remains unchanged no matter how many times it's disassembled and reassembled. Any factory that produces parts according to this standard can perfectly fit it into any gun that also uses this standard."

Matt Wallace's breath hitched slightly.

He wasn't a technician, but he was a businessman who had long been dealing with the military.

He instantly understood how terrifying this thing was.

This isn't just an accessory; it's an ecosystem!

A vast ecosystem dominated by Colt, encompassing all gun manufacturers and accessory suppliers!

Just like the interface of a television set, everyone has to play by its rules.

As for promotion

Takuya abruptly changed the subject, pulling out another document. "I suggest we get Hollywood involved and make a movie about it."

Matt paused for a moment, his train of thought a little slow to follow the Japan's jumps.

"Movie?"