'James, I'll be honest… you are looking to expand your business operations beyond what you can currently run.
Also, to pay for shipping of all the waste down to your main recycling centre in Australia would cost us far too much.
It's just simple economics, especially with the current situation of things in the market.'
James was on a group call with some friends from Africa and Asia that were troubled with waste management issues.
Before he could tell them his offer, they'd already given him excuses which he didn't take too kindly however he needed this business, so he planned to smile and continue on, making sure to get them back later somehow.
"Listen gentlemen, while I don't mind your enthusiastic 'no', who said I would be asking you to ship or manage the waste to Australia.
What I am offering is rebuilding communities and helping with development in partiucalr areas where I can grow the company as well as educate the people in area to work for us.
They can also leave to work in other fields within your nations of course, but he hopes you get something out of the development after all, so what do you think?
A portion of the recycled goods will be returned to you, so it's a pretty good deal.
We have even had plans to build a dock and large port for future development, so I think this deal isn't going to be better than anything else you've been shown."
James was smiling like a joyous sociopath who'd dealt with mice in his lab as he played God…
Reason why he was acting in this manner was all down to his dear friend Cai Zhao, who'd sent the Hong Kong and Beijing investors and businessmen into shambles all because of his moves to support James.
He was working with the Chinese government to open up a position for James to enter the China market without having too many government eyes on their operations.
Plus, he was trying to help secure a business contract that would see Primal Management deal with over a quarter of all waste in China, from landfills to industrial, it would all come to them if everything worked out.
Of course, James knew of this and was trying to push some of his old friends into signing a deal with the company.
So far, he'd reconnected with some old pals from Europe and the Middle East that want him to enter with his company and get to work, though it was mainly so they could try and deliver on some old promises before election, but James was more than happy to oblige.
Why? Well, that was because of Esmonds plan to infiltrate these regions with his surveillance and people as it would all matter when he needed to start taking over land for the beginning of his empire.
Esmonds quest, Making Bank! was partially complete with the 15 connections that need to be made in the Europe market all completed by James.
He wasn't too far from completing the task of the three banks before merging them into a new bank.
James was a little concerned about the time it was taking for the lawyers of the banks to finalise the papers, however he was in no hurry as he continued to build up the network of the business.
In the meanwhile, his work was increasing the evaluation of the Making Bank! Quest that even Esmond didn't expect to receive.
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"How about you go over the contract with your friends before calling me back…
Alright, it was lovely chatting with you, talk to you soon."
Hanging up the group call, James massaged his head, applying pressure on his temple as he kneed it with his fingers, exhausted over the amount of calls he'd been making in the past day or so now.
Stopping to look out the broad window that gave him a great view over the Adelaide parklands from his office, James rang for Julia, before turning his chair around as she entered the room.
"Have you completed the task I asked?"
"It's done… but I am wondering why you're buying up the old cargo ship fleets stuck in legal cases from Egypt, parts of Africa and the Middle East.
Don't tell me you wish to scrap the ships or do something righteous, right?"
"No Julia, of course not…
Esmond asked me to help purchase up some of those ships that might be connected with past friends or connections I have.
Gotta give it to the kid, when you offer to handle some of the issues that are plaguing their business without any hassle, man do they become cheerful and give a helping hand without any problem."
James never expected that in less then 24 hours he had already generated enough business for the company that they needed to prepare for another large wave of recruits to come in.
The workload increased as well as the labour they needed to purchase, but unlike other businesses, Esmond didn't mind getting the time it would take his facilities to become operational because of a neat trick Carter told him, that he never shared with James or Julia, but they knew he had his ways.
Especially after they saw the insane interior of their office building.
"Just keep up to date with how they are moving and when they reach our shores.
I was told they would be bringing a portion of waste along so that should help cover some of the costs we will incur for bringing them over so far.
Though it will take time… maybe a couple months."
Julia took note of everything while pouring James a cup of fresh tea and left once he asked for her to leave as his phone started to ring with another 'friend' looking to catch up over the phone.
'I wonder what my shitty nephew is doing…
Bastard didn't even call me yesterday to see how my first day was…' James smirked before picking up the call and turned into a businessman ready to bleed any and all to make as much wealth for his company.
…
..
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"Wait, you're trying to tell me that you've already started work on creating a terra forming project for Neptune and Mars?"
Esmond was in the Virtual Lab with the other scientists, currently working in one of the labs that was creating the state-of-the-art battleships with a bunch of tech and possibilities that might seem like an overkill.
For example, one of the G.A.E human scientists had designed harvesting drones that would seek out materials if they were low and other scientists used that idea to create a miniaturised industrial factory with 3D printers that were advanced and improved to take an increased number of materials to create its items.
Everything wasn't confirmed as of yet that it was all feasible, but the scientists were working diligently to make it a reality.
Esmond thought about helping them as he found it a surprisingly smart idea though he would rather find a way to create a great supply chain that wouldn't require them to mine recklessly.
What he actually came to do was work beside Janet and some of the scientists she chose for the cloning technology.
When they entered the lab with the cloning tech that Dr. Ort-Meyer had created, Esmond asked the scientists for their opinion.
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Alexi, one of the Zadrisian men that were chosen by Janet had come to look in this particular lab first when he arrived in the Virtual Labs.
It piqued his curiosity, also learning about the importance also meant it's future relevance would be significant within their empire that their lord was creating so he tried his best to learn as much as he could during the 45 days experienced whiled dived into the Virtual World.
He spoke up first when Esmond asked for their opinion.
"My Lord, to be honest, everything is outdated and made using poor materials, though they seem like they are high quality.
With a wave of his hand, Alexi asked the lab to create another identical set of tools made from the materials currently available in the space.
Because everything finally had ogryx infused in or as an alloy composition, even phrik, the metallic composition he was awarded in the morning had already been infused with psionic energy to create another variation of the material.
Something even more terrifying.
.
Within a second, everything was as Alexi requested and they all got underway to examine what the results would be now if they used the updated tech.
To their surprise, that action alone was able to reduce the time clones took to develop from 10 years to 5, halving the time without much of a hassle.
"Alexis words sound true; however, I think we can improve even on this… though it might harm the duration of the clone's lifespan…" Lee, another G.A.E scientist expressed his concern that they might cause harm to their creation if they tried to rush the growth process.
While the scientists worked together to think of a way to deal with the problem of time, Esmond caught onto Lees words and tried introducing the Xoplis Essence into the genetic code of Agent 47 to see what happen and to his surprise, it not only accelerated their growth, but it could stabilise their lifespan.
'It can't be this easy…' Esmond thought to himself and ran some simulations that quickened the process of the cloning so he could see the results of his work in real time though it was all based on calculations the Virtual Lab system made.
It turned out to kill every single clone that was born after they left the confinement of the pods they would be born from.
Esmond ended up simulating the same process with the Universal Essence and it stabilised the clones' bodies once they excited the pods, but the sentient lifeforce within their body would want to grow so the clones needed a training manual to improve their skills otherwise they would die out at roughly 60 years.
The other scientists were also surprised to find this out, but they were terrified that it wouldn't work because of one issue that continually came up during the simulations, even with the Universal Essence.
'The clones go rogue… easily…'
Esmond didn't create a training manual for the labs to simulate, instead he asked the labs systems to say that they were given a training manual and what the results would come after that.
What it found was the high likely chance they would rebel and attack him or trying to crumble his operations out of anger and guilt mainly.
Thankfully, even if it made him feel guilty later, was the sound of Carters voice with heavenly news.
'Actually, it should be fine… since it isn't something based of your own original creation and rather the system, the clones will be obedient to you… just be nice to the people, after all they will be your citizens.'
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Esmond left after that, though he asked the scientists to continue with their work and try to find other solutions and variations, he instead went to find the group working on the modular suit of armour.
Sam, another Zadrisian scientist that was also enrolled for the army had grouped together several people who wanted to work on creating a suitable armour that was available for the basic of soldiers.
They were using the CE-01 designed by Carter and Echo as well as the SK-45 Esmond bought from the system store as the starting point for their work.
They planned to create an armour set that could be interchanged for greater use in various fields other than infantry.
Other projects they were working on alongside the armour were assault, sniper, and a range of other rifles for the military to use, though they contained elements of being highly advanced in comparison to the current level of modern machinery.
The Heckler and Koch G36 and M4 carbine had caught the attention of the scientists when they scrolled through the designs of the current weapons available on the internet.
Because of the powers that made up the Virtual Lab, it had the ability to scan the desired work from the internet and could replicate it within the lab.
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"How are things going Sam?"
"Excellent My Lord!!
We've already found several instances where we can install and upgrade the operating mechanism for the weapons and armour suits.
Honestly, the power cells you've designed are beyond anything any one of us has come across."
Sam was beyond excited looking at the various test products they'd created without much of an issue within the lab, giving them more time to work on improving the design.
They were working on creating an electronic scope that connected with the armour suits systems that would be managed by Kane.
"Just make sure you don't go overboard with your work that you lose all sense.
Your work will be important and vital for our armed forces so be diligent…"