Darkstone Code

Chapter 663 - 0660 Impossible

"Mr. Wardrick, thank you very much for your diligent attitude towards the group’s work. You need not worry; perhaps someone forgot to inform you that the contract modification was approved by us."

The gentle voice held no trace of anger, and even across the phone line, one could imagine the calm demeanor of the elderly person on the other end.

Some people have such a presence that even if you can’t see them, you can vividly picture them in your mind when interacting with them.

"Why wasn’t I informed? Up until now, no one has notified me..." Mr. Wardrick’s tone was somewhat resentful. Such a significant contract modification, and no one had informed him? He was, after all, the group’s president!

"I need an explanation, Mr. Chairman."

Suddenly, a voice interrupted their conversation, "Watch your attitude, Wardrick. Decisions regarding subsidiaries don’t necessarily need to be reported to you."

Mr. Wardrick was the president of the group company, responsible for the group’s daily operations, and important decisions from subsidiary companies were submitted to him in written reports at fixed times every week.

That was why the guy outside held a nominal position as a subsidiary CEO, and his proposal was passed by the board, creating a procedural sequence issue.

Reporting before voting compared to voting before reporting might seem similar, but in reality, Mr. Wardrick would not know this information until the following week, while they had already approved it, creating an information gap.

A week was enough for them to do many things, including creating a fait accompli, signing this contract unknown to him.

By the time he was informed, nothing could be changed, just like now.

"Mr. Wardrick had good intentions; we shouldn’t blame him. On the contrary, I think we should encourage such behavior."

"All of us uniting together is ’Megan’, and we need to hold together."

"Let me explain a bit, Mr. Wardrick; besides this agreement, we signed a memorandum and supplementary clauses..."

In just these few days, someone had submitted a proposal to the board through certain channels, and the person who submitted the proposal was a small company president within the consortium.

What is a consortium? To put it simply, it’s a group controlling a vast amount of wealth, and it’s not owned by one person but by a group of people.

Where there are people there are classes, some with high status and power, others with low status and little influence, but as long as they are within this group, communication is never a problem.

This guy proposed a hypothesis: would Soron eventually breach the contract by various means?

It’s quite possible; everyone actually knew the real purpose of Soron’s direct signing of this big order with the consortium was not solely to obtain the early released power generation units but to target Lynch.

Lynch wanted to achieve a grand entrance in the Amelia Region, which didn’t align with the interests of the Gafura people, so Governor Sedel arranged for Soron to sneak attack the Federation, cutting off Lynch’s retreat.

Once they accomplished this, it meant they had achieved their actual interest pursuit — to thwart Lynch’s strong debut in the Amelia Region.

As for getting the most advanced power generation units, they weren’t really concerned — given the current technology Gafura possessed wasn’t that far behind what the Federation launched, they could fully meet the local power demand through duplicate construction and simultaneously expand the influence of Gafura’s local merchants.

By constructing power plants with higher capacity, more stability, and larger scale, they’d gain more competitive advantage in similar international orders in the future.

One should know that the Federation proposed using secure installation methods to ensure these generators couldn’t be disassembled, and even with such harsh terms, the Gafura people agreed, which made the board members uneasy.

This idea was closely aligned with the current situation’s development, so the board summoned this lower-level management member who proposed the idea overnight and discussed some coping strategies.

Excluding the less important or less altered clauses, the most significant modification was increasing the penalty to nine billion, an increase achieved after the board chairman spoke with some dignitaries in Congress.

If a debt dispute arises in trade between the Federation and Gafura’s civilian sectors, they would support Megan Consortium in striving for their interests at the appropriate time according to the agreement.

In other words, with the promises of these Members of Parliament, if the other side breached the contract, the Federation would pressure Gafura — this was national power!

After that, during both sides’ private emergency negotiations, a memorandum and supplementary clauses were signed to supplement the main contract, while also standing independently.

Soron’s side had no objections to this; after all, penalty provisions were relative. If he breached the contract, he would naturally have to bear the corresponding responsibilities, but the same would apply if the Federation breached it.

Moreover, this six billion order wasn’t to be completed at once; it would be carried out in stages, with the entire process taking roughly three to five years.

The memorandum also mentioned that if in three to five years the contract company acquired more advanced power generation technology, the procured goods would automatically upgrade to the latest technological goods, with price fluctuations following the market.

This was a more detailed contract for both parties, with more constraints and rights, and neither side had any objections to it.

"...that’s the situation. We all agree that this new contract better protects our interests, and I believe you won’t oppose it after knowing."

The gentle voice ended, and Mr. Wardrick fell into thought. If he hadn’t interacted with Lynch before and didn’t know what Lynch was up to, he might not see much problem with this approach.

With Congress and the Federation Government’s assistance, it provided the possibility of cross-border recovery of huge penalties, and considering this, Governor Sedel wouldn’t breach the contract casually.

This meant that the six billion contract had a stable guarantee, and as for the subsequent new technology updates, they appeared reasonable to the consortium’s board.

"Mr. Chairman, have you considered that we might become the breaching party?" Mr. Wardrick still wanted to make a final salvage attempt, raising a scenario that the board had never considered before.

Various kinds of laughter then came from the phone, and behind these laughs were members of the board, laughing heartily, with some laughing to tears.

"Mr. President, sometimes I have to admit your ideas are quite... quite... like an unbridled wild horse. You’re suited to write scripts, Mr. President..."

"Wardrick, that’s the funniest joke I’ve heard this year..."

"You know, you changed my perception of you; I never thought you were so humorous..."

People commented on the ridiculousness of this assumption, with a tone that carried mockery, laughing at Wardrick.

The chairman also laughed, but his laughter was not so harsh, just as his image suggested — an intellectual, experienced, and wise old man.

"Mr. Wardrick, thank you for reminding us of the risk, and forgive me for my forthcoming arrogance. I dare say no one can make us fail, indeed, no one!"

"I think your cautionary considerations are unlikely to come true."

The gentlest voice spoke the most arrogant words, but he indeed had the right to do so. If not for the talk with Lynch, even Mr. Wardrick wouldn’t believe it could happen.

Seeing that he couldn’t persuade these people, Mr. Wardrick could only sigh, "Alright, let’s hope it’s just my mind wandering. I’m sorry for alarming everyone with my personal issues."

"It’s okay, Mr. Wardrick, we’re glad you called, it shows we’re always united..."

After hanging up the phone, Mr. Wardrick looked at the phone for a while and then shook his head; he needed to calm down.

The news of Megan Consortium’s big order with Soron immediately stirred a commotion within the Federation, with the most direct reaction being the varying increases in the shares of listed companies related to Megan Consortium that day.

And this was Megan Consortium’s second-level objective — to use positive news to stimulate the financial market, leading to an increase in the value of every shareholder.

People like the group board members — possibly in just one day, their personal assets inflated by several percent to over ten percent.

Don’t underestimate this seemingly inconspicuous single-digit or over ten percent; with a large enough base, this is an astounding number!

In a house in the Half Mountain Villa District of Bupen, Lynch was enjoying a fine steak while watching the news on TV.

"According to the report from our reporter, the Danlimore Research Center under the Megan Consortium is already clearly leading in power generation technology and thermal energy conduction worldwide..."

Lime, sitting on the side, glanced at Lynch while watching the report, "Mr. Lynch, are we really going to short Danlimore’s stock?"

Lynch nodded with a smile, putting down his knife and fork and picking up a napkin to dab his mouth. He didn’t answer Lime’s question but asked about something else.

"I heard your studio has started operating?"

Lime had been following Lynch for some time, and Lynch had delivered on his promises, allowing him to have his own venture.

Lime started a financial brokerage company, and naturally, Lynch put in some money, holding a certain amount of shares.

This financial brokerage company was similar to most brokerage firms in Bupen, but Lime’s was more high-end; it included not only ordinary financial services but also industrial services.

In just one year, Lime owned his own business, and thinking of this made his smile even brighter.