NOVEL NEXT Chapter 170: Resolve, Targeted
When Kate got into the helicopter, she noticed that she was not the only one inside. Across from her sat another woman, already strapped in, a helmet resting loosely against her thigh rather than on her head.
She looked a few years older than Kate, though not by much. Early twenties, maybe. Her hair was a deep chestnut brown, pulled back into a practical tie that left no loose strands. Her sharp hazel eyes followed Kate's movements openly, without the hesitation of someone trying not to stare.
The lady had an athletic build, and even though she was seated, Kate could easily tell that she had a nice figure.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. And at this moment, just a few seconds after Kate had taken her seat, the door slid shut.
The helicopter vibrated faintly beneath them as the engine climbed toward full power. Wind pressed against the frame, rattling metal just enough to remind Kate that they were already in motion, even before they lifted off.
"This is your first time away from home?" the woman asked suddenly, her voice raised slightly over the noise.
Kate met her gaze. "Not really. But, it is the one that I feel kind of reluctant to leave, but I have to."
"The same here. But unlike you, I am not from this city. I have been here for about an hour so far." The lady responded.
And as she put on the headset, she shifted, extending a gloved hand towards Kate who was sitting across her. "I'm Lina. Or… that's what I'm using for now."
Kate understood the implication immediately.
"Kate," Kate responded as she shook hands with the lady.
Lina's eyebrows lifted a fraction, amused. She wanted to say something, but then, she noticed that Kate was looking down from the helicopter that had already risen into the air.
So, she went silent for a while, allowing Kate to see the city as it grew smaller, while the helicopter flew away.
The city disappeared from their view beneath them, replaced by an open land and a widening horizon.
Lina leaned back into her seat, glancing out the narrow window before returning her attention to Kate. "How do you feel about this opportunity?"
Kate exhaled softly. "I can't say for sure. But, I feel that this is an opportunity for me to be able to improve myself, to prove my worth."
"You are trying to prove something to someone? Let me guess, maybe you have been sidelined by your family, and you are using this chance to prove to them your worth?" Lina suddenly asked as she gazed at Kate.
Kate was rendered speechless when she heard that. At the same time, in her mind, she could not help but wonder, had she just encountered another person who liked to overthink like Susan?
Regardless, she still shook her head in response as she said, "Not at all. It is something else. But, it is important for me to show what I am capable of."
Lina seemed to understand that Kate did not want to talk about this. So, she did not ask more about this topic. Instead, she started making some small talks, and the two ladies got familiar with each other.
Kate felt that Lina was not bad. And, the two of them seemed to have some similarities. So, the two decided to stick together when they got to the organization.
Kate already knew about the details of the organization. As for Lina, she was not sure if she knew about it. But Kate had no any intention of divulging the fact that he already knew about NEXUS.
After all, if she revealed this, it was inevitable that some investigation would be carried out, to understand how she came to know about it. And at that time, if it was revealed that the information came from Michael, it would cause trouble for him.
She believed in Michael and his capabilities, and his background too. But, when it came to dealing with the government, sometimes, the background did not matter.
'Let me see. No matter how hard things are going to be, I will endure. Then, I will make something of myself. Only then, will I have the confidence...' Kate thought to herself as the helicopter disappeared into the distance.
....
On Sunday, Michael decided to relax. As a result, he did not push any skill to the expert level. But when he woke up on Monday, he began pushing another skill to the expert level, the skill being digital forensics.
Digital forensics was the practice of collecting and analyzing digital data to uncover activity, recover information, and reconstruct events from electronic devices.
With this skill, Michael's computer skills would advance to another level. Michael did not doubt that Adrian had this skill. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to be able to collect so much information on the Kingsley family.
Just after he pushed the skill to the expert level, gaining 6,011 points, which managed to push his SP balance back to over 100,000, Adrian came in.
"Michael, it seems that Damian is facing a problem. Recently, there is a group of gangsters that have began causing trouble.
They are targeting the newly opened stores, that are located in other cities. This has had an impact on the business, and since today is the opening of those stores, it might end up in the failure.
Currently, the gangsters are dealt with. But since they cannot directly target the stores, they are targeting those that intend to enter the stores. This has already frightened quite a number of customers, and as of now, work has stopped in quite a number of stores." Adrian stated.
Michael raised his brows slightly when he heard that. It was unexpected to him that the stores in other cities would actually be targeted by gangsters.
Considering that this was something that had happened in several cities at the same time, it was clear that someone was targeting him. If not him, the target was placed on Annex supermarket chain.
And most probably, this was related to the downfall of the Kingsley family. There was no any other explanation that Michael had at the moment apart from this.
It might not be directly related to the Kingsley family, but maybe the gap that the bankruptcy of price point supermarket chain had left. Maybe someone else wanted to exploit this chance, but they were a step behind Michael.
So, maybe they might be doing something like this to discourage the expansion of annex supermarket chain. That way, they would be able to get some time, to start competing against them for the market.
Michael did not immediately give a response to Adrian. Instead, he asked, "Any counter measures that you have come up with?"
"Currently, it seems that we need to get security. But, in order to be able to collaborate with a security company, and form a cooperation, this is something that is going to take quite a while.
Additionally, the costs involved would be quite high, to assign security guards to each store that we own. Moreover, with gangsters being involved, it is inevitable that some security guards will not be willing to work and provide security for the stores.
This immediately eliminates the small security companies. But the large security companies are mainly located within the central province. Additionally, in order to be able to acquire their services, the costs will be higher.
And according to the current state of the supermarket chain, which is just beginning to expand, hiring the security guards from a top security firm is not cost-effective." Adrian gave an explanation.
"The solution that you have come up with?" Michael inquired further.
"At the moment, the best choice is to acquire shares of a top security firm. That way, security guards from the top firm can be dispatched. At the same time, the costs will be lower, and this can be considered to be a long-term investment." Adrian responded swiftly.
Michael thought about it, realizing that the solution that Adrian came up with was feasible.
By becoming a shareholder of a top security firm from the central province, it would be quite easy for him to be able to secure a batch of security guards for the stores.
At the same time, in the future, he could use the services of this security firm, in case there was a need to do so.
And, being a shareholder, it was clear that if he needed the services of the firm, the price would not be as high as compared to an outsider.
Michael usually had the intention of fully acquiring a company if he decided to go for one. But with the current SP that he had, it was impossible.
His current SP balance was 105,778 points, which was equivalent to $10.5778 billion.
In the Eastern province, this was a substantial amount of money, surpassing even the Morgan family. But, in the central province, this was just a drop in the ocean.
After all, in the central province, there were huge companies and corporations that were valued in trillion dollars, not to mention a few billion.
"I guess you have already come up with the company that is most suitable for me to acquire the shares?" Michael asked.
"Yes. I have already done some investigation on all the security firms, and the one that suits your personality best is this security firm called Vanguard Corporation..." Adrian affirmed.