Chapter 2: The Banquet

The banquet, as you would expect, was held in the reception hall of some prestigious hotel whose name I couldn't be bothered to remember. Usually, I avoided such tedious affairs. The CEOs and companies who organized them had too much money to burn, wasting on such indulgences and luxuries.

If they would donate the money they threw away on all these lavish banquets to me, perhaps I would be able to afford the new capacitators and components I needed to finish my shield generator. That was going to be the saving grace for my Titan project, codenamed Iron Knight.

Having lived on nothing but instant noodles and takeaways for the last couple of months – not exactly a healthy diet – I couldn't help but scoop a huge amount of food onto my plate. This was the first sumptuous feast I had in a while.

William frowned in disapproval, but since I already had quite the ruined image in the circle, there was no point reprimanding me. Instead, he joined me in gorging himself because he had similarly starved himself alongside me as our finances failed.

While we did so, he pointed out the people in the lobby reception. For some reason, William was more interested in women and gossip than he was in the other CEOs and companies.

"Do you see that beautiful lady over there? She's Helen Hui. The daughter of Heather Hui, the CEO of Hui Corporation. Ah, and that's Nina Shi, the daughter of CEO Shi. You know Shi Holdings?"

I shook my head, half-distracted. I was more interested in machines and robots than in women. Needless to say, I had some very bad experiences with them back when I was in high school, with them cruelly dismissing me as a creepy nerd or dumping me, sealing off all contact with me while at it.

To be fair, I was quite the socially awkward guy back then. Maybe I came across as being too desperate, or I just didn't know how to talk to girls. Whatever the case, I decided to move on and invest all of my efforts and intentions into building robots for the military.

Hobbies over women. Yay.

"Are you listening?"

"Ah, sorry, William. Continue."

My secretary scowled and shook his head. He then pointed toward a slender, young lady who looked very fragile.

"That's Lily Ling, the heiress to Ling Conglomerate. Have you heard of Ling Conglomerate?"

I had never heard of it before, and just like all the other companies that William had been listing off, I doubted I would remember this particular one after this feast either. But obviously I didn't tell William that. Instead, I just shrugged. He rolled his eyes and then turned his attention toward another lady. This time, she was much more confident than Lily Ling, and was clinging to a man.

"That's Lily Ling's stepsister, Linda Ling. The man beside her is Charles Mu, the heir to the Mu Corporation."

"Oh, okay."

"There's some interesting gossip going around, though." William dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Lily Ling is the elder child, which is why her father decides to make her the heiress instead of his current wife's daughter, Linda. So there's some bad blood between the two. They also say that Charles Mu used to be Lily Ling's fiancé, but Linda Ling stole him from her sister. She also has her eyes on Lily Ling's position as the heiress."

That was absolutely none of my business, and I didn't know why William was telling me all of this. Probably to pass the time. The both of us were going to die from boredom at this rate.

Fortunately, we were saved from such an ignominious death.

"I heard that you're building an exosuit?"

Arthur Qi, the CEO of Qi Robotics, happened to pass by and talk to me. William and I bowed our heads politely. Even though I was also a CEO, our status was just too far apart. He was a million times richer than I was, with an established company that was recognized for producing superior Artificial Intelligence and other programs.

"Uh, not exactly, sir. I'm building a war walker."

"Ah." Arthur nodded, looking curious. "That's an interesting choice. But hasn't Han Industries proven that their Mech Marine program is superior? Their latest exosuits in particular have passed their field tests with flying colors."

"Um, I'm not exactly trying to compete against Han Industries…" I swallowed nervously. This was why I hated taking part in these banquets.

"Hah, CEO Qi, why are you talking to that loser?"

Justin Han swaggered over, a glass of wine in one hand. He glowered at me, a sneer on his handsome face.

"I can't believe you still have the face to show up here."

"Hmm? You know each other?" Arthur looked curious. I nodded.

"We've met."

"And likely won't meet again." Justin cocked his head, his expression still full of scorn. "You won't be a CEO for much longer, Mr. Shen. Your company will be going under by next week."

"What do you mean by that?" William growled, stepping forward, but Justin merely shot him a condescending stare.

"Isn't Huang Zhou Bank already badgering you to return your loan? Not only that, they've charged you a high amount of interest. How are you going to pay them back when your company has made no profits whatsoever?"

"How do you know that?!" William demanded, about to grab Justin Han by the collar. Fortunately, I stepped in and stopped him.

"CEO Han knows a lot about my company's affairs," I said caustically. "I wonder why you sound so obsessed with what we are doing. I hope you are not stalking us."

"Hah! It's my job to keep track of which companies are doing well and which are doing badly." Justin then began laughing. "Normally, I would buy out the shares of your company, but there's nothing in your Shen Industries worth purchasing! Your stock is utterly zero!"

"You…!" William snapped, but I held him back.

"Gentlemen." Arthur sounded aghast. He turned to Justin in particular. "We are all here to socialize, not to take snipes at each other. Why are you at each other's throats? Come, drink."

"Thank you, sir." I nodded and picked up a glass of fruit juice from the table. I wasn't fond of wine or alcoholic drinks so I avoided those. Arthur didn't seem to mind. He nodded toward me.

"CEO Shen, I heard a bit about your project and wonder if you would like to purchase some of my company's AI for your weapon systems."

"Yeah," I said with a nod. Modern AIs were indispensable to contemporary warfare. We used them for targeting systems, sensor arrays, damage diagnostics and a variety of other functions. Given how renowned Qi Robotics was in this field, having their help would be a great benefit.

"Hah!" Justin Han laughed. "Don't be so quick to agree, Mr. Shen. Your company can't afford the AIs of Qi Robotics! You can't even pay off your debts!"

"I believe I was speaking to CEO Shen, not you, CEO Han." Arthur Qi gave the CEO of the Han Industries a warning glare. "Are you the spokesman for Shen Industries? Did CEO Shen employ you? Why do you think you have the right to make decisions on his behalf?"

"No…not at all." Justin turned pale and gulped. "I apologize. I was out of line."

"You are apologizing to the wrong person." The elderly man glanced at me. "You should be apologizing to CEO Shen, not me."

"You want me to apologize to Trevor Shen?!" Justin growled, feeling insulted. "That loser?"

Arthur sighed and turned away. "You are going too far, CEO Han. As much as you deserve praise for your recent successes, you appear to have allowed all that arrogance to get to your head. I believe I'll have to reconsider renewing my contract with your Mech Marine program…"

"Ah! No! Sorry! You are correct, I am getting ahead of myself." Justin then turned to me and gave me a slight bow. "I apologize for speaking the truth."

"You…!" William shouted. Arthur cleared his throat.

"That doesn't count as an apology."

"That's all right. CEO Han was indeed speaking the truth. My company is in the red right now, and we have trouble with the banks." I sighed. Arthur gave me a stern look, and I smiled. "However, I hope to one day rebuild Shen Industries and turn it to the top. I will not give up. I believe I still have the opportunity to turn things around."

"That's a good attitude." Arthur realized the meaning behind my words. Right now, I indeed had no ground to stand on. I could argue with Justin all day, but the fact of the matter was that the CEO of Han Industries was right.

If I wanted to prove him wrong, I would have to do it with actions, not mere words. I needed to produce something that I could sell, something that would succeed against the fierce competition in the military market.

"I wish you luck in your endeavor, CEO Shen. I know you will be able to prove your detractors wrong eventually."

"Thank you for having confidence in me, CEO Qi."

As other big shots and men and women of high statuses trickled in to speak to Arthur Qi, William and I excused ourselves and walked away.

"That Justin Han, he definitely knows something!" William Wang grumbled angrily under his breath. "If not, how would he know about Huang Zhou Bank or our financial situation? Right! I heard that Han Industries has close ties with Huang Zhou Bank! He must have orchestrated something, asked them to cancel the loan and demand repayment!"

"Or he could have corporate spies in place." I scratched my head and adjusted my glasses before sighing wearily.

"The timing is too perfect to be a coincidence! Also, Huang Zhou Bank is breaching our contract! We are only three months into the loan! They should only be asking for repayment next year!"

"What can we do?" I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "We can't afford a lawyer…"

"No, maybe we can." William thought for a bit. "I might have a contact in a law firm. I'll pull some strings, get him on our case. He'll review our contract and help us with the legal side."

"Can we afford him?" I asked skeptically. "Lawsuits aren't cheap."

"Don't worry. He owes me a favor. I'll get on it right away as soon as I get home." William was already leaving. I was about to follow him, but he turned around and held up a hand. "You stay here. Our kind hosts have booked hotel rooms for the guests, so enjoy yourself for tonight."

"But…"

"No buts." William looked at me sternly. "You've been overworking yourself for the last few weeks, spending all your time fixing that stupid Titan of yours. Take a break tonight. Perhaps you might figure out a solution for the funding."

That wasn't a problem I could sleep on and magically come up with a solution overnight.

However, William was having none of it. I could only watch helplessly as he shoved me back before he left the hotel, leaving me all alone to the wolves.

Glancing at Justin Han, who was speaking animatedly to a beautiful girl in a gown, I decided to hide in a corner and stay as far away from my self-proclaimed rival as possible. I didn't want to bother with his insults.

While I did so, I caught sight of Linda Ling laughing alongside Charles Mu. They swayed toward a table filled with wine glasses, and Linda took one of them. To my astonishment, she picked a sachet from a pocket in her gown, tore it open and poured some powder into the wine glass.

Huh? Why the hell would she do that?

I watched her curiously, wondering if she was going to drink it. Maybe it was a vitamin supplement or something. I had heard of such stuff before, even seen a couple of friends drink it.

But Linda Ling didn't drink it. Instead, she picked up another glass of wine and wandered over to her sister, Lily Ling.

"Sister," she called out sweetly. "Here, let's have a toast."

Lily Ling smiled back happily and accepted the glass. I realized that it was the one Linda Ling poured the powder into.

A chill ran down my spine and I quickly made my way forward.

"Don't drink that!" I shouted, turning some heads, but I was too late.