Gasps of surprise echoed through the conference room.
On the big screen, a powerful young man with a chest full of dark hair was seen hoisting a burning oil derrick and forcefully throwing it into the sea.
Boom!
The oil derrick exploded, and crimson flames spread across the screen. Just when everyone thought the young man had perished in the fire, he charged out completely unscathed. The hair on his chest danced in the wind, not a single strand missing.
The scene shifted.
It was the same hairy-chested young man, now dragging an ocean liner larger than a building through the snow and ice. The ship sliced through the ice layer, leaving a hundred-meter-wide fissure behind it.
Cindy covered her mouth, gasping. Everyone else was shocked and couldn't believe their eyes.
That was an ocean liner! Weighing tens of thousands of tons, and yet someone was dragging it away. Did it have no pride?
Zacks murmured,
"This... this..."
"Finish watching first."
Luke clicked on another video file. The screen darkened. The night sky was heavily overcast, and Gothic buildings lined up densely. A gloomy palette covered the entire city. This was Gotham, the city with the highest crime rate in America, and Metropolis's old neighbor—a city everyone in the room was familiar with.
Under a swaying streetlamp, a ghostly, bat-like figure descended from the sky. After a breathtaking fight, the gang members who were trading drugs were all lying on the ground, groaning in pain.
The scene changed again, seemingly to an underground drug manufacturing factory. A swarm of bats burst through a window and scattered, flying away. The lights went out one by one. In the dark factory, terrified wails were heard intermittently, as if something dreadful was attacking them.
The terror lasted for a long time, until the police arrived and visibility was restored.
The gang members responsible for supervising the workers were detained together. The leader clutched his chest, where a bloody bat-shaped brand had appeared.
The video ended there. Luke turned off the big screen, glanced around the conference room, and said,
"Everyone, what are your thoughts?"
Everyone looked at each other, silent. Many of them had heard rumors of metahuman events, but hearing and seeing were two different things. Especially that hairy-chested youth, who could drag an ocean liner—was that something a normal human could do?
"The video..."
"The videos are real, not film production, and certainly not post-production editing."
Luke crossed his arms and said flatly,
"I want to hear your opinions, your thoughts on these two individuals."
"I think it's cool. Punishing the drug trade, helping others. They are heroes."
Luke nodded. "Anything else?"
A female employee from the Marketing Department stood up. "I'm curious where their power comes from. Are they... gods?"
"Natasha, I'm telling you very seriously, there are no gods in this world."
"What about God? Isn't God a god?"
"Let's put religious issues aside for now. We are mainly discussing these two people, and these two videos. If we post them on ShowMe, what do you think?"
As the question was asked, the conference room fell silent again. No one was stupid; they clearly understood the potential impact of circulating these two videos.
Robert Downs cleared his throat.
"They will become the focal point of public opinion, and ShowMe will explode nationwide. Of course, the trouble won't be minor. Metahuman events have always existed, and the government suppresses them because they don't want to draw too much attention. If we are the first to do this..."
Philip Arthur chimed in,
"The FBI, CIA, the Federal government, and state governments will all contact the company, demanding that we take the videos down. If we refuse, they are very likely to take compulsory measures."
Luke laughed. "What kind of compulsory measures? Locking me up in prison?"
"That's the worst-case scenario. The usual method is a cyber attack."
"Hackers?"
"Yes."
Luke smiled strangely. The overweight technicians exchanged glances, all showing doting, 'auntie' smiles. Those fools at the FBI, trying to hack ShowMe? They didn't know their own strength.
"Looks like there's no trouble, then."
Luke shrugged. "Mr. Arthur, please draft an article. The subjects are the two people in the videos. I want to start a Hero Column, and they will be the vanguards."
The moment the videos appeared, Philip knew Luke would do this. He asked with a smile, "So, what should we call them? Hairy-Chested Muscle Man? Tights-and-Cape Weirdo?"
Everyone was amused by the comment, and Luke was speechless. He thought: If we write that, it won't be long before Clark Kent drags a semi-truck into ShowMe's headquarters. Don't doubt it, he absolutely would.
"The first one is not afraid of water or fire, and his body is harder than steel. Let's call him Superman. The second one, wearing a high-eared cowl, mysterious and secretive, will be called Batman."
Superman? Batman?
The attendees pondered the names. They were quite fitting.
"Rowan, you and Mr. Arthur prepare the articles. The rest of you, come with me to R&D. We must launch the new version of the software before noon tomorrow."
A Funding Snag
After the meeting, Charlie pulled Luke aside where no one could hear.
"Boss, I have some bad news for you."
"What is it?"
"The Sequoia Group sent an email. They agree to lease the data server, but they demand a three hundred thousand dollar deposit upfront."
Three hundred thousand?
Luke frowned. "Didn't they say fifty thousand before?"
"It was fifty thousand. Those heartless devils somehow got word that our capital chain is failing, and they won't sign the contract as planned. They insist on raising the deposit. We only have five hundred..."
"Give it to them!"
Charlie was stunned. "Boss, what did you say?"
"Three hundred thousand dollars. Pay them, and send a warning: if anything similar happens again, we terminate the cooperation."
"But..."
"There are no 'buts.' Only you and I know the company's accounts. I won't say anything, so will you?"
The casual remark made Charlie stiffen up. He quickly gave his assurance.
"I won't say a word, even if you kill me."
Luke patted his shoulder. "Relax, I'm not doubting you; I'm just stating a fact. You didn't say anything, and I didn't say anything. So how did the people at Sequoia Group know? Do they have mind-reading abilities?"
Charlie gradually understood.
"They're trying to bluff us?"
"Exactly."
Luke clasped his hands behind his back, looking quietly at a building in the distance. "The Sequoia Group has repeatedly proposed acquisition plans, which I've rejected. They won't easily let go of the plump meat that's about to slip away. If they can't acquire us, they have to try something else."
"But if we give them three hundred thousand, the company will have no money left. Even daily expenses will become a problem, and next week's advertising..."
"Don't worry about the advertising for now. We'll deal with that when the time comes."
"...Alright."
Charlie sighed quietly and left, worried.
Most companies face funding shortages in the initial startup phase, and ShowMe was no exception. The best way to solve the capital chain issue is financing. Once financed, cash flow ceases to be a problem, but doing so also reduces the founder's power and subjects the company to shareholder constraints. One wrong step, and the founders could be completely swallowed by investors.
There are countless such cases. Relying on capitalists to have a conscience is like hoping for a crocodile to shed a genuine tear.
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