FB: Chapter 72 – Politics

Winner! Standard 1v1: 890-0 Champion 1v1: 75-0 Tournament: 3-0
Please return to the platform to leave the arena.

I didn’t have any more matches, but the message was still the same. Not many Champions wanted to face me after the Arena Massacre as it was being called. The number of memes quickly exploded to world ending potential.

A picture of me facing a massive horde with the label, ‘winner already determined’. My favorite was me looking at a crowd with the label, ‘are you satisfied yet, answer is no’. I was going to force QAI to cough up the next title in the champion title track no matter what. I needed that extra title slot for the weight reduction title.

I returned to the small building my guild purchased at the edge of the Capital for guild members who were there. It wasn’t as big or nice as our main guild hall, but it was a good feature for the guild to have to save money for the people who were based in the Capital. I had moved my office here as well. While the main coliseum didn’t show my regular matches, I could have matches through it as a tournament winner, since non-tournament and non-champion coliseum matches were instanced.

“Welcome back,” Henry said to me while I went to my desk in my office. He had a desk in here as well, so I could ask him questions or give him orders without having to summon him.

“Thanks. Oh, not many reports today,” I said while looking through my pile of paperwork.

“We are upgrading various capsules to medical nanite capsules. Yours is a part of that along with other staff members. Also, there is news that various governments are moving into Exponential as well, including China, India, and Russia,” Henry said.

“And what about the US?” I asked.

“Possibly. You have received a Congressional summons to testify before the House Committee on Exponential as its leading player,” he said.

“When?” I asked.

“That is up to you, but the suggested time was three days from now,” Henry said. I had nothing going on besides doing arena matches at the moment looking over paperwork. Right now, what was needed the most was time to build up and level up. I was too far ahead of everyone else, which made things frustrating.

“Doesn’t Anthony have a lobbyist?” I asked.

“Yes. They have prepared a briefing for you. In the red folder,” he said. I set aside the reports on guild level progression and opened up the red folder. I read through the information which brought up the current legislation under discussion and which way each party was leaning. Henry was good at preparing documentation for my review either in Exponential or outside of it.

Basically, everything was in flux at the moment if Exponential was going to regulated. I noted that one proposal floated was a nationalization of guilds to support the development of US interests in Exponential.

“What is the current valuation?” I asked.

“Total valuation of all shares is approximately 1.3 trillion dollars,” Henry said. My recent wins made people want to invest even more into my guild. While the actual construction contracts with prisons and nursing homes provided a solid foundation for investment.

“That makes me the single richest known person in the world?” I asked, since with my 42% ownership that put me at 546 billion dollars approximately.

“Yes,” Henry said. I let out a hum at that. “Exponential has a much greater net worth, but no one owns a large percentage of the company.” The people who had created it had to sell almost all of the company in order to raise the capital needed to develop QAI. Quantum nodes were insanely expensive to make along with the needed fusion power plants. These shares had been diluted as well, since people didn’t think the price would keep going up and wanted to make their money back.

There were some large trading firms that owned close to 5%, but no individual or company had a large share of Exponential. That was another reason why no one was willing to regulate it for so long and by the time the politicians started talking about such an action they focused on the guilds instead.

“Let’s sell two percent of my shares,” I said. That would raise about 10 billion after fees and taxes. “Invest half that money into Exponential stock, while holding onto 5 billion for security and operational expenses. Also begin preparation for the public offering. I think it is time I start reducing my shares,” I explained.

“I will make the arrangements. There will be a lot of shock that you are selling a portion of the company, it will cause the price to drop,” Henry said.

“It is a small percentage, and the Fanged Fox Corporation is big enough to stand on its own for the most part. Also, my recent wins will boost confidence. The bigger concern is with the guild. Since nations are finally making their move to enter the game, the number of players is going to skyrocket,” I considered the actions I was about to order.

“Issue instructions that we need to tighten up the restrictions around our guild town for outside players. We need at least one high level team to be on call to push out other players that might show up. The Gorzozin Mines should be secure for now but make it a priority to push back on anyone that approaches the grinding location,” I said and pause for a moment to think about my next order.

“Finally, let’s restrict external recruitment to level 30 and above,” I finally said.

“That would hamper our expansion plans,” Henry said.

“It will, but it is necessary to avoid a massive influx of recruits, that will upset the balance of our guild internally. Various nations will attempt to subvert our operations on a larger scale using people we have recruited. Increasing the recruitment level will make this more difficult since they will have a history in game we can look at, as well as assessing how capable they are. Level 30 isn’t that big of a barrier,” I said.

“The next officer meeting is in two weeks. Do you want me to implement these now, or bring it up then?” Henry asked me.

“Let the officers know ahead of time, and we will work out any problems during the meeting with the expectation of implementation immediately after the meeting,” I decided. That would give enough time for the guild to adjust to the new direction I was planning. “Also how goes the scouting for more Champion and high level talent that is good at scouting areas?”

“Slowly. There are two more Champion level fighters, but their demands are a bit excessive,” Henry said.

“If they don’t like the contract we offer, they can keep asking around. It won’t be easy to get a better offer. Any other guild trying to get a lot of high level combat?” I asked.

“No. We are still the greatest concentration of Champion level combat power not counting yourself with 8 guild Champions,” Henry said. I nodded at this. “Should we cap the number we recruit?”

“No. Having high level combat power will only become more important, but we are not selling the guild to make that happen. Once nations begin entering Exponential, they will find their bargaining power greatly reduced. Eventually they will come to us for the favorable terms as their guilds are crushed under the storm that is approaching,” I declared.

I would consider myself an A level combatant based on all the exploits I was able to use in combat like my level and poisons. I couldn’t be shy about recruiting S class talent. I could only keep winning for so long until I lost. The door to my office suddenly opened and Quant Z walked in without even knocking.

“Massacre Leader, deal with this,” he said and slammed down a scroll on my desk. I opened it up. Our guild finances were being frozen while an audit was being conducted. I noted the seal of the Human Emperor on the audit order. My heart plummeted. I slowly looked up at the person who had brought me this notice.

“You were following the financial protocols I laid out, correct?” I asked Quant Z.

“Um, well, funds were tight, so I had to use some workarounds,” he said with a touch of nervousness. I let out a sigh.

“You are losing your senior title for this, you don’t have to give back the bonuses you received, but this is a major screwup,” I said while trying to keep calm.

“Do you want me to call an emergency meeting?” Henry asked and I shook my head.

“No. Quant Z has given the Human Emperor leverage over us. The best course of action is to admit guilt and suffer the consequences. If they are issuing an audit, they will find proof of using monetary channels outside the Human Empire,” I said.

“I covered my tracks very well,” Quant Z replied.

“They have an auditor in this very room right now, who is invisible and hidden from our senses. Your panic will be taken as proof of guilt. It is just better to admit our guilt in full,” I said while both of them looked around.

“Shouldn’t they appear after you declared that?” Quant Z asked.

“They know I can’t sense them, which is why they are waiting for me to call their bluff. But revealing an Imperial Auditor will only create more trouble. Give me the documents you have showing the illegal transactions. I want to see how bad it is first,” I said.

It ended up being very bad. I closed my eyes after looking over the documents Quant Z handed over. Thankfully he had shut up. “It looks like we moved in excess of over ten thousand platinum through illegal channels,” Henry said after looking over the documents as well. “What does that mean?”

“It means we are screwed. Under ten thousand platinum, we could have made a plea deal and paid a large fine. Over ten thousand platinum in violations means we are about to get some direct Imperial Oversight. Dammit!” I shouted and slammed the table. “The Human Emperor is going to bend our guild over the table and ravage us, especially me. Specifically, since this large an amount makes me culpable as well.”

“I can take responsibility,” Quant Z said nervously.

“That doesn’t matter anymore. Issue code red and tell the entire guild to standby for a major emergency in the next 24 hours,” I said.

“Will it come down to a conflict?” Henry asked.

“Hopefully not. We would be crushed going against the Human Empire. But things are about to get very unpleasant at the very least.” I changed into my formal outfit and checked myself in the mirror. It would have to do for now. “I will have to go directly to the Imperial Court to plead mercy. If I don’t return, then I will contact you with outside methods.” That meant outside of Exponential.

“Very well. Should I let people know what has happened?” he asked. I looked at Quant Z and then let out a sigh.

“That it is ultimately my fault and responsibility, so yes.” Quant Z looked at me in shock. “You just did what was needed in order for the guild to remain financially afloat once we received the mobilization order. I didn’t review your financial transactions like I should have. Don’t mess up again. Now I must go,” I said and left my office. I hired a rickshaw to take me to the Imperial Palace. It was too late to push the blame onto others. The blame was going to fall on me regardless.

The fact that I was ushered past the guards showed that I was expected. They had given me the order for an audit, but that wouldn’t give me passage to the Imperial Palace. I would instead be shunted to the Administrative Union. That confirmed the fact that we had been monitored during our discussion. The only other option was to flee, which would be an even bigger disaster. Maybe, it was tempting. I could sense this was going to be quite bad.

I took the elevator up to the Imperial Place and an attendant directed me towards the Imperial Throne Room, not the Prime Minister’s Office. My hunch was confirmed, this was really going to suck.