Chương 147: Chapter 146: The Negotiating Table of World Tycoons

The summit conference room on the thirtieth floor of the Grand Hyatt Seoul looked straight out over the Han River, sunk in quiet darkness. Around the round table, representatives from several major Hunter Guilds - from the US, China, Japan, England, and France - sat with counsel and a restrained security detail behind them. Click. The conference room door opened. Lucian, in a sharply tailored black suit, strode in.

Beside him walked Eleanor in a formal dark suit; Sylvia, in office attire, followed close behind, clutching a stack of financial files. Lucian pulled out the chair at the head of the table, facing the visiting delegations, and sat down, crossing his legs at ease. BANG! The president of Guild Titan of the US - Thomas Hale (World Class Hunter and Guild executive) - slammed his massive hand, a ten-carat diamond ring on one finger, down on the glass table.

Thomas Hale glared at Lucian with bloodshot blue eyes, snapping through his interpretation earpiece.

"Kid! Vance Earth Holdings is a new private company in Korea. You dare use a seventy-percent pilot profit-share policy to disrupt a market that actually has costs?" Thomas gritted his teeth, jabbing a finger at the military-grade laptop in front of him.

"We can file complaints, challenge permits, and press our governments to scrutinize your compliance. Do not mistake a pilot for immunity." The other delegates watched in silence, waiting for the ten-year-old to panic. Lucian didn't move. He picked up his sparkling mineral water, took a small sip, then reached over and casually spun the tablet to face Thomas Hale.

The tablet showed Vance Commerce's documented off-world supply agreements, the Korean pilot's cost records, and a proposed schedule of lawful materials deliveries.

"Mr. Thomas." Lucian tapped the screen lightly. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"Mr. Hale. Our leverage is simpler: the pilot is lowering clearing costs while offering workers a better deal. You are free to compete, negotiate, or improve your own terms." Lucian looked straight into the executive's shocked eyes, the corner of his mouth curving up.

"If your Guild wants an agreement, it will be a lawful framework for distribution, training, and arbitration - not a button that crashes a market." Thomas Hale's hand, hovering over his keyboard, froze solid. Cold sweat ran down the American executive's temples. He studied the pilot cost records and the proposed framework rather than finding the threat he had expected. Eleanor, seated beside Lucian as the project's spokesperson, folded her gloved hands and listened with cool attention.

"And before anyone reaches for theatrics: Astra will not be used as commercial pressure. She is downstairs buying ice cream. Let us discuss the terms like adults." Several delegates swallowed hard, then reached for their counsel's notes. The room went quiet. The executives remembered the controlled Seoul incident, but none of them mistook that memory for a legal argument. [UNIFIED SYSTEM V2. 0: NEGOTIATION NOTE] Observed outcome: the parties are considering a non-exclusive pilot framework.

No market share, public exchange, or foreign regulatory authority has been granted. Potential value depends on actual compliance, performance, and counterparties. Sylvia stepped forward, laying a concise Vance Earth Holdings pilot framework before each delegation: non-exclusive distribution discussions, worker-safety training, transparent accounting, and arbitration. Thomas Hale read it, then signed only a memorandum to continue negotiations after counsel reviewed the terms.

The other delegations requested the same review window. The meeting opened a set of commercial conversations; it did not hand any company control of humanity's mana-stone market. CRACK! WHOOSH! Before the memorandum could be filed, the conference room lights flickered and every phone on the table began vibrating at once. Emergency networks and broadcasters began interrupting ordinary coverage with the same breaking bulletin. An emergency alarm cut through the room from the national alert feed.

[GLOBAL EMERGENCY BULLETIN] THE FIRST EX-RANK DUNGEON GATE IN HUMAN HISTORY HAS APPEARED. Location: sky above the Mariana Trench, Pacific Ocean. Its output exceeds the available field instruments' classification range. Threat assessment: potentially catastrophic unless contained. The delegates shot up from their chairs, faces drained of color as they stared at their phone screens.

Lucian handed the unsigned framework papers back to Sylvia to file, then stood and walked out onto the balcony, looking east toward a distant column of violet-black light. The corner of the ten-year-old's mouth curved into a cold smile.

"An EX-Rank Calamity Gate?" He turned to look at Eleanor.

"New market, new customer base, and now a crisis. Fine. Time to protect the pilot and clear one last dungeon before we go home."