Chapter 558: Time to Negotiate
Translator: Limostn Editor: Tennesh
"It's over." The deputy president slumped down in his chair powerlessly. The points earned from the lifelong crown black card members alone were already off the charts, even without considering the huge number of regular members. Chen Feng's points were already shooting far ahead.
Shua! Shua!
Chen Feng's points were increasing by an incredibly frightening amount each second. Looking at this, the deputy president's heart chilled. If this continued, it was likely that Chen Feng could really reach a point where he could afford everything the Genetic Union had to offer, authority included. Sure enough, the Genetic Union held a meeting regarding this shortly afterward. Nearly all the higher-ups were greatly alarmed.
"This won't do," one of the higher ups stated as he sweat profusely.
"Why is there even such a provision in the first place?" the deputy president grumbled.
"This provision was put in place during the early period when the union had only recently been established," that person explained with a bitter smile. "To encourage our members to put more effort into missions, we created this provision where when one has so many points that the union no longer has anything to sell to that person, that person can use their points to buy authority in the union, becoming a shareholder of sorts. This was supposed to be impossible to achieve. Even back then when the Union did not have much to sell, it was still impossible for one to have so many points that the union no longer had anything it could sell to that person. Based on the calculations back then, for a peak A class to obtain sufficient points through missions to achieve something like this, 300 years of hard work would be required. At present, with the huge amount of things the union has for sale, perhaps one would need 30,000 years of hard work to accomplish this."
Everyone lapsed into silence. That's right. If points were merely earned through missions, this would be impossible to accomplish. But now…
Chen Feng was using this spirit art to tempt all the members of the Genetic Union. Among the total members, even if only 10% of them were willing to spend their points, it would still reach a frightening amount.
They all sighed. Back when they were young, they had had a dream. If the entire population of this world were to give them one cent each, they could become a billionaire. Now, Chen Feng had achieved this childhood dream of theirs.
Suddenly, someone asked, "Based on our present calculations, how long will it take him to accrue enough points to buy everything the union has to offer?"
After some calculation, a department head of stated, "Based on our calculations, around 10 days."
Shua!
Instantly, the entire meeting hall sank into silence. Ten days… In short, something a peak beyond A class would require 30,000 years to accomplish would be accomplished by Chen Feng in 10 days?
"After 10 days, Chen Feng will be qualified to purchase authority in the Genetic Union. Based on the current growth rate of his points, he will be able to purchase around 0.1% of the Union's authority on the 11th day," that person analyzed calmly.
"Just 0.1%..." Someone heaved a sigh of relief. "That's still tolerable."
"Oh, right. I forgot to mention that even when it comes to the purchase of authority, the speed is still growing," that person stated coldly. "At present, this spirit art of Chen Feng's is extremely popular. As time passes, the amount of points he earns will only increase. On the 12th day, he might be able to purchase 0.2%. On the 13th day, 0.4%. On the 14th day, 0.7%. On the 15th day, 1%, and so on."
Shua!
Their expressions changed.
He would be able to purchase 1% five days after his first purchase? In short, he would have purchased a total of 2.4% in five days? This was an extremely terrifying number, and all this was merely an estimate.
One head of department stood up abruptly. "We must stop him." They could not allow the Genetic Union to become the private property of a lone individual.
The deputy president sighed. "How are we supposed to stop him?"
Chen Feng was not an enemy, and everything he was doing was in accordance with the laws of the Genetic Union. Who could stop him? They couldn't lock him up with no apparent reason, right?
Suddenly, the head of the Strategy Department said, "We definitely can't use brute force. However, if we use public opinion against him…"
The deputy president's interest was piqued. "What do you mean?"
"Essentially, the only way Chen Feng is earning points is by selling the weakened state remover," that person analyzed calmly. "Based on our understanding, something that only costs 3 points is being sold at 100 points by Chen Feng. Therefore, what if we sold the same thing for only 3 points? With Chen Feng selling at 100 points yet us selling at 3 points, what would happen?"
Everyone sank into contemplation.
The deputy president shook his head. "That's not possible. Chen Feng is the one who controls the Gene Production Association."
That person shook his head. "We don't even need to produce the reagents ourselves. We only need to let the masses know of our intention to do this, let them know that we are about to do this. That will be sufficient. Public opinion will dictate what happens afterward."
"…"
The deputy president sank into silence.
The head of the Materials Department had an unsightly expression. "But doing it this way, we will make a loss as well. At that time, we will be operating at a loss, selling the same thing that has made Chen Feng such crazy profit. Why not sell it at 50 points instead? That way, we can still profit somewhat."
Shua!
Everyone looked at him like he was some sort of idiot.
He was dumbstruck. "That won't do?"
The deputy president sighed. "What's the point? You sell at 50 points, while Chen Feng is selling at 100 points. Next, he will reduce his price to 40 points, and you will react by reducing your price to 30 points. What do you think we are doing? Do you think we are selling some vegetables? Moreover, you have forgotten the fact that we can't even produce the gene reagents. The only route we can take is suppressing Chen Feng using public opinion, turning this entire thing into some sort of social benefit for the masses. Do you know what social benefit is? Do you think Chen Feng is an idiot? Making it some sort of social benefit is the only way of suppressing Chen Feng, the only way of making him give up. After all… we are all fighting for humanity."
As the rest heard this, they gained understanding. Immediately after the meeting, the Genetic Union proceeded as they had agreed upon. Soon, the entire world was in an uproar.
"Have you heard? The Genetic Union is planning to take over this spirit art of Chen Feng's."
"Yeah, I heard. It is rumored that the Genetic Union is prepared to compensate Chen Feng at a great price. In the future, everyone will only need to pay 5 points to remove the weakened state."
"It is said that for the sake of resisting the devil race and the ancient race, the Genetic Union is willing to suffer loss. We only need to pay 5 points for each removal, while the Genetic Union will be subsidizing the remaining 95 points."
"Yeah, I heard that as well."
"Wow, that's good."
"Well, the premise of all this is Chen Feng actually being willing to sell. Otherwise, the Genetic Union won't do anything about it anyway."
Everyone started talking about this.
In this unique era, the Genetic Union played a unique role. When this huge organization announced this, everyone was moved. This was especially true for the fact that the Genetic Union was willing to suffer a loss for humanity. This alarmed countless people. This single announcement had extremely grave repercussions, with the most obvious being the dramatic drop in the number of people purchasing the member cards and the number of people purchasing the weakened state remover.
Apart from the rich who had no fear, a large majority of people started waiting and looking forward to the promised 5 points. This plan of Genetic Union's seemed to be greatly effective.
Indeed, this Master Spirit Trainer had brought the public much joy. However, the 100 points that could only remove the weakened state once would soon allow them to remove the weakened state 20 times, renewing their challenge attempts 20 times. Naturally, this was something everyone was willing to accept. It reached a point where a petition was submitted, hoping that Chen Feng would be willing to relinquish his grip on the spirit art, with the reason given being "for the sake of humanity."
At present, it was of utmost importance that humans increased their strength. Even the cheapskate Genetic Union was already willing to suffer such a huge loss for the sake of humanity. As such, they hoped that Chen Feng would be willing to reduce the amount of profit he earned for the sake of humanity as well. The number of signatures on the petition increased without stop.
"Look at this." Smiling, the head of the Strategy Department stated, "This is the so-called public opinion. Now, how much longer do you think Chen Feng can hold on? Soon, the time to negotiate will come."