Doomsday Wonderland Vol. 14: Cloudwalk Heights

1673: You Need Connections to Get Things Done

"Please hold on. Searching for a suitable landing point."

Silas's gentle voice rippled through the cabin like waves, while outside, the gray-smoke-shrouded ground continued to scroll across the ship's screen. Lin Sanjiu, clutching a hot cup of coffee, curled up in a large chair, her eyes fixed on the drifting smog and earth displayed on the monitor. Her thoughts, however, were miles away.

Throughout the journey to the Old Sea's Crest, she kept mulling over what exactly Pete, the short man, had meant.

"Are you talking nonsense?" she said instinctively after Pete finished speaking. "What Shark Nexus... what investees? How come I've never heard of them?"

Pete leaned against the inner wall of the glass cup, seated on the ground. Despite being trapped, a faint air of superiority crept onto his face. "You're not from the Twelve Worlds Centrum, are you?"

"No," Lin Sanjiu replied, frowning. "You'd better watch your tone."

In the past, she wouldn't have cared about such trivial matters; she remembered this. But now, being irritated by something as minor as someone's tone was enough to annoy her, and that in itself was aggravating.

Pete quickly cleared his throat. "No, no, I mean... even people from the Twelve Worlds Centrum might not know what Shark Nexus is. They don't engage with the general public, nor are they like the Twelve Organizations that need to recruit, run businesses, or maintain bases. Naturally, few people have heard of them. I don't fully understand what kind of organization they are, either. When they contacted me, they simply told me that Shark the Nexus is a venture capital group. Besides me, quite a few others have received their investments."

Lin Sanjiu could hardly believe she was hearing the term 'venture capital' in a post-apocalyptic world. The last time she'd come across that phrase felt like a lifetime ago.

"So you're... a startup?" she asked, the unfamiliarity of the term making it feel strange, as though her tongue tripped over the words. "People in the Twelve Worlds Centrum haven't heard of Shark Nexus, so how am I supposed to believe you're telling the truth?"

"I can't make you believe me," Pete said with a defeated expression. "After all, who in their daily work goes out of their way to document everything as evidence? All I can say is that it's absolutely true. Ask me any details you want, and I'll answer them all. I don't make up stories, and I wouldn't be able to invent something so elaborate on the spot."

Lin Sanjiu remained silent, half-doubtful. Pete's combat strength wasn't impressive. In the Twelve Worlds Centrum, he would at best rank as upper-mid-tier. Yet he had access to one rare item after another; the memory pocket dimension alone was invaluable. Any portable pocket dimension was extraordinarily precious, and even that projection device he used to trap someone had been powerful enough to confine a Veda.

If those items were provided to him by someone else, his story made more sense.

"Start from the beginning," Lin Sanjiu said, her brows furrowing. "Are you telling me people can still set up companies in the Twelve Worlds Centrum?"

"I was born after doomsday, so I only vaguely know that we're different from pre-doomsday companies," Pete explained. "Those companies needed to register and be certified by the gov—government, right? Here in the Twelve Worlds Centrum, we just call them groups or organizations. They have guiding principles, divisions of labor, goals, and systems for profit-sharing. Oh, and in some areas, they even have to pay activity permit fees to a superior organization."

That was just an unlicensed company.

"Tell me about the investment process," Lin Sanjiu said, more curious than anything else.

"Before I actually received the investment, I had to meet two rounds of Shark Nexus investors, three people per round, so six in total," Pete began. As he spoke about securing the venture capital, a faint trace of pride crept onto his face, as if he were savoring the memory. "I had to present my ideas, progress, action plans, and all of that. They called this process a 'roadshow.' It's apparently a term from before doomsday. Sounds strange, doesn't it?"

If given enough time, a human society blending pre-apocalypse ingenuity with post-apocalypse creativity, thriving in a new world, could evolve into something entirely unprecedented.

'I wonder what it would look like,' she thought. Just for a moment, she felt a glimmer of her old self again. But the feeling was fleeting, and her attention shifted back to Pete.

"In the first round, if two out of the three investors decided I was worth advancing, I'd move on to the second round," Pete said earnestly, sighing. "I can't even tell you how much effort and time I spent researching and preparing, waiting for their response. I barely slept through those nights. When I finally earned approval from the second-round investors, I was allowed to start my project."

"This investment... it's mostly just Special Items and money, right?"

"And necessary manpower support," Pete added. At this point, he seemed to remember something and cast a wary glance at Lin Sanjiu. "Of course, there's also personal protection."

That last part sounded like a bluff.

"I got unlucky; the second project I started brought me straight to you," Pete said with a bitter smile. "I don't understand. We've got no grudge against each other, so why are you so determined to make things hard for me?"

Lin Sanjiu turned a deaf ear. "I don't get it. Aren't Shark Nexus investors worried that you'll just take the resources and run?"

"First, they're not widely known. Unless someone is really motivated to work on something, they probably haven't even heard of Shark Nexus, let alone tried to scam them. Second, they conduct thorough background checks and surveillance on every candidate. For example, I didn't even know I was on their radar when they started investigating me."

Pete continued, "Third, Shark Nexus clearly has significant resources, or they wouldn't be able to offer so much. That shows they're powerful. Who'd risk crossing them and possibly losing their life? Fourth, investments always carry the risk of losses."

Lin Sanjiu bit her lip and paced in circles, her thoughts tangled and overwhelming. The situation was infuriating. She couldn't release Pete, couldn't kill him, and keeping him in her hands was like holding a hot potato.

Pete seemed to sense her dilemma.

"I have a suggestion," he said cautiously. "I'm willing to enter the memory pocket dimension. You can erase all memories of us meeting, then let me go. Problem solved, right? If you want some of the items I have, I can even give you a share. As for the glass cup, listen, the Twelve Worlds Centrum has all sorts of specialized services. I'm sure you can find someone to unlock it."

As if that wasn't tempting enough, he added, "You seem really capable. If a group like the Shark Nexus backed you, you'd definitely become a big name in the Twelve Worlds Centrum. How about it? I'll introduce you to them. What do you say?"