Chapter 34: Investing in the Crimson Heart Squadron
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[May, 128th Year of the Transcendental Era: Due to the Heart of Red Association’s massive sales in the low-end markets for basic equipment, low-level inscriptions, and basic vitality potions, the head of the Cloud City Qingduan Chamber of Commerce arrived at their doorstep bearing gifts of all sizes.]
[The Heart of Red Association’s rapid expansion into the external market had begun to impact the Qingduan Chamber of Commerce’s business.]
[On one hand, the Heart of Red Chamber of Commerce, under the banner of the Heart of Red Association, was selling various transcendental items at prices below the market average.]
[Even a modest ten-percent discount was enough to drive every consumer in Cloud City into a frenzy.]
[A ten-percent profit margin, when viewed over a long timeline, amounts to a significant sum.]
[Therefore, this visit from the Qingduan Chamber of Commerce was intended to negotiate with the upper echelons of the Heart of Red Association to standardize the pricing of transcendental goods.]
[Otherwise, if you lower prices today and I lower them tomorrow, how is anyone supposed to make a profit?]
[Of course, the head of the Qingduan Chamber of Commerce came in person, even bringing a batch of intermediate God-given Crystals as gifts, purely out of respect for the Heart of Red Battle Team.]
[If not for the existence of the Heart of Red Battle Team as a violent organization, the Qingduan Chamber of Commerce would not have been so cordial; they would have resorted to commercial warfare or schemes such as slander and defamation.]
[Another possibility would have been to deploy their own affiliated battle team, take advantage of the cover of night, use magical items to mask their presence, and bribe the Federal Law Enforcement Agency with vast sums of money to disable the Smart Net surveillance, thereby physically eliminating their competition.]
[However, all of this is predicated on the target lacking any powerful backing.]
[The Heart of Red Association, however, is backed by the Heart of Red Battle Team.]
[Or rather, it was the violent institution known as the Heart of Red Battle Team that established the Heart of Red Association.]
[They are a formidable force boasting five hundred first-turn professionals; investigations estimate that the Heart of Red Battle Team now has at least five second-turn professionals.]
[Coupled with the fact that Cloud City First University and Cloud City Second University serve as the birthplace of the Heart of Red Association, they had to consider the broader implications.]
[Thus, as long as a peaceful and profitable arrangement was possible, the Qingduan Chamber of Commerce had no desire to burn bridges with the Heart of Red Association.]
[But clearly, the Heart of Red Association had plans of its own, and one could not derail their grand strategy simply because the Qingduan Chamber of Commerce came knocking.]
[The development and expansion of the Heart of Red Battle Team is no mere dinner party!]
[When the interests of two factions clash, the conflict cannot be resolved by a few gifts.]
[The future growth of the Heart of Red Battle Team requires vast amounts of capital.]
[To rapidly recoup funds and prepare for future fundraising and eventual exit strategies, the scale of the Heart of Red Association must grow!]
[July, 128th Year of the Transcendental Era: The Heart of Red Chamber of Commerce lowered their prices by another five percent.]
[This move directly poked the hornet’s nest of the local chambers of commerce.]
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[The four major chambers of commerce in Cloud City arrived in unison. This time, united, they hoped the Heart of Red Chamber of Commerce would consider their presence and make their choices with caution.]
[Lin Xue did not waste words. After treating each of them to a box lunch, she invited the four major chambers to attend the Heart of Red Battle Team’s parade.]
[Five hundred official members of the Heart of Red Battle Team stood tall, with even the lowest-ranked among them being at level 12.]
[Such scale and such strength were enough to command the attention of any chamber of commerce.]
[Most crucially, all five hundred members of the Heart of Red Battle Team were still university students.]
[If they possessed such strength while still in school, would they not become golden dragons taking flight upon graduation?]
[Consequently, the four major chambers very "sensibly" ignored the ideas they had collectively brainstormed before arriving. Afterward, they even surreptitiously asked Lin Xue if the Heart of Red Battle Team required capital injection.]
[Their demands were modest; they only wanted five percent of the Heart of Red Battle Team’s shares.]
[Just as a group can go public to accept investment, once a battle team reaches a certain scale, it can also accept external investment and distribute team stocks based on the corresponding investment amount.]
[Upon learning of this, you smiled knowingly.]
[Wanting to invest in the Heart of Red Battle Team?]
[How wonderful!]
[The entire Heart of Red Battle Team has sworn loyalty to you; the so-called control of the team is, in your eyes, merely a formality.]
[If you could exchange these useless scraps of paper for a influx of capital, that would indeed be a great thing.]
[However, regarding the ratios, you could afford to be stringent.]
[After all, people do not cherish what comes too easily.]
[August, 128th Year of the Transcendental Era: The Cloud City business world received word from the four major chambers and began sending representatives to inject capital.]
[You, naturally, welcomed these bringers of wealth with open arms.]
[In any case, these capital injections had nothing to do with the credit of the Heart of Red Battle Team itself; in fact, you could use these funds to develop the team even further.]
[In this wave, you sold off thirty-two percent of the team's control.]
[Your actions brought smiles to the faces of those pulling the strings behind the four major chambers.]
[Very good. Since the Heart of Red Battle Team has accepted the investment, from today on, both sides are in the same boat.]
[Since the other party is now operating within this circle of rules, certain things would be much easier to discuss.]
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[October, 128th Year of the Transcendental Era: Utilizing these funds, the Heart of Red Battle Team expanded its numbers to 800.]
[This count was nearing that of some micro-battle legions.]
[The vibrant, flourishing vitality of the Heart of Red Battle Team left the investors quite satisfied.]
[December, 128th Year of the Transcendental Era: You invested heavily to lease the latest battle team allocation algorithm from the Giant Spirit Group, implementing structural changes to the Heart of Red Battle Team.]
[Based on the talents, abilities, equipment, and skills of each member, and combined with the Giant Spirit algorithm, you performed strategic adjustments on the capabilities of all squads.]
[Berserk warriors who burn their life force are best paired with support professionals who possess astonishing healing volume.]
[Assassins specialized in reconnaissance must be distinguished from those specialized in critical strikes.]
[The weighting of talent abilities, equipment skills, and active/passive skills was perfectly articulated within the Giant Spirit algorithm.]
[Though the adjusted members of the Heart of Red Battle Team felt some initial discomfort, their loyalty and fanaticism toward you led them to execute your assigned tasks resolutely.]
[Soon, they realized that this structural adjustment had significantly enhanced the overall strength of their small squads.]
[Each ready-for-action squad saw an increase in overall combat effectiveness by nearly twenty percent.]
[With this direct surge in combat power, the Heart of Red Battle Team achieved overwhelming victories in their land-reclamation operations outside Cloud City.]
[Indeed, through the daily, relentless reclamation efforts of the Heart of Red Battle Legion, the zone of absolute safety covered by the Cloud City safe zone began to slowly expand outward.]
[February, 129th Year of the Transcendental Era: Provided with a vast supply of transcendental resources, the levels of the Heart of Red Battle Team members increased rapidly.]
[Now, the 800 members of the Heart of Red Battle Team are all at least level 14.]
[The veterans of the Heart of Red Battle Team who followed you back in the Jiang City dungeon lobby, provided they survived the reclamation battles, are now all second-turn professionals.]
[May, 129th Year of the Transcendental Era: After long periods of refinement, your Bronze Battle Qi has reached perfection.]
[You finally stepped out of the tedious and monotonous Battle Qi tempering chamber. On the day you emerged, the members of the Heart of Red Association in Cloud City stood waiting at the entrance.]
[At your shout of "Ten Thousand Victories," the sky-filling chorus of "Ten Thousand Victories" instantly engulfed Cloud City First University.]