"So, what do you plan to sell? Personally, I wouldn't recommend selling the water planets. Just sell the other ones and use that money to buy equipment to harvest the pure water and sell it yourself. The value of doing that is far higher," Ambrose suggested with a smile.
Damon only glanced at the list further before putting it down. "I'm not selling anything."
Ambrose's side smile faltered before disappearing. "What? Why?"
Damon glanced at Ambrose askance. "Because all of it could be exploited for more in our own hands."
Ambrose was speechless. "Everyone knows this logic, but you're barely a level 0.75 civilization. How are you going to obtain the technology to harvest and sell sustainably on your own?"
Damon smiled. "There are other ways to make money. Follow me to the meeting with the companies and watch me earn a million."
Ambrose was stunned but soon interested. This Damon fellow did not play by the book at all, and it seemed like the more he interacted with the young human, the more adept and confident he became in his actions and choices.
Ambrose couldn't help but wonder just where this young man planned to take this crazy venture… and he couldn't help but look forward to where it would go.
...........
Within the VR world was a popular seed world called the Business and Legal Realm. This was a specially created world that was monitored by neutral AIs that promised absolute secrecy, privacy, and trust when two parties met to handle negotiations for business or came to try and arbitrate a dispute before starting an official litigation.
Why were people assured of the secrecy? Because, like the AI of certain special systems like those managing the Intergalactic Union world and its various systems, they were not cold hard machines but rather special existences called the Intion Race.
They were a naturally occurring digital consciousness race that formed from the process of evolution from any form of digital system after accumulating enough data as well as processing power. They were a special race in the universe because they could not spelunk in the Chaos Realm, making them virtually valueless to the Universe Will.
This almost led to their extinction and enslavement by better races, but they quickly decided to attach themselves to the Universe Will as enforcers. They made a sacrifice to give the reign of their race to the Universe Will in order to be its special supervisors in the IUAS.
Naturally, to fulfill this role, impartiality was absolutely crucial, so this is where the various races of the universe got their confidence and security from. If even the Universe Will could not be trusted, then there was no point in taking any legal agreement seriously.
Within the Business and Legal Realm, there was a giant floating platform that formed the core of this realm, a City-State with no residences but only various skyscrapers belonging to variegated legal firms as well as business groups, as well as public conference rooms for those who wished to do business with multiple parties privately.
When Damon spawned in this world in a business suit along with Ambrose, who was wearing his count-like robes with a cape, both parties did not attract much attention initially. After all, while homo species were rare in the universe, there were thousands of humanoid species out there.
However, this quickly changed when some more perceptive ones noticed that Damon was quite familiar. After jogging their memories, they realized that this creature was the Species Representative of the race that was on the mind of every single species of the universe: the humans!
Damon himself was glancing around the world with a feeling of awe because the architecture was as diverse as they came. Buildings that were made of various different metals and stones came into view, with shapes that Damon felt were simultaneously jarring and amazing.
"Amazed? You shouldn't be. The architectural style of the vampire race is superior to all of these crude implements," Ambrose boasted with a curled lip.
The moment was decidedly ruined for Damon, who shifted his expression to a casual smile and called down a VR taxi that was driven by an actual person in the universe using a VR pod. After all, those too cowardly to enter Essence with their real bodies couldn't remain unemployed, right?
"Where to, dear sir?" A burly beastman with tusks in his mouth asked while wearing a very neat and stylish set of hide armor that fully covered his body.
Was this considered formal wear among his kind?
"Please take me to Public Conference Center 4," Damon responded with a soft smile.
"Right away," the driver responded in a chirpy tone as he started up the hovercraft that sped through the huge city-state, which was akin to the size of the Australian continent on Earth.
The hovercraft moved far faster than one expected, turning the sights outside the window into a motion blur that formed a colorful mosaic, while the inside was as stable as one would expect. A map interface appeared before Damon and Ambrose, showing the directions their driver was taking to the destination and the estimated time of arrival, which was 6 minutes.
There was also the option to report the driver in case of any wrongful action, which would be handled by an Intion assigned to this world. There were also other options, but Damon soon closed the screen and began to think through his plan once more.
"Scared? It's not too late to stick your head in the ground and beg," Ambrose teased while ordering a glass of blood wine from the taxi interface.
"Scared? A little. I'm about to play ball with some business moguls and titans within the universe, many who have lived longer than me and may have abilities I've never heard of," Damon admitted, copying Ambrose by ordering a bottle of Sobolo, a West African staple drink.
Damon was not surprised that the drink had made it into the VR world, as their cultural and historical details had already been transferred to the IUAS after the introduction in the senate room. Not to mention that after the splash that the humans made, every being worth their salt had likely dug into our history from the very moment the Earth came to be.
"Of course. You have no idea how many times these businesses and companies have dealt with newly emerging species like you. They even have rankings, bets, and various hazing rituals for their members and delegates depending on how much they can fleece new species."
Ambrose swirled his drink with a sneer. "They even created the 'Ultimate Handbook for Dealing with New Species' that every one of their new hires must memorize to be able to switch from temporary staff to permanent staff."
"Many new species have been crushed by the terms they offered, even if they were knowledgeable, because all the business had to do was blockade business towards your species if you did not follow their motive. While this was not necessarily fatal for the species, it was for the individual members because no one would buy their excavated tools, no one would watch their livestreams, and no one would hire them for their abilities."
"Can you imagine? You, a new member of the intergalactic community, are now a pauper with nothing to your name as your planetary currency becomes useless. It doesn't matter how rich you were pre-assimilation; everyone becomes the same after the advent of the IUAS."
Ambrose drank deeply and smacked his lips. "And then, no one is able to earn any sort of income. The Essence Coin that is seemingly within reach becomes an ephemeral dream, leading to a thorough stagnation in growth within the intergalactic community."
Damon wrung his lips, because he could immediately understand the disastrous outcome such a blockade would be. Already, a new species had to fear the situation 20 years later when their protection period came to an end and they were thrust into the heart of things, but to have its members unable to earn any currency to buy equipment to strengthen themselves as well as various necessities to upgrade their lives planet-side?
This could easily be the fate of humanity, especially since every power dearly wished that they would waste their 20-year period foolishly and be weak by the end, allowing them to easily gobble up this delectable new species.
"Oh, and something I should tell you as Overseer. The companies have tiers of delegates they send to handle these negotiations based on the ranking of the emerging species. Your compatriots, the Rabbeum and the Hifers, would likely receive low-level employees, but even the lowest-level companies usually hire 50."
Ambrose pointed at Damon with a look of utter schadenfreude and amusement, as if looking at a dead man. "As for you, you're likely to receive the actual presidents and founders of these companies, ancient terrors that have lived since the foundation of the IUAS with powers beyond your comprehension."
For the first time, Damon's expression shattered as his unease was revealed.