Volume 8: A Trip to the Sick Village Chapter 350 Preparing for Takeoff
"Let's not talk about this for now... The first thing we have to solve is the communication problem with the locals." Ke Lan said, "I think we may have to change our plan."
"How?" asked Layton.
"We'll find a ship that carries supplies and new patients, disguise ourselves as radiation sickness patients, and sneak into the sick village." Ke Lan said. Originally, they were planning to take the "Greece" to the space station, but if they did that, the attitude of the locals toward them would probably not be much different from that of the previous groups of explorers... Not to mention finding Marshall, even gathering information would become extremely difficult.
"But... if I want to disguise myself as a radiation sickness patient, I can't wear protective clothing, and I can't carry some large weapons and equipment with me. I might even have to eat the same food as the locals. Wouldn't the risk be too great to do so?" Ivan said worriedly.
"Not everyone is pretending to be radiation sickness patients. Asano Akira and I are the only ones pretending to be patients. Ivan and Layton, you still maintain your identity as explorers. We will split into two groups, one in the light and one in the dark... We will be responsible for gathering information and finding people, and you will be responsible for attracting the attention of the locals and providing us with support when necessary."
"Ah? Why me again? I don't like being stared at by a bunch of weirdos all day long..." Layton said a little aggrievedly, "I always feel uneasy."
"You and Ivan are both wearing cyborg prostheses. Do you think low-level miners who can't even afford the treatment of chronic radiation sickness can afford such equipment?" Ke Lan took a look and said bluntly.
"Okay... okay." Layton responded dejectedly. Although he didn't like the feeling of being targeted, he would definitely not replace this prosthetic body with an outdated model like Bartlett's. To him, this cyborg prosthetic body built by himself was almost like his second life.
"I checked the registration records of the airport. It happens that a transport ship of the Mitsui Group will deliver dozens of miners suffering from radiation sickness and a batch of supplies to the space station in a week. With the help of Sakurai Na's relationship, we should be able to take advantage of it." Ke Lan said, "There is still plenty of time... I wanted to take advantage of these few days to deal with the contract between Qin Zhao and the Polaris Hunter Group, but according to the news from the Soma Group, it seems that we don't need to worry about this matter."
"What's going on?" asked the Hound.
"The Anderson Group recently adjusted its industrial structure, and it seems that they want to focus on the military industry and biopharmaceuticals. They built six new production lines for mecha parts, and three of them have been put into production. They originally planned to take advantage of the popularity of the mecha competition to launch new products in time to seize the market, but as you all know, because of the Mann incident, the finals were postponed for a full three months... The size and strength of the Anderson Group are far inferior to those of the Ye family, which caused their already tight cash flow to be cut off all of a sudden..."
"This is called retribution. It's very satisfying." muttered the hound.
"It's mainly because the risk assessment was not done properly... and who would have thought that something like this would happen in a mecha competition." Ke Lan shrugged, "But this is good news for us... because they plan to sell the Polaris Hunter Group as a package. Unfortunately, it seems that no consortium has shown a desire to buy it now."
Layton said, "I just checked. The Anderson Consortium put all of the shares of the North Star Hunter Group up for sale six days ago...but no one bought them. In six days, the market value of the North Star Hunter Group has plummeted by 37%."
"Hmph, I guess they are as anxious as ants on a hot pot... A broken capital chain is no small matter. If the North Star Hunting Group can't be sold, the bank will come knocking on their door, and they can only auction off the mortgaged assets... By the way, Ke Lan, you don't want to take over the North Star Hunting Group, do you?" The Hound stretched out his index finger to pick his nose, and then flicked out a booger with his fingernail. "To be honest, I don't like those guys very much."
"Although the Polaris Hunting Group is doing well, it's not a loss to take it over." Ke Lan said, "But compared to our God Hunter Group, Polaris is still a bit too large. If we merge hastily, we'll easily be taken over... Besides, we can't come up with so much cash to buy the entire Polaris Hunting Group in a short time."
"So what are you going to do?"
"Old Dog, go and negotiate with them. We only want the weapons and equipment of the Polaris Hunting Group, the exploration equipment, and the archive of relics they have built over the years, plus a transfer contract from Qin Zhao... As for the hunters, logistics, real estate, land and other different assets, we don't want any of them. I think... it shouldn't cost much."
"Shit... this is going to be difficult. I understand now. Although I am not going to go to the sick village, you obviously don't intend to leave me idle." The Hound took out a cigarette and patted Layton beside him. "Big guy, take out your welding gun and lend it to me. I can't find my lighter."
"You can give it a try and hone your negotiation skills. You can compromise on anything anyway. You just need to poach Qin Zhao. Everything else is just extra." Ke Lan said with a smile.
"Negotiation skills, what negotiation skills do I have? If it comes to swearing, I have the confidence to deal with ten people on the other side. But if you want me to negotiate this kind of thing, you'd better not hold too much hope." The Hound lit a cigarette, took a big puff, and said.
"The people that Zofia borrowed from us will go with you. Leave the details to professionals . Old Dog, you will be in charge of the situation. If the opponent goes too far, just scold him and make him doubt his life. Anyway, they are the ones who need help now."
"Okay, I'll bring Zhuoligetu with me. If we can't reach an agreement, I'll press the other person's head on the negotiation table." The Hound said, and while Layton wasn't paying attention, he put out the cigarette butt directly on his mechanical arm.
"Fuck! You old bastard! I just painted it the day before yesterday!!"
…
…
A week later, the Sixth Airport in East District 11.
Coincidentally, when they boarded the Aurora Group's transport ship to the "Pioneer" icebreaker, they were also at this airport. Today can be said to be a revisit to the old place.
However, this time, the treatment they enjoyed was completely different from before - because of Sakurai Nana, not only did the Mitsui Group specially arrange a pick-up vehicle, but even the captain of the transport ship was waiting at the entrance of the airport to greet them.
"This scene... really shows great respect." Looking at the crew members standing in a row as if waiting for inspection, Ke Lan couldn't help but sigh.
"Of course. Now you should know what a wise decision it is to agree to let me join you, right?" said Sakurai Na, who came with Ke Lan and the others.
