The Fallen Young Lady...

Inside the teahouse.

Hell continued flipping through the contracts as she waited for the notarizing lawyer to arrive. Before long, she had finished reading the entire stack.

The terms of the contract were as follows:

Hell, as the founder, and Titan Capital, as a partner, would jointly establish a private company called Hell Kingdom, focusing on IP development and licensing for the magical girl Hell.

Hell herself would hold a 34% stake as a contribution of expertise, while Titan Capital would hold 66% through its investment.

Because of Hell's special status as a magical girl, her shares would be bearer shares, held in trust through a cryptographic key.

Tang Wenjie would serve as Titan Capital's shareholder representative and Magical Girl Hell's first agent.

Hell's hand suddenly stopped at the section on equity distribution. She held up the contract and said to Tang Wenjie:

"I want a 51% stake."

Tang Wenjie asked in confusion, "Are you sure you want that large a stake? Normally, new superheroes and magical girls hold 34%."

These days, the major companies' venture capital contracts for superhumans had become well-established and monopolized, complete with their own set of unwritten rules.

A 34% stake was acceptable to capital, and the vast majority of superheroes and magical girls could accept it as well.

"If you want a 51% stake, Miss Hell, you'll need to put up some money for the initial investment."

"That's a hard-and-fast company rule," Tang Wenjie said.

Hell put down the contract. "How much?"

Tang Wenjie closed his eyes and thought for a moment. "A minimum of $250,000. That's as low as my authority allows me to go."

The initial investment in Hell Kingdom would be approximately $1 million. The money would go through the company accounts and be used for the first round of publicity and promotion for her personal IP.

If Hell held only 34%, Colossus could cover the entire amount.

But if Hell wanted 51%, she would have to contribute part of the startup capital, sharing the risk along with the ownership.

Hell nodded. "All right. I'll make a call."

Tang Wenjie nodded. "No problem."

Hell then got up and headed to the teahouse courtyard.

Tang Wenjie sat in his rosewood chair and leisurely brewed himself some tea.

Under the original rules, Hell actually needed to invest at least $500,000 before Colossus would agree to that shareholding arrangement.

But Tang Wenjie had used his authority as a manager to bring the amount down as low as possible, because he had guessed a few things.

First of all, this young lady definitely had an extraordinary background. After all, only a prominent family could have raised someone with her bearing and personality.

But it was probably also true that this young lady was short on money at the moment.

So far, Tang Wenjie had found no information on Hell whatsoever. That meant the family behind her was either terrifyingly powerful or had fallen into complete decline.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have come looking to work with him.

After all, if her family still retained some of its former influence, she could have held a controlling stake in and operated her own company.

Some magical girls born into wealthy families did just that.

Saionji Kirika, for example, the magical girl Nightingale, was the Saionji Family's only magical girl, and she had never lacked money.

Then there was the superhero Red Owl, who not only ran his own company but had also signed the superhero Scarlet Spider.

So, to spare the feelings of the "young lady from a fallen family" before him, Tang Wenjie kept his thoughts to himself and quietly lowered the amount.

As a professional agent, he genuinely saw great commercial value in Hell and had a faint feeling...

If he failed to sign Hell, he would surely regret it in the future.

But Tang Wenjie would never have imagined that Hell had chosen to work with him simply to complete a system mission.

As for the shares, Hell simply didn't want Titan Capital to hold too much, lest it contend with her for control of the company later on.

Anything she could avoid early on, she would do her best to avoid early on.

Her own strength in the future would surely far exceed their current expectations of her.

So spending $250,000 for a 51% stake was essentially investing in herself. She definitely wouldn't lose out.

In the secluded courtyard, Hell laid a magical curtain around her, then undid her transformation and took out his phone. After hesitating for a moment, he called Scarlet Spider.

The phone rang twice before the call was answered.

The person on the other end was breathing hard, with the faint sound of wind in the background. "Hey, hello. I'm out running right now. Could you give me a minute?"

Mo Zhen: "Sure."

On the other side of the city, Scarlet Spider held his phone and talked to Mo Zhen while fighting three knife-wielding robbers with one hand.

He quickly bundled the three thugs up in webs and left them hanging upside down. Only then did he hang upside down in midair himself and pick up his phone again.

"I'm done. Go ahead."

Mo Zhen: "Mr. Scarlet Spider, I'd like to borrow some money from you."

Scarlet Spider: "How much?"

"A hundred and fifty thousand US dollars."

"Give me your account number."

Mo Zhen was a little surprised. "...You're agreeing to it?"

Scarlet Spider's voice carried a hint of pride. "Uh-huh. Didn't I tell you? My salary really is high."

His big boss, Red Owl, known on the street as Terrifying Owl, was not only rich himself but also paid him generously.

There was still a huge signing bonus sitting in Scarlet Spider's personal account, and he didn't know what to do with it.

He didn't have many places to spend money. After paying off his aunt's mortgage, he had bought some cameras and lenses with what was left, but the number was still just as large.

In fact, Scarlet Spider was even a little happy to hear Mo Zhen ask him for a loan, because Mo Zhen had chosen to ask him for help instead of going back to a dangerous place like a nightclub.

"Thank you, Mr. Scarlet Spider."

Mo Zhen couldn't help feeling a little emotional. He really hadn't known his good brother was so rich.

He had originally planned to ask Scarlet Spider first, then go to Saionji Kirika if that didn't work out. One way or another, he would have been able to scrape together enough.

He hadn't expected Scarlet Spider to cover the whole amount on his own.

"No need to thank me. What can I say? I'm a good spider." Scarlet Spider's tone was cheerful. "Text me your account number. I'll transfer it to you in a bit."

"I'll pay you back as soon as I can," Mo Zhen said.

He had never been the sort to treat a good brother poorly. If he really managed to take his company public and make money in the future, he would definitely pay him back a hundred or a thousand times over.

And there was no need to ask what would happen if he lost money. It wasn't as if he'd run away; at worst, he could just pay it back slowly.

Scarlet Spider: "It's fine. No rush."

Beep, beep.

After the call ended.

Scarlet Spider looked at the account number he had been sent, tapped the screen to complete the transfer, then raised his phone and took a photo of himself with the three criminals struggling and going "mmph, mmph."

"Hey, guys, I'm in a good mood today."

He sent the picture to a group chat called Owl Squad. There weren't many people in it, only seven.

Morgan Blackhand: "It's the middle of the night, little spider. How come you're still not done for the day? In a good mood, huh? Want to come have a drink with me at the bar?"

The attached picture showed a perfectly mixed Manhattan and a sexy bunny girl in black stockings nestled in his arms, her sexy figure paired with red-soled high heels.

Scarlet Spider: "Uh... I'll pass."

Blackhand: "Haha, I forgot you're still an underage brat."

Doctor Dawn: "@Scarlet Spider, if you're free, you can come help me test my latest cybernetic prosthetic."

Scarlet Spider: "NO! Last time that bunch of robots you made went out of control, they nearly beat me into spider caviar! I'm never trusting you again!"

Red Owl (note: Terrifying Owl): "@Scarlet Spider, I have a mission for you this weekend. It concerns the Reynolds Group. They're preparing to hold a press conference in Tianhe City on controlled nuclear fusion technology."

"Intelligence suggests someone may cause trouble at the venue and sabotage the press conference."

"I remember you attend a high school nearby. I'll arrange places for your school to attend through a third party. Make sure you sign up."

Scarlet Spider: "Roger that, BOSS!"