Chapter 445

“Arthur. Yao Jing. Good to see both,” Casey Chin greeted the pair in the office that they’d been directed to. It was – thankfully – not located in the middle of KL but closer in Petaling Jaya. Not that the massive, multi-storey building was any less intimidating, just easier to get to. 

The room itself was luxurious, marble flooring, wood paneling, big glossy and well kept bookshelves and an intimidatingly large and modern desk before them, the next generation projected keyboard and monitor hovering in space in the clear, glass monitor staring back at them. At the moment, the monitor had faded and folded down, sliding away when the pair had entered for the discussion. 

"Casey. Thank you for meeting me."

"You know I've been waiting," she replied. "Now, are you ready to hear my pitch or you want ot do this informally for now?"

Arthur laughed, softly. "I think formal can come later, no? I need to find myself a lawyer to sort out whatever you send me." That was another pain and a half. Maybe his tsifu would know someone. Hadn't some of their students been lawyers before? Doctors certainly....

"There'll be paperwork, but so long as I'm in charge, we'll work the old way. With our word and agreements," Casey said, leaning forward. "I hope you can believe, I'm good enough for that."

"Yeah..." she certainly had come through on the way out of the Tower. And even now, he was certain, she'd offer some of the benefits they'd talked about outside here, though most of the discussion had been support within. It was Rick who had offered cash on the outside, though he needed to open a bank account and set-up a proper organisation... 

"What's wrong?" Casey said and Arthur smoothed out his face, dropped the hand that had started rubbing his temple.

"Just thinking about the things I need to do."

"You need help." She tapped the table. "I can get you some lawyer contacts, if you want. People who can help."

"I have like... dozens of such contacts." From Rick, from the government, even a few he had found while browsing the forums before he had entered, because Climbers sometimes incorporated themselves. "I just, you know..."

"Need to do it?" She gestured out the door. "You could do that and come back?"

"No. We need to talk about what you want from us," Arthur said. "What you see. I..." he considered, decided it was worth it. "I want to work with you. And Rick. I don't want to work with the government if I can help it." He hesitated on whether he wanted to finish the sentence, his thoughts. Decided from the small smile she gave, she understood. Never trust governments - there was too much of an imbalance of power involved. Nor were the majority of people who climbed the political ladder people who were worthy of faith and trust.

"I'd prefer to buy in, to become shareholders in your Clan." At the look he gave her, she added. "You incorporate outside, in Malaysia. We get a 50% stake in the Clan out here, we fund everything you need. Put in tens of millions of Ringgit, so that you can have a proper headquarters, places to train people and recruit. In the Tower, you make me either your deputy when it's possible, or Treasurer for now."

"That's a lot."

"What is?"

"All of it," Arthur said. "And there's no way I'm giving 50% of the Clan to you. Maybe 10."

She laughed. "Come on, Arthur. For tens of millions of Ringgit, you want to give 10%?"

"With the option to buy more, if we expand. And you keep saying tens of millions, that's not an exact number." He leaned forward, fixed her with a look. "Rick's talking of investing too, of buying in. But he's talking in US dollars."

“And you’re willing to give an American so much influence?”

“Don’t you all have investors?” he gestured around the room. “The Prime Group is publicly incorporated on the KLSE. Surely there are international holdings.”

“None with a large amount of influence. Certainly none in the family’s corporation,” Casey pointed out.

“Which is a good reason for me, maybe, to not give either of you any control,” Arthur pointed out. “Keep it all to myself and grow slowly.”

“You think you have the chance to grow slowly?”

He chuckled ruefully. “No. No chance at all lah.”

Casey nodded. “You need us. So let me be clear – I’ll match and beat any offer that Rick makes.” She tapped the table. “I’m talking for the Chin family too, so you know I can beat him.”

“Unless his father gets involved.”

“Is he?” she asked, curiously.

“No. Not that I know of,” Arthur said. “Rick said it’s all him.”

“I thought so.” She nodded firmly. “We’ll match and beat anything he can offer you. And I won’t even ask that you don’t sign him on – just at a smaller level than us.”

“So if he offered, say… twenty million Ringgit for ten percent, you’d want eleven for the same amount?”

“Something like that,” Casey answered, her eyes flicking sideways as she did the math. “I’d offer like twenty five for eleven, but some would be in kind.”

“You were going to be naughty?” Yao Jing interjected.

“In kind – it’s, umm, business speak. I was thinking land. Maybe a building or two. Equipment.” She waved a hand in the air. “Stuff like that.”

“Why offer more?” Yao Jing asked, frowning.

“Because just ‘cause she says a piece of land – or building – is worth more, doesn’t mean it cost them that much to buy at first, no?” Arthur wasn’t exactly a business major, but he understood that much at least. It was what restaurants did. What he did, when he ran errands for others and they marked up his services. They might charge more, but what it cost them… well…

“Yes.” Casey shook her head. “We can argue the numbers later; but we offer something more than just money and you know it.”

“Local connections.” He tapped his knees as he slumped in the chair that had been provided, relaxing into the modern leather aesthetic. The mixture of the modern leather and chrome and wood paneling shouldn’t have worked, but somehow, it did. Probably some minor pieces, like the statues and the greenery and the wallpaper helped pull it all together, in ways he had no idea.

Much like talking business, really.

“Exactly. But we have also international ones too, especially locally.” She leaned in, clasping her hands before her. “You’re thinking about something.”

“The next Tower. Towers.” Arthur added. “We need to start planning for that. Make our entrance a little smoother.”

“Which ones?” she asked curiously. “Nakhon in Thailand? Jakarta? Or further afield? You are going to a few more Beginner Towers, right?”

“I plan to,” Arthur confirmed. “Then an Advanced eventually, whenever we’re ready.”

Casey was smart enough to not ask when that would be. It would depend on the Towers, what they went through, how fast they pushed in.

“I’d suggest Jakarta.”

“Not Hong Kong?” Yao Jing put in.

“No. Too long.” Casey leaned forwards. “It’s a much shorter run through for Jakarta, only three floors. If we do it right, won’t take more than a month or two.”

“Speedrunners have done it in a few weeks,” Arthur confirmed. “Doesn’t give us a lot of time to establish the guild there.”

“We’d have to negotiate that too,” Casey pointed out.

“Yeah…” Arthur rubbed his temples. “Fine. You’re on. Start planning that you are on – we’ll get the details sorted out when I find someone else who can help with that.”

The smile that broke out on Casey’s face made him shake his head. He really needed someone to help. And the only person who he could think of to tap was still missing.