Chapter 670: Compromise?

B City Consortium couldn’t last much longer.

It wasn’t because they had no money. On the contrary, they were very rich and possessed wealth unimaginable by most people. Since the 1950s, they used scientific research from MIT to develop technology in emerging industries and transitioned from the textile industry to the fields of electronics, optics, radars, missiles and even aerospace. If their actual wealth was calculated, even Bill Gates’ wealth tenfold would be no match. After all, Bill Gates was only one person and these consortia were controlled by more than one family.

For this monstrous economic giant, the banking system wasn’t their source of hematopoietic stem cells so to speak, but rather, it was their more important heart! If there were any problems with the heart, the massive financial and industrial system would face a risk to cash flow.

When signs of a bank run appeared, the attack from B City Consortium immediately halted without any further moves. The anti-trust investigation had hurt Future Group indeed, but it didn’t hurt as much as the hit to First B City Bank.

The two opposing sides were like boxers in a ring. They knew they couldn’t knock out their opponent with just one strike, so they had to balance the pros and cons for deciding if they should take the next swing.

In a manor in the B City’s rural area.

The people inside the house controlled one-tenth of UA’s power. The Lowell, Lawrence, Adams, Kennedy, and Lodge families were all gathered there. Among them were big capitalists, Federal Reserve shareholders, Democrat Senators…

They had gathered together to protect their common interests.

“This is infuriating! I can bet that the leak is their work!” John Lowell smashed his fist on the table while gritting his teeth.

“I think so too, but we don’t have any evidence. FBA has no leads either,” Robert Adams said.

“How did they do it? The information security system for First B City Bank was the work of Websense. If their hackers could infiltrate our system, then there’s no reason they can’t hack into the Capital.” Mr. Lowell furrowed his brows.

Since Raytheon invested $1.9 billion into Websense, B City Consortium’s subsidiaries had been protected by this cyber-security company. Since the business involved the military industry, consortia servers suffered a lot of attacks every year, but no attack had ever been successful.

“I’ll notify the Capital,” Adams said.

“That’s enough, my friends. We shouldn’t be worried about the Capital right now. We should be worried about Future Group!” Lowell said with a headache.

“We can’t compromise on the Saudi freshwater project,” Joseph Kennedy stated.

“But our textile plant in Lone Star State requires cash. Raytheon’s radar project in the Pacific and the helicopter deal with the Capital also needs funding.” Lowell glanced at Joseph. “Although I know the water project is important to you, by the looks of it now… If we continue to wage a war against Future Group, the losses we’ll suffer will be insufferable even if ultimately win.”

“I agree with Mr. Lowell’s perspective.” Robert Adams nodded.

“I can’t accept this.” John Laurence shook his head. “If we compromise, where’s our dignity?”

“That’s enough, Mr. Laurence. We are businessmen and it’s just profits and losses after all. If you really can’t accept this defeat, we can take care of them later. But right now, we should take it easy. At least in terms of information security, we must enhance our security!” Loki, who hadn’t spoken this whole time, finally spoke up.

“Let’s follow tradition and decide by vote. To protect our eternal alliance, regardless of the choice we make, I’ll contribute my efforts to the alliance even if it’s a choice I’m unwilling to accept. Now… for those of you who agree to settle, please raise your hand.” Laurence looked at the four people around the table and raised his hand.

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The vote was three to two.

…

Settlement accepted.

“Who will contact them?” Although the decision of the consortium didn’t fit with the interests of his family, John Kennedy didn’t look too displeased.

“I’ll go.” Loki looked around the table and said, “I’m the majority shareholder of First B City Bank, so it’s best for me to go.”

…

While the consortia that controlled the vein of UA’s economy had a fairly friendly relationship with each other, “friendship” didn’t seem to apply in the business field. It was common for one’s tragedy to turn into capitalization by others.

When B City Bank was in the middle of their scandal, all major banks announced an upgrade in their security systems to ensure the privacy of each client. While their actions didn’t look too great, the consortia couldn’t do much more. Therefore, on the third day after cyber-security became the focus of discussion, the Federal Reserve stepped in.

Based on the latest information from the Wall Street Journal, the Federal Reserve injected 100 billion into First B City Bank to increase client confidence. At the same time, First B City Bank announced an upgrade to its security system and promised that a leak would never occur to recover some of their losses.

Just as the Wall Street investors had trouble digesting the two major headlines: “First B City Bank client information leak” and “Future Technology’s potential exit from UA,” Jiang Chen, in the far west Pacific, seemed calm.

Standing next to the launch site, Jiang Chen looked at the rocket launch taking off. As he watched the trail of smoke dissipating, a smile emerged on his face.

Now the total number of quantum communication satellites was twelve.

“You still have time to enjoy the fireworks?” Natasha mocked him.

“Oh? Looks like even Russia knows about our small conflict with B City Consortium.” Jiang Chen laughed.

“Of course. You made the short list of top suspects for the CIB. They think it’s you who hacked into First B City Bank and that your real identity should be an IT engineer who mastered information security.”

“That’s a fascinating hypothesis, but unfortunately, I only barely passed the computer competency test.” Jiang Chen laughed and dodged Natasha’s question. “Let’s not talk about this. What you think about our rocket launching technology?”

Natasha’s appearance at Celestial Trade’s launch site wasn’t out of personal reasons. Celestial Trade’s rocket launch technology was already mature. To utilize its excessive launch capacity, Jiang Chen set his sights on Russia.

Because of the reduced total budget and fluctuations in exchange rates, Russia was forced to reduce the International Space Station’s maintenance costs by 30 billion Rupees. Since Russia was concerned with the high maintenance costs, Celestial Trade happened to have a solution.

Not only could they make some changes to turn Celestial Trade’s red bottom line around, but this could also be an opportunity to gain experience in supply transport to space stations.

Why not?

But Natasha’s response surprised Jiang Chen.

“If you’re willing to sell the rocket engines, we can discuss. If you want to talk about contracting… my response might disappoint you.” Natasha sighed and spread open her hands. “We won’t contract this project out to foreign companies. There’s no room for negotiation.”