Chapter 62 (2/2)

“I’ve thought about it, too. What use would acquiring a special ability be at my age, anyway? This is all destiny.” Andre chuckled, bearing a fairly optimistic outlook in life as he expressed his thoughts.

Xia Fei pulled out papers and handed it to Andre and Wulong. “I plan to establish a holding company which specializes in introducing technological advancements from other civilizations to Earth, then cooperate with the major companies in the Earth Federation by investing in technology.”

This talk of investment had immediately piqued Andre’s interest. He promptly scanned through the business proposal, his expression growing more excited the more he read.

“Xia Fei, this is a great idea. Right now, the various major companies have been stressing over their inability to pioneering advanced technology here on Earth. If you collaborate with them and provide the technologies they lack, they will most definitely be happy to do so. This will be a huge boon to the Federation as a whole,” sincerely opined Andre.

Wulong was not the sort to involve himself in something like investments, so he could not make heads or tails of what he was reading no matter how much he did. “Though I have no knowledge of investments, I do feel that your idea isn’t too bad. Since you’re gonna do it, I’ll jump into it with you.” Wulong patted his chest as he gave his word.

Andre handed the document to Charlie. “What are your thoughts on this?”

Charlie conscientiously read the document containing Xia Fei’s initial idea carefully. He spoke only after he was done reading the pile and had placed it on the table. “Earth is now only at the initial stage of civilization and lacks the power itself, but we do have cheap labor, and a base salary of six thousand federal dollars a month is no more than sixty cents in star currency. Such labor costs will simply be too low.”

“The development model you’re proposing here is very similar to what the Japanese did after World War II—utilizing low-cost labor to seize control of the market, then waiting until the necessary funds have been gathered to initiate the second and even third industrial upgrade, and establishing a powerful industry in the process.”

“This is best suited for the Earth Federation at its current stage of development. I do believe establishing such a company will not only bring in considerable profits but also greatly accelerate Earth’s progress itself. Still, based on your drafted proposal, we’ll need a large-scale investment to get started. How much do you intend to invest?”

Charlie truly lived up to his name as a finance genius, able to comprehend Xia Fei’s intention just by going through the document once.

“A hundred million star coins,” softly answered Xia Fei as he lifted a finger.

The three men nearly fell off their chairs from the shock they got. A hundred million star coins were equivalent to a trillion Federal dollars. Such an astronomical sum would even cause someone who was used to seeing such large figures like Andre to feel their hearts leap out of their chests.

“Do you really intend to invest a hundred million star coins?!” asked Andre, buzzing in his excitement.

“That’s right.” Xia Fei nodded.

Upon recalling that Xia Fei had once spent ten million on a flower, the three were no longer that shocked to hear him say that he would invest a hundred million star coins just to set up this holding company.

Andre laughed bitterly. “I originally intended to use my family funds to participate in this project of yours, but it seems that this plate you’ve got is simply too big, and the Rothchilds presently don’t have the power to do so.”

Xia Fei did not share this sentiment. “I’ll need your help in managing this company of mine, so you and Wulong will hold ten percent of the stocks.”

Andre immediately shook his head. “What sort of joke are you pulling? That’s an a-hundred-million-star-coin project you’re talking about; ten percent of that will come at about ten million star coins.”

Xia Fei lit a cigarette, looking all serious. “I’m not kidding. I only plan to invest, so you guys have to manage it for me. Trust me; ten percent of the shares isn’t overkill.”

Andre remained skeptical. “I’ve got plenty of friends in the investment bank, and they are all experts with rich experience in the field. If you lack a manager, I can introduce you to some talents that I know.”

Xia Fei laughed. “I definitely won’t entrust my back to someone I don’t know.”

“That, you don’t have to worry about. They are all professionals, so their character isn’t in question,” insisted Andre.

Xia Fei shook his head. “I don’t see it your way. I can only trust those who have gone through a life-and-death experience with me. In our search for Atlantis, that dangerous expedition that we embarked on together is the only reason why I’m willing to trust you guys. No matter how much you praise those men’s character before me, I’m sorry, but I won’t have any confidence in their capabilities.”

There were two levels of consideration why Xia Fei was so adamant about Andre and Wulong being his co-shareholders. While he indeed trusted these two, it was also because he had gotten plenty of benefits from that search for Atlantis, so this was a disguised compensation for them.

Andrew nodded his head slightly. “If you have that much faith in me, then you can just leave this matter to us; we won’t let you down.”

….

Four days later, Xia Fei sold all the spoils he had collected during the assessment for a total of 1.864 billion star coins.

Handing over a hundred million star coins to Andre as the startup funds for the holding company, Xia Fei proceeded to board a flight, which brought him out into the vast sea of stars all by himself.