Chapter 42: Elevate City Consortium

Chapter 42: Elevate City Consortium

Status

Level:

13

EXP:

800/1300

Musculoskeletal:

76

Neural Reflex:

15

Visuomotor Coordination:

27Điscover new chapters at novelhall.com

Endurance:

24

Sensory Perception:

52

Upgrade Points:

0

Upgrades:

Stealth +7Hacking +3Cybernetic Engineering +6Stealth Technology +8Software Engineering +6

Enhancements:

SAID: Zenitech Hoth Mk.3

Optics: Nova Tech Stars Mk.4

Cyberarm (Left): Nova Tech Mudra Mk.6

Cyberarm (Right): Nova Tech Shiva Mk.5

Auditory: Amazing Corp FieldTac Gen 2

Cardiovascular: BioGen Labs Marathon 4

Miscellaneous: HSU Custom Shade

I stared blankly at my status while I organized my thoughts. I have been researching the topic of incorporation since one of my employees brought it up.

My goal was always to strike it rich so that I had full control of my life and could afford better security. I always knew the only viable way was to create my own corporation. There was no way for me to change how society worked here, so I could only join them. Maybe when I became one of the top dogs, I could implement some changes to make this place friendlier and more peaceful. After all, I couldn’t enjoy my riches without a peaceful world.

“Yeah, but I didn’t want to take it too slow either, with the Harvesters and Rust Scrappers threat always hanging nearby.”

“Then I still think we should take our time and hire more people first. A new corp, no matter how small, will draw some attention from the hyenas, so we should be prepared.”

He was right. I was rushing it a bit too fast in the face of profits. What was more important was the ability to defend my wealth being kept up at the same pace.

“Right, we’ll focus on expanding then. I’ll leave it up to you two on that end.”

“I think you’ll love what we have next at 1345 SocialCorp Road. It may be an older building, but it’s at a prime stop within this district. The plot of land is half an acre in total, though the current building doesn’t make full use of the land, you can freely rebuild it after your purchase,” The young man proudly introduced as our ride pulled up to a slightly worn-looking office building.

I exited the car, looked up, and counted five floors. “How high are we allowed to build here?”

“It is currently set to the same height as the current building, so around five stories, six if you stretch it, though it is possible to negotiate with city hall.”

Right, what zoning law could stand up to the might of a bribe in this city?

Surveying the surrounding area, there were a few small businesses, mainly selling food and coffee shops, spread out between the various similar-sized office buildings that likely belonged to some corporation.

Apparently, it wasn’t popular to share an office building in this world as it posed a serious security risk with all the corporate espionage that happened daily. That meant each corp had its own building, which meant the smaller players had mini office buildings in individual plots of land.

The ones in the downtown area were sold to only established corporations, but there were still plenty throughout Elevate City. Fitting as a corporate-controlled city-state to have available offices while the average workers were stuffed into megabuildings. It was also no surprise that the rent for the office buildings actually seemed fair compared to the rent they charged for residential units.

Still, this old five-story office building and the surrounding land will cost one hundred thousand credits per month, more than the annual fee for becoming a corporation. The only reason they managed to convince me of the move was due to another attack on the clinic by some small-time gang looking for some quick money.

I needed a more secure place to live in and more room for the new employees we’ve been hiring. We also planned to turn the ground floor into another clinic as well.

“There are 36 underground parking spots spread across two basement levels. An independent power generator and water filter are included in the rent.” The man continued to babble on as I walked into the lobby.

So far, this seemed to be the best one as it fit the size we were looking for, with ample room to expand into.

“We’ll go with this one. Please start contacting the owner and start drafting up the documents. I also wanted to take a look at the floors above.”

“Of course, sir. I’ll be here getting it ready. Please feel free to head up at your leisure. There is no one else here today.”

The one elevator in the building brought me straight up to the top floor. It wasn’t really high up, being only five floors, but the view from all the full-sized glass pane windows was still a sight to behold. I stared downward where hundreds of ant-sized people went about their day.

Before I could take a seat and relax, my SAID alerted me to an incoming call request.

“Rollo, this is important, go watch the Elevate City news right now!” Leo’s voice immediately rang out.

Leo and Lana had started working for me recently. They had always wanted to return to being a corpos, so they took Claire’s offer without hesitation. The only catch was that they were the ones who created the software that monitored my employees, so at their insistence, I had to put my upgraded software engineering skills to the task.

With Leo being my new head of cyber security, there was no reason for me to doubt him. My optics booted up the news as a new screen took up half my peripheral vision.

“---are only forty-eight hours left until the time limit, then I believe most colonies will declare martial law and restrict all travel as the war begins.” Listening to the newscaster, my eyes immediately got drawn to the bolded headline toward the bottom that read ‘War Declared by Europa Station against Enceladus Station!’

I continued listening in on the details provided about which consortium was against which one, the notable corporations involved, and some expert commentary. Once it was finished, it looped back to the beginning that I hadn’t seen yet.

“For those of you just tuning in, the government of the space colony on Europa Station has just declared war on Enceladus Station for reasons unknown. There is a 48-hour grace period for all those who do not want to get involved to leave as soon as possible. Travel will then be restricted, I repeat, there are only forty-eight hours left until—”

I closed the window and brought the call with Leo back into focus, “That seems serious, stock up on as many materials and medical supplies as possible before the price rises.”

“I’ve already told Claire to get on that, but you need to be worried about other things. War in space means a lot of resources will be directed off-planet, logistics will be screwed up for a while, and you won’t be able to easily find someone to ship your products from your factory in NLA to Elevate City anymore!”

“Shit...it’s too late to find someone to sign a deal, isn’t it...”