Chapter 936: Dealing with Sorokin, Idea of Subsidiary Consortium (Revised)

Chapter 936: Countering Sorokin, The Vision of a Subsidiary Consortium (Revised)

"What is the meaning of this?"

A mask of sheer astonishment settled upon Intepis's features.

"There is no reason you wouldn't understand the Interstellar Common Tongue. I mean exactly what I said: you are coming with me." Han Xiao watched Intepis with keen amusement.

"You must be jesting. Go with you? Go where?" Intepis asked, utterly bewildered.

"I am not jesting. My aid comes at a price. Since you sought my help, the terms of our exchange dictate that you shall join the Black Star Army and become my subordinate."

"We never agreed to such terms!" Intepis's countenance darkened with sudden fury as he shot to his feet.

"...What gave you the impression that I need to negotiate terms with you?"

Han Xiao arched a brow. "I provide the aid, so naturally, I dictate the price. And my price is you. You belong to me now."

Intepis's facial muscles twitched violently; he had never imagined that the man's true target was his very person!

In that instant, a tumult of emotions churned within him—shock, indignation, and even a faint, bewildered sense of flattery.

His mind reeling, Intepis spoke in a heavy tone, "My apologies. I am deeply grateful for your esteem, but I do not sign away my freedom."

"What makes you think you have any say in the matter?"

Han Xiao could not help but chuckle.

Unlike combat potential, administrative prowess defied quantification and immediate judgment, resting solely upon past achievements; this man was indeed a talent worth swinging a pickaxe to poach.

He did not hold him in extraordinarily high regard, for the Army lacked no capable managers, but since a gem had crossed his path, he might as well pocket it. Han Xiao's logic perfectly mirrored the pragmatic spirit of his homeland's upbringing: since he was already here, he might as well take something with him.

"...If you choose to force my hand, I truly cannot resist. But would the illustrious Black Star truly resort to kidnapping?" Helpless, Intepis could only resort to verbal prodding.

"Tsk. You have misunderstood one fundamental thing."

Han Xiao strolled leisurely behind Intepis, pressed a hand upon his shoulder to seat him, and remarked casually:

"Were this a standard recruitment, I would never coerce those who refuse. But our situation differs. You intended to use me, you have already reaped the benefits, and you will continue to rely on the Black Star Army to secure your throne. Thus, the leverage rests with me... To be precise, I am now your creditor."

With that, Han Xiao circled back to face him, leaned against the desk, and looked down upon Intepis, his smile fading into a cool detachment as he spoke softly:

"Since I am the creditor, the collection shall follow my standards, not the contents of your purse."

Intepis was rendered speechless; even if this was blatant coercion, he possessed no means to defy the will of a titan like Black Star.

Clenching his teeth, Intepis murmured darkly, "If you desired my service, you should have stated this condition sooner. Then I would not have..."

Han Xiao cut him off with a calm, level voice.

"Do not forget, you were the one who sought my aid. You never once asked for the terms."

At these words, Intepis fell silent, a profound sense of powerlessness washing over him.

It had been an invitation laden with subtle hints; how could he have openly demanded terms? Was he supposed to attach a disclaimer stating he could not be forced into servitude? That would be utterly shameless! Who could have possibly foreseen that Black Star would set his sights on him!

With the dice cast, Intepis had nowhere left to run. Black Star held absolute dominion. Had he stubbornly refused, he harbored no doubt the Army would simply pivot to ally with the great families. The board had shifted since the election; back then, he had nothing to lose, and the worst outcome changed nothing. Now, elected as lord with victory in hand, Black Star's whim dictated the stability of his throne, perhaps even his very life. He was completely checkmated.

In this precise moment, only a single thought echoed in Intepis's mind:

—What exactly do you see in me? I will change it, alright?!

Noting the distress etched across Intepis's face, Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and deliberately deepened his tone:

"Setting emotions aside, does the Black Star Army truly repulse you so?"

Startled by the question, Intepis frowned in contemplation before finally shaking his head.

Stripping away the friction of his rebellious pride, Intepis was forced to concede that the Black Star Army's horizon was undeniably vaster.

How could ruling a mundane colony world compare to being personally recruited by Black Star himself?

"I do not truly oppose joining the Army. It is only that I ran for lordship not for personal ambition, but to do something for my homeworld..." Intepis sighed, reluctantly outlining his aspirations.

Born to a humble family and rising from nothing, his success had only sharpened his disdain for his homeland's decay. He had chosen this path to shatter the corrupt monopoly of the great families, a man deeply tethered to his roots.

Han Xiao offered neither agreement nor dissent. "While serving me, you may continue to rule as planetary lord."

"Then I certainly cannot leave with you. I was only just elected; how can I depart?" Intepis protested, troubled. "Could you grant me a few years to settle affairs here?"

"You are hardly in a position to bargain." Han Xiao shook his head with a faint laugh. "Even absent from Radbudo, you can govern remotely. With my backing, your absence will not embolden a single soul to shake your foundation."

Seeing the man prepare to argue further, Han Xiao ceased the debate, rose, and strode toward the door, tossing a final remark over his shoulder:

"I care not how you arrange it. You have three days. When the time expires, you depart with me. That is final."

Watching Han Xiao's retreating figure, Intepis sat in silence, his expression growing increasingly bitter.

His darkest premonition had materialized. Inviting a deity was simple; dismissing one was agony. The lord's seat had scarcely warmed before he was forced to vacate it, sacrificing himself in the process.

His soul felt weary, steeped in regret... He should never have entangled himself with such a colossus.

...

Three days later, at the ground spaceport.

Luggage in hand, Intepis stood before the starship's airlock, his visage a tapestry of conflicting emotions.

Heaving a quiet sigh, he turned to his female secretary, whose eyes brimmed with reluctance, and said helplessly, "I leave everything in your capable hands during my absence."

After three days of meticulous arrangements, Intepis had ultimately decided to leave his trusted secretary behind as his proxy, aiding his remote governance of Radbudo. With the Black Star Army's shadow over her, her safety was guaranteed.

Though his heart rebelled against the arrangement, he possessed no alternative.

Unable to restrain herself, the secretary stepped forward and embraced him. She could only watch helplessly as events spiraled to this point, powerless to stop his abduction.

"Please... take care of yourself," she whispered, her face etched with worry.

Hearing this, Intepis could only offer a wry smile. Following Black Star, whatever else might happen, personal safety was the least of his concerns.

Turning back to the vessel, Intepis drew a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil within, hoisted his luggage, and ascended the boarding ramp toward the airlock, stepping onto a path shrouded in uncertain fate.

...

The Black Star Army fleet, hovering in outer orbit, departed from Radbudo, taking the newly minted planetary lord with it. The news was not concealed, and upon learning of it, the great families were struck with profound astonishment.

Elected for a mere three days before vanishing? What manner of absurdity was this?!

After a flurry of investigations, the families finally pieced together the truth: Intepis had been inducted into the Black Star Army and whisked away, leaving his secretary to govern remotely in a bid to retain his lordship.

Backed by the Black Star Army, Intepis was beyond their reach to oppose. Yet his actions flagrantly violated protocol. Ordinarily, a colonial ruler could not openly affiliate with external factions, a safeguard against foreign manipulation.

Conferencing in secret, the families resolved to leverage their connections and escalate the matter to the civilization's central government. They could not touch Intepis, but the state could. By citing his sensitive affiliations, they could trigger emergency protocols, strip him of his title, and install a parachuted administrator.

In their estimation, formidable as the Black Star Army was, it held no mandate to meddle in the internal affairs of a stellar-grade civilization. The gambit was worth attempting.

Unable to provoke Black Star directly, they could only weave their schemes in the shadows of bureaucracy.

The civilization's progress had stagnated for years, its bureaucracy bloated with complacent officials easy to manipulate. Though powerless against Intepis, the families remained confident in bribing a newly appointed lord. The situation could hardly worsen.

Upon receiving the report, the central government found itself in a severe dilemma.

The move breached their own statutes, yet they dared not provoke Han Xiao. After deliberation, they could only pressure Intepis, presenting an ultimatum: either renounce his Army affiliation and return to rule obediently, or relinquish the Radbudo lordship he had so recently acquired.

Intepis harbored a desire to return, yet he possessed no agency, nor was he willing to surrender his hard-won throne. Left with no recourse, he reported the entirety of the situation to Han Xiao aboard the same vessel.

Having already poached the man, Han Xiao saw no harm in bolstering his new subordinate's loyalty. He promptly placed a call to the Crimson Dynasty.

The call yielded immediate results. Within days, the stellar civilization quietly rescinded its decree, feigning ignorance of the entire affair and tacitly accepting Intepis's dual status.

This time, the great houses of Radbudo found themselves utterly bereft of recourse; Black Star’s overwhelming authority left them with no cards to play, and they meekly bowed to their fate.

As a star-system civilization bound in vassalage to the Crimson Empire and subject to its governance, it required only a single transmission from Han Xiao, given his exalted standing, to summon imperial intervention and settle the matter.

Yet Han Xiao knew full well that such a maneuver would only hold sway over imperial vassals; had he faced a neutral, sovereign star-system civilization, they would in all likelihood have turned a deaf ear to his demands.

For an outsider to arbitrarily meddle in a civilization’s internal affairs reeked of puppeteering, a transgression against interstellar common law that trampled upon the sacred threshold of sovereignty. Though his standing as a Super A-Class ally of the Empire granted him a transcendent position and earned him the reverence of star-system civilizations, respect was one matter; it hardly meant a civilization would cast aside its principles and yield without condition.

The vassal civilizations within imperial borders, however, were an entirely different matter; their political structures were deliberately kept loose, their compass needle fixed solely upon the Crimson Empire. An affair of this magnitude was hardly enough to compel the Empire to slight his dignity.

The Empire would scarcely allow so petty a trifle to sour their alliance, a concession that stood as one of Han Xiao’s quiet privileges within the Crimson domain.

……

Aboard Black Star’s personal vessel, within the residential deck, lay Han Xiao’s private study.

Intepus had dwelled aboard the vessel for some time now, his turbulent emotions finally smoothed into calm. The die was cast, and he had made his peace with it; since defiance was impossible, he would simply learn to savor the hand he was dealt. Thrust into an entirely new milieu, he resolved to dedicate himself wholly to the legion’s service.

When the summons from Han Xiao finally arrived today, he stepped into the study and, with his very first words, carefully calibrated his station and inquired after his duties.

"Lord Black Star, what service do you require of me for the legion?"

Han Xiao set down the communicator in his hand, lifted his gaze, and offered a faint smile. "You carved your fortune from nothing, wielding considerable operational skill, managerial acumen, and a merchant’s keen eye. I have a venture tied to a financial consortium that I wish to place in your hands."

"That is my native trade." Intepus exhaled, a weight lifting from his shoulders.

"Before we proceed, you shall first meet your future superior."

With that, Han Xiao tapped the console, and a holographic transmission materialized within the chamber, resolving into the figure of Sylvia.

"I am Sylvia, Chief Affairs Officer of the Black Star Legion. You must be the Intepus my mentor spoke of?"

Sylvia’s eyes swept over Intepus from head to toe, her gaze sharp with appraisal.

"I am."

"I have reviewed your dossier. Your capabilities are more than adequate." Sylvia gave a curt nod, offering a measured courtesy.

At that moment, Han Xiao rapped his knuckles sharply against the desk, drawing both their attentions.

"Enough pleasantries. Let us turn to business. I intend to establish a subsidiary consortium, currently in its formative stages, which will draw heavily upon the legion’s reservoir of talent."

The Black Star Legion had swollen to such proportions that its sheer mass had grown unwieldy, demanding structural reformation. After careful deliberation, Han Xiao resolved to cultivate a network of subsidiary factions, all orbiting the legion as their gravitational core.

The first of these offshoots would leverage the legion’s vast resources to forge a purely commercial subsidiary, streamlining future mercantile operations.

The concept drew partial inspiration from the Infinite Consortium’s sprawling web of sub-brands, while simultaneously serving as a bulwark against their relentless market encroachment.

The Infinite Consortium’s maneuvers had laid bare the fragility of loose interest alliances, prompting Han Xiao to forge this subsidiary financial arm. By consolidating the legion’s sprawling peripheral ventures and absorbing the commercial channels of his partners into a unified whole, he could stifle the Infinite Consortium’s hostile acquisitions and meet them on equal footing in the corporate arena.

Sylvia nodded, turning her gaze to Intepus, her voice crisp and authoritative:

"I shall serve as the consortium’s acting sovereign. Though you are a newcomer, the Commander himself saw fit to recruit you, so I shall grant you a trial. You will not begin in the trenches; instead, you will immediately command a division and vie against rival teams. Should your yields consistently rank among the vanguard, I will elevate you to the consortium’s senior executive ranks… Whether you ascend the ladder rests entirely upon your own merits."

The legion boasted a deep bench of seasoned veterans, and Intepus remained an untested recruit; Han Xiao would never permit him to simply parachute into the upper echelons. Only by proving his mettle, step by arduous step, could he hope to climb the ranks.

"I understand. The terms are just."

Intepus nodded with quiet composure; his confidence in the mercantile arts ran deep, and the prospect of rivalry did not daunt him.

After a moment’s hesitation, curiosity got the better of him, and he ventured a question:

"What, then, shall this subsidiary consortium be called?"

At the query, Han Xiao’s brow arched, and a distinctly mischievous grin curled at the corners of his mouth.

"We shall call it… the Sprout Consortium."