Chapter 1590: Influence
Lu Yin was very close to Fennel Flowzone. And since he had left the conflict with Shamrock Enterprise to Qiong Xi"er, he had no intention of interfering. It was now a matter of who gave in first, and there was nothing that Lu Yin could do to help.
His gadget beeped, and after Lu Yin looked down, a smile appeared on his face as he answered, "Speak."
Yu Mu’s voice came through. "Alliance Leader Lu, I’m the one at fault for Overseer Cong Ying’s att.i.tude towards you. I can make this up to you."
Lu Yin laughed. "He is one of the Hall of Honor’s nine overseers, and he is specifically targeting my Great Eastern Alliance. How can you compensate for that?"
Yu Mu clenched his fists. "Alliance Leader Lu made it so that my Shamrock Enterprise was unable to enter Mt. Microcosms, which badly affected our company. Does Alliance Leader Lu really want to become enemies with Shamrock Enterprise?"
"Are you threatening me?"
"I wouldn’t dare. Given Alliance Leader Lu’s current status, I’m truly a n.o.body. All I ask is for Alliance Leader Lu to give me a chance. Both Shamrock Enterprise and the Great Eastern Alliance hope to end this matter amicably."
"You were the one who instigated this entire affair."
Yu Mu had no grounds to argue. When he had first heard about the conflict, he had been thrilled, but who could have ever imagined that the Great Eastern Alliance would be so thoroughly prepared? They had so many moves prepared in advance that it was as though Shamrock Enterprise was their old enemy. It was even possible that the company’s losses could affect that plan, which absolutely could not be allowed.
"Alliance Leader Lu, please look over the report that I have sent you. This conflict has only been going on for half a month, but during that time, the Great Eastern Alliance has lost three times as many cultivators as normal due to the lack of medicines. These numbers will only continue to mount as this conflict continues, and it in no way benefits the Great Eastern Alliance," Yu Mu said.
Lu Yin arched a brow. "Are the losses that bad?"
"The data doesn’t lie," Yu Mu said seriously.
Lu Yin’s gaze grew more focused. "I haven’t even seen the Great Eastern Alliance’s data yet, but you already have a report on it. That’s truly impressive."
Yu Mu"s heart dropped, and his mouth went dry as he replied. "My Shamrock Enterprise has serviced many different customers from many different places across the years, and we have many sources from which we gather our data. So, it wasn’t difficult to tabulate these calculations."
Lu Yin was not really concerned. While information was indeed a weapon, he would simply pa.s.s this along to Wei Rong. Rather, it was more important to get the data from Shamrock Enterprise. "Am I understanding correctly that Mr. Yu Mu intends to settle this matter with just a few words?"
"I, Yu Mu, am willing to pay the necessary price and will do my best," Yu Mu stated.
Lu Yin sank into thought for a while. "You possess nothing that’s worth my attention."
Yu Mu’s voice dropped low as he asked, "Alliance Leader Lu, are you familiar with Leaf King?"
"Tell me."
"Leaf King founded Shamrock Enterprise, and he has been around for a very long time, possibly even longer than Yuan Shi. During all that time, he has studied the concepts of creation and healing, and his power level exceeds a million at the least. It’s truly not that my Shamrock Enterprise is incapable of moving our headquarters’ hidden world to Mt. Microcosms, but rather that we have simply never bothered to do so. While we may not be able to measure up to Mavis Bank or Aurora Enterprises, we are still fully capable of protecting ourselves.
"This conflict is unnecessary, and it would not be good if Alliance Leader Lu offended Leaf King," Yu Mu slowly said. He made sure to remove any threatening undertones from his voice, doing his best to speak as though he was merely stating facts.
"Offending such a powerhouse is really not smart. In that case, let"s discuss compensation."
Yu Mu"s eyes lit up. "Please tell me."
"First, the resources that Shamrock Enterprise sells to the Great Eastern Alliance must increase tenfold. At the same time, the losses caused by this matter will all be paid by Shamrock Enterprise. Don’t try to pull anything, as you just shared all the data with me," Lu Yin said.
Yu Mu was stunned; he had never expected the data that he had provided to convince Lu Yin would suddenly turn around and become a way to determine the compensation they owed. "Alliance Leader Lu, you’re asking for too much."
"I’m not negotiating this with you. At the moment, this dispute is still just a trivial matter since I have not stepped in yet. The moment I intervene, I can mobilize Leon"s Armada and have them stop your Shamrock Enterprise from developing any further in the Outerverse. I can also ask them to stop you from being able to cross the Cosmic Sea and enter the Neoverse. Oh, I also forgot to mention that I have become a disciple of the Cosmic Sect, and I don"t even need to bow when greeting the sect master," Lu Yin spoke slowly, not caring if Yu Mu believed his claims or not. It did not matter, as Yu Mu was unqualified to agree to Lu Yin’s conditions.
"I need to report this further up," Yu Mu said as he excused himself.
Lu Yin simply ended the call.
"Aren"t you worried that they won"t agree?" Luo Shen was curious. Her eyes sparkled whenever she looked at Lu Yin, as though she could never get enough of him.
"It doesn"t matter whether or not they agree. They don’t have a choice."
"What about their medicines?" Luo Shen asked.
Lu Yin smiled. "I already made a request to the Hall of Honor about that, and several of the overseers agreed to help me. Still worried about medicines?"
Luo Shen nodded and stared at Lu Yin with eyes full of admiration. He enjoyed her worshipful gaze, but it became very uncomfortable whenever he thought about Luo Shen"s feelings towards him. All he could do was wait for them to slowly dissipate.
A day later, just when Lu Yin was about to arrive in Fennel Flowzone, his gadget beeped again—he was being called by an unknown contact. Lu Yin picked up, and a pleasant-sounding voice immediately called out, "Alliance Leader Lu?"
"Who are you?" Lu Yin replied.
"The Shamrock Enterprise’s Innerverse President, Balsam."
Lu Yin was surprised. "So it’s the Innerverse’s president. I understand that Yan is your secretary, correct?"
"That"s right. Does Alliance Leader Lu have a moment to talk?" Balsam asked.
"Please, go ahead."
Balsam changed the audio call to a video call. Instantly, Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. He had not expected Shamrock Enterprise’s Innerverse president to be an amazingly beautiful woman.
Lu Yin"s eyes remained completely focused, and he blocked out all distractions. Balsam and Lu Yin both stared at each other for a moment before she calmly started speaking. "Shamrock Enterprise is afraid of neither compet.i.tion nor war, but in the end, we are businessmen. We try not to use force when we can simply solve things with money."
"So will you agree to my proposal?" Lu Yin asked.
"Before all this, Shamrock Enterprise was already providing the Great Eastern Alliance with a tremendous amount of resources, as these resources were all originally designated for the war against the Sixth Mainland. Even after the invasion ended, we did not cancel the flow of supplies, which was done to demonstrate our respect for the Great Eastern Alliance."
"You have my thanks," Lu Yin said, as he had already been aware of this.
"While the resources that we supply to you each year are not exorbitant, it is certainly not a small amount either. After all, we are supplying the entire Great Eastern Alliance. However, if those resources are increased tenfold, then does Alliance Leader Lu understand what will happen? It would cause Shamrock Enterprise’s holdings in the Outerverse to nearly collapse. They would have to be supplemented by the Innerverse."
Lu Yin did not believe this one bit.
Balsam made her best attempt to show her sincerity as she shared the company’s operations with Lu Yin.
"Increasing the amount of resources that we annually supply to the Great Eastern Alliance tenfold would place a heavy burden on my Shamrock Enterprise. However, as the amount provided in the past was nothing excessive, I hope that accepting this will allow Alliance Leader Lu to appreciate my Shamrock Enterprise’s sincerity in this matter."
Lu Yin had no idea if the woman was being truthful or not, as he had no real understanding of business operations. While Qiong Xi’er would be able to go toe-to-toe with Balsam over such details, Lu Yin had no desire to put in so much effort. Instead, he simply pulled out the Chief Justice’s emblem: the blood-red bell.
Balsam"s pupils shrank, and she stared at Lu Yin in shock.
Lu Yin raised a hand, and stars began revolving around it to form the Celestial Sword Technique.
Balsam was further startled.
"You should understand what the Celestial Sword means within the Cosmic Sect, as well as what this bell is. With these two details and my influence with the nine overseers, I would like to hear just what price Shamrock Enterprise is willing to offer to stop this conflict. I’m all ears," Lu Yin said casually.
Shamrock Enterprise had been the sole instigator of this matter, so Lu Yin was insistent that they offer him compensation. He had thought that it would be unrealistic to expect them to compensate them for the initial conflict, which was why he had agreed to Qiong Xi"er"s request for him to not interfere. But now, Balsam had reached out to him directly. Lu Yin knew that this matter would not continue for very long, and his foremost priority was to make sure that he received proper compensation. There was no need to drag things out.
Balsam had already known about Lu Yin’s influence over the nine overseers as well as his good relationship with the Chief Justice and Arch-Elder Zen, but she never thought that Lu Yin would actually have the Chief Justice’s emblem or that he would have learned the Celestial Sword. That technique made Lu Yin’s status in the Cosmic Sect perfectly clear to her.
Finally, Yuan Shi, Eversky Island, and the Lockbreaker Society all supported this person as well, which gave Lu Yin a truly elevated status.
Balsam had never expected such a young man to be capable of doing so much. The blazing t.i.tle that Lu Yin had as the leader of the Great Eastern Alliance had blinded them to the far more terrifying powers supporting Lu Yin from behind.
There was a reason why Balsam had become Shamrock Enterprise’s Innerverse president, and she was much more decisive than Lu Yin’s expectations.
"Ten times the annual resources is impossible, but I am willing to offer 500 million star essence to resolve this matter and to compensate the Great Eastern Alliance for the losses they’ve suffered due to the recent shortage of pharmaceuticals. Alliance Leader Lu, this is the best that I can offer you," Balsam stated.
While ten times the annual resources might not seem as much as 500 million star essence, since this was an annual offering, it was difficult to calculate what this would eventually amount to. Shamrock Enterprise was very wealthy, but their biggest fear was their production slowing down and harming their operations. That would be the worst possible result.
Lu Yin agreed, and the dispute summarily ended. Shamrock Enterprise would become extremely wary of the Great Eastern Alliance because of this conflict, but only Qiong Xi’er had moved against the company. Lu Yin’s followers more insidious, like Wei Rong, had done nothing. Next time, Lu Yin would be prepared to swallow Shamrock Enterprise whole.
His only concern was the mysterious Leaf King.
"By the way, when we announce the truce, don"t let the matter of this compensation leak. It wouldn’t be beneficial for either of us," Lu Yin warned.
Balsam looked back at Lu Yin and stared at him for a moment as a sliver of fear rose from the bottom of her heart. This person had only just settled a conflict with Shamrock Enterprise, and he was already planning on making moves against others. It was no wonder how he had managed to become the leader of the Great Eastern Alliance and the master of the Outerverse.
A payment of 500 million star essence was not that much to Lu Yin, but it was still a tidy sum.
Qiong Xi"er received orders to stop all actions against Shamrock Enterprise, and everything returned to normal.
However, at the same time, she also received another order: "Shamrock Enterprise Acquisition Plan.’
It was only a few words, and it was clear that Qiong Xi"er and Wei Rong were to fill in the details themselves. There was no need for Lu Yin to do everything personally.
He lifted his head to look up in front. They had arrived at Fennel Flowzone.
?