NOVEL WEB Chapter 1913 Going for the Auction -Part 2
Chapter 1913 Going for the Auction -Part 2
"We arrived," Tinda replied as she parked the car outside of the Ministry of Land. "Narris should be waiting for the two of you at the front gate." "Thanks, Tinda for taking out your busy schedule to drive us around," Jin said and Kraft gave an unsightly frown. "What do you mean her schedule is busy? She is always free to drive you around." "Do not make things so difficult for people, Kraft. The Dark Elves are still fellow beings. Not slaves." Jin wanted to continue but Tinda interrupted.
"Master Jin. Don't," Tinda shook her head slowly as if to indicate that it was not worth fighting.
"User, please remember the agreement that Original Bellator Kraft and his Night Foxes are not for us to interfere. Comments are enough." The System stated and Jin nodded his head. "Yeah, comments are enough," Kraft replied.
"The System would help the User to understand that the Night Foxes do work hard and play hard as well. And even though we did agree that Kraft could handle his own minions, the System would still intervene if the punishments were too harsh." The System sent an encrypted voice message to Jin which made the Dungeon Supplier understand why the secrecy. Kraft wants to act tough in front of not just Jin but the System and everyone who knows him.
"Just give them a little more care and I hope my comments will not make you change the way you do stuff." Jin replied as if he understood the 'public' reply the System had given and Kraft smirked slowly.
"As long as you understand. Anyways, this is a small matter, we have bigger issues at hand." Kraft said as he looked forward to the event as they saw Narris was waiting with Xiong Da at the front doors. "You know, at this rate, you should just hire Xiong Da into the System. With the boost from the System, he would be a force to be reckoned in any law related stuff." "Yeah, man. I had no idea he had the knowledge to deal with land issues too. It felt like nobody had taken him seriously other than his peers and the industry circle he is in." Jin said as he raised his hand to wave at Xiong Da. "Do you really need to be here?" Jin asked as he shook hands with him.
"Well, if things go well, I can work in Shanghai as intended too. So, it's a win-win for me." "You are going to Shanghai to work there permanently?" "Nah. My partner as in business partner, not my wifey, wants me to expand our services to that area too since quite a number of our clients are there even though we are based in Shanghai. I told him that aside from the initial build up of the second office, I would take a step at a time. Well, and if this issue can be settled, it looks like I can still meet my dear Pandawans in Shanghai too if I were to be located there from time to time." "Are you banging on the fact that the dungeon instances can be linked?" Jin asked as if he was going to be disappointed. "Why not? Can't they work that way?" Xiong Da's eyes went wide open and Jin laughed as he did not wish his number one customer and supporter of his dungeon supplier store would be disappointed.
"For you, I will link it up." Jin winked and Xiong Da clicked his tongue while avoiding Jin's gaze for a moment as they walked into the Ministry of Land's office. They were subsequently directed to a meeting room where they saw Kai Hung and his CEO, Na Ying, as well as some other company representatives in the room for the bid.
"Huh, there are quite a few big shot names around here. Construction companies, finance companies, and even an IT company want the space. If this subplot bidding is successful, it will change the way how Ministry of Land deals with land in the future." "How so?" "Because this is the first time that companies are bidding for an underground land. Usually, these underground lands are reserved only for the subway stations."
"Eh? Then somehow, we managed to initiate this land bidding process?" "They could have rejected our proposal, to be honest. But there must be a higher up, probably ministerial level that sees opportunities to take more money from the private sector. You could say that it's like trying out a bid and seeing how things go. If it is successful, it would be in their masterplan in the future… or that is what I believe it would be." Xiong Da explained.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. We shall start with our bidding process for the occupation of Underground Land No.
0001S. The first in Shanghai and if I dare say, the first in the whole of China." The speaker said as he started to speak the technical details of the land and the opportunities that the land could provide. At the same time, Jin was looking through the list of his competitors and attempting to deduce why they would want the land. Na Ying and her IFC Holdings was the simplest to deduce mainly due to the fact that they had been owning the entire land above it so even though they eventually got the land for car park space, it would be a darn expensive car park.
On the other hand, it was pretty obvious why a huge IT company would want the land mainly due to its ability to put servers and cables, strengthening the infrastructure of Shanghai even further. For the construction companies, they would most likely rent it out or build an underground mall to compete with the IFC mall. Else, they could use it for future subway projects and the government had to ask for its cooperation to share the land. This way, they could make money from it in the future considering how the subway plans were expanding. As for the finance companies, they probably had the very same idea as the construction companies as well as they could very well sell or rent it out.
It was only Jin who wanted to use it to build a Dungeon Supplier Store and everyone was surprised that this 'Panda Inc.' who incepted only a year ago was able to join this bidding process. There was a certain requirement in terms of capital in order to be qualified for the underground land and that was also why the companies were big names in their industries when Jin searched in the net on them.
Panda Inc. was lacking in so much presence that one of the finance companies asked if Jin and co were even qualified for it and the speaker nodded his head. "He had shown his paperwork and is qualified for the bid." "But I bet he does not even have a Tier 2 Security Clearance, much less a Tier 3 Security Clearance. Are you even sure you have vetted the company?" One of the auction people asked and the speaker went away from the microphone and asked his team members who had handled the paperwork. The security clearance of the company was meant to make sure that the company was not some bogus company or even a foreign company that would be used to acquire land property and other official properties within the nation.
"With regards to your concern, the said company had Tier Double Zero security clearance. So, you may let that security matter laid to rest." The Speaker said solemnly and everyone all back at Jin as with their eyes opened with surprise. Jin pretended to act cool and wanted to send a telepathic message to Xiong Da but even his lawyer had an astonished stare towards the dungeon supplier before everyone returned to their gaze to the front. To those companies, it finally made sense why he was able to join this auction not because of the wealth he had. "What is Tier… Double Zero security clearance? I did not exactly fill in the paperwork myself." In the meantime, Jin decided to ask the System.
"Tier 1 security clearance means that the company is a trusted company which had cleared its background checks. Tier 0 security clearance meant that the company had relations with the Royal Zodiac. Tier 00 security clearance means that you are either a Royal Zodiac Clan Head or part of the Head's family."
"Wait a minute. If you put it that way, and we used Panda Inc. as our company… does that mean…?" "Yes, Congratulations are in due. While the System suspected that Royal Zodiac Dragon Kong Rong had some influence on this security clearance, the other Royal Zodiac Heads must have also acknowledged that you are part of them as well for you to get this security clearance. In the eyes of the government, you are now part of the Royal Zodiacs." "How the hell did you get Tier 00 security clearance and how come I did not know it up till now? Aren't you some Panda Cultivator?" Xiong Da was frantic as he had no idea how Jin was able to get Tier 00 security clearance. "This literally changed the whole bidding process already!" "How so?" "When you bid, Tier 0 and Tier 00 security clearance kind of have an added advantage. All they had to do was to bid or match the winning bid and you get the land! Heck, I think as long it is within 90% of the matching bid, the company has no choice but to yield to you! You don't have to overbid at all!" Xiong Da was excited, elated, and also confused about how he got Tier 00. But right now, the bid was more important.