"Humph!" Bertrand eventually maintained his position and refused to sign, while the other six, including almost all the lesser companies, signed the agreement.
Satisfied, Damon stood up and nodded to the group. "The first auction will be three days from now. The list of items not only includes rights to licenses but various specialized services as well as resources and specialized contracts from some of our top Awakeners. Look forward to it."
Saying this, the young man left with the same confident smile he came in with, his attaché wearing a dazed expression as he stared into the sky. Even when they entered the elevator, Ambrose was still dazed, feeling as if he had been put under an illusion or had been inebriated, because that was NOT how he expected things to end.
"How? How?? HOW???" he could only howl eventually, not reconciled with reality.
His eyes were wide open as he turned to glance at Damon. "How could you do that? How could a measly new species outmaneuver the titans of the universe? They've lived more than ten times your lifespan, how could this be possible?!"
Damon could understand Ambrose's disbelief, because he was still reeling. A majority of his actions were calculated based on the securities he had, trying to use a more patient stoicism to withstand the assault.
As was obvious by the way the meeting was going before Godin's sudden change, Damon fully expected that they would reject the agreement he proposed and choose to wait it out. His confidence came from the fact that he had some things that were irresistible to offer coming up in the auction which would cement the human race's value in the universe.
He would have held the auction anyway because he would obviously need to gather funds since he refused to sell the public property of the human race. Even if the IUAS would give them free knowledge resources to boost them up to a level-2 civilization, this required time, digestion, and most importantly, investment.
After the 20-year period, as Damon bluntly said, it might not even need the entire human race. Just himself and the progress he would have accumulated by then might be enough to shake up the IUAS and the entire universe both politically and financially, much less considering other freaks like Felicia or Xela with EX-grade abilities.
That was his security!
But Godin changed everything, especially with his explanation afterward. Understanding that this was a racial struggle affecting finance, Damon took advantage and made an irresistible offer to Godin, which no one would be able to refuse, much less one in his position.
A trillion Essence Coins was steep because the circulation of Essence Coins was not like the dollar on Earth, which was FIAT. The Essence Coin was backed by Chaos Essence, in the sense that the total amount of Chaos Essence cumulatively sourced from the Chaos Realm by living creatures and given to the Universe Will was the backing.
1 unit of Chaos Essence allowed for 1 Essence Coin to be generated. So like cryptocurrency, the maximum amount of Essence Coin in total circulation was hard-capped until more Chaos Essence was mined, and the cap was always publicly known.
Currently, the Essence Coin cap was 50 trillion universe-wide, and everyone was within this currency cap as long as they were part of the IUAS, even the seven companies. For Damon to open his lion's mouth and demand a fiftieth of the universe's total money in liquid cash was not small.
But for the seven companies whose gross earnings amounted to 90% of the total circulation of Essence Coins, it was not impossible. And the benefit that came with what Damon offered surpassed a mere trillion Essence Coins in the long term.
Damon understood this. Godin understood this, and Talia especially understood this. That was why she wasted no time agreeing to the inhumane proposal Damon put forward, not even giving Godin a chance to agree.
In truth… Damon had actually meant to go through the offer with Godin. He too visualized a heart-touching come-up story between humans and goblins that supported each other, eventually becoming partners who could rely on each other with their backs turned.
And that trillion was more than enough to set humanity on the path of self-sustainability over the grace period time.
But he immediately discarded it because having companies compete over their favor per his agreement was still more lucrative and promised more long-term benefits rather than toughing it out with the 'weakest faction' and using one's 'protagonist status' to make them rise to the top after surmounting challenges.
This was not a storybook, this was the fate of an entire species Damon was controlling. His actions always had to yield the highest benefits with the least cost, if not for himself, then for the entire human race.
Damon was not done, though. He had only finished the meeting for the financial exchange of the human race, but now he faced an even bigger challenge that he could not entirely surmount on his own.
Let's not forget the biggest obstacle the human race was facing that necessitated all of these wild and crazy actions in the first place. Their ability rating was too high, and in a universe where the grade of abilities decided everything, this meant that just as Godin said, the humans had jumped many ranks to head into the pinnacle of nobility!
Someone was bound to be usurped by them and have their rights lowered, along with their piece of the cake. This was bound to step on the toes of the one being replaced and everyone below them as they would be pushed down one step.
Even the IUAS itself might not like this because it meant a huge amount of work reshuffling the already established territories and forces to accommodate this upstart newcomer and everyone they had pushed down.
And now was that time to see to this.
Damon left the Business and Legal World to travel to the Intergalactic Union Headquarters just like last time. However, this time, he was met with a crowd waiting outside for him, being the bunch of humans who had supported him during the voting process.
In the lead was Felicia, wearing her black coat, white blouse, and white short skirt as usual, her fluffy golden hair sprawled out behind her as it reached her thighs. Beside her was the youthful and sprightly Xela, who was chatting with the others happily, though the happiness was one-sided looking at the constipated expressions of the ones she was 'bullying.'
"Hoh, you brought your little fan club along? Are you sure that's wise?" Ambrose hummed with amusement in his eyes.
"What we did before would have been jeopardized with them there, but this next bit does require them somewhat." Damon answered with a lidded smile.
"Damon!" Xela called out upon seeing him arriving, but immediately became somewhat subdued with Ambrose there.
Felicia also frowned slightly, not expecting this fellow to tag along with what she considered to be private human business. She gave Damon a questioning look that Damon nodded to, making her only able to purse her lips but say nothing.
"Let's go in together," Damon prompted as he took them through the same procedure he went through when he first entered, only that since he possessed the key to the human race's vehicle, he could call it down himself.
Ambrose surprisingly disbanded from their group and went to the Vampire race's cruiser, which was occupied by two women. One was a tall red-haired beauty who wore a white tight-fitting blouse that hugged her pronounced bosom but glided over her slender abdomen area.
Coupled with tight black pants that covered her legs, ending in sharp-tipped high heels, she looked like a tough lady boss out to listen to her subordinates' reports of their collection of protection fees for the day. This look was further enhanced by the black coat jacket she draped over her shoulders, akin to the style of a cape.
The other woman was less ostentatious, wearing a set of highly-styled red and black robes that were high-necked and reached her ankles, being even more conservative than a nun while still being tight enough to hug her figure, creating the fabled breast pockets and thigh outlines. She had a head of stylish red hair that sparkled in the light of the union chamber.
However, both reacted when Ambrose appeared on their carrier, with the red-haired lady boss directly grabbing him by the ear and pulling him closer while roaring in his ear, to which Ambrose received with an aggrieved expression.
Meanwhile, the other woman seemed to try and refuse the situation while covering for Ambrose, clearly not being able to stand the sight of him being scolded like this.
Seeing this, the various humans chuckled maliciously while Xela giggled in schadenfreude. Damon rubbed his forehead and pretended not to see for Ambrose's own benefit while Felicia simply smiled with satisfaction.