Chapter 1 The Colin Group

The Colin Group was a local enterprise in the Shattered Star Ring, making a name for itself in more than a dozen businesses such as resource extraction, logistics and transportation, and processed materials production. Although it had not reached the level of a large consortium, it was still an interstellar enterprise listed in this star field, with cooperative relationships with many galaxy-level civilizations and a large number of planetary civilizations. Its annual turnover was considerable. At the same time, the group was also a partner of the Black Star Army, providing business channels for the army.

These commercial groups cooperated with the Black Star Army, partly for the sake of the Evolution Cube quota, and partly because they were optimistic about the Black Star Army's influence in the area. Having the title of Black Star Army partner could bring many conveniences to their own group's business.

For example, many local civilizations were partners of the army. Having the same background made them feel more like friends on the same boat, so they would take care of each other more or less. Commercial organizations that did not cooperate with the army suffered losses and found it increasingly difficult to get orders. Over time, the concept of a joint interest group emerged. Many commercial organizations were unwilling to fall behind and also cooperated with the army. This was the prototype of the interest network that the Black Star Army had been operating in the Shattered Star Ring for several years.

The Colin Group was one of the first companies to cooperate with the Black Star Army. Its performance had been improving in recent years, and its prospects were broad. But at this moment, in the conference room of the Colin Group headquarters, all the company's senior executives and shareholders gathered together. Most of them looked worried, and the atmosphere was heavy.

The current leader of the group, Colin Duller, sat at the head of the table with a very ugly expression, his tone filled with suppressed anger.

"The Heber Civilization and the Zedro Civilization have terminated their cooperation with us, not only taking back the mining rights we purchased, but also canceling the long-term orders for material supplies. I was negotiating with the Visser people before. If we could get the Visser people's order, the group could obtain a new business area. The negotiations had already entered the final stage, but I didn't expect the Visser people to suddenly overturn the previous terms and cooperate with others. Our current situation is very bad."

A senior executive sighed, "Yes, many heads of civilization departments who used to cooperate with us happily have now severed ties. This is not a normal situation. There must be competitors making trouble behind the scenes..."

"Hmph, I know who it is." Colin snorted coldly, his anger rising. "Some time ago, the Infinite Consortium contacted me and said they wanted to acquire the Colin Group. I rejected them. The group's recent movements have all been caused by them."

"What, is that what happened?!"

"Why didn't I know the Infinite Consortium contacted us?"

Many people looked surprised, only now learning of this situation. Some senior executives remained silent, watching coldly, obviously already aware of it.

Colin said angrily, "I've inquired about it. The Infinite Consortium has been acquiring companies in the Shattered Star Ring during this period. Groups that didn't agree have been suppressed to varying degrees. I heard that because of the development of the Glittering World, the Infinite Consortium decided to enter the Shattered Star Ring on a large scale. They plan to invest heavily in building factories in the Heber Civilization and the Zedro Civilization. They must have reached some kind of deal behind the scenes to get the two to terminate their cooperation with us. And the competitor who intercepted the Visser people's order is a company that was recently acquired by the Infinite Consortium. It's all related to them."

At this time, the group's second largest shareholder, who was not on good terms with Colin, sneered and said,

"It's not just that. Several important cooperative enterprises have also stopped doing business with us. Several civilizations no longer approve our loans. Dozens of middle-level executives have been poached, resigning and leaving, leaving gaps in our positions. The group's operation has encountered problems... So far, our business has shrunk by more than 30%, and the group's stock price has plummeted. I said long ago that we shouldn't have rejected the Infinite Consortium. It's one of the largest consortiums in the entire universe. There's nothing wrong with becoming a subsidiary brand of theirs."

Hearing this, Colin's face turned ashen.

He also knew that the Infinite Consortium's influence, financial resources, and brand effect were not comparable to theirs. If they could cooperate with the Infinite Consortium, some partners would not hesitate to abandon their local enterprise, simply because the Infinite Consortium could bring greater benefits.

The more Colin thought about it, the angrier he became. He slammed the table with a bang, leaving shallow dents on the table with the black protruding bone spurs on his hand, gritting his teeth.

"Don't even think about it. The Colin Group is my life's work. I won't agree to the Infinite Consortium's acquisition request!"

"Then how will you solve the current problem? If you can't, the group will go bankrupt sooner or later. Everyone here is a shareholder. If you want to ruin the entire group out of spite, you have to ask us first." The second shareholder said sarcastically.

Colin frowned, remained silent for a while, and then shook his head. "I don't have a solution for the time being..."

The second shareholder stood up, took out a document, slapped it on the table, and sneered, "Since you have no solution, then sign this share acquisition agreement."

Colin's face changed, and he stared at the second shareholder. "The Infinite Consortium has already bought you off?!"

"Buy me off? I'm just considering the future of the group."

The second shareholder chuckled, then looked around at the senior executives who were either shocked or calm, and gave them a look.

Another major shareholder understood and stood up to persuade him. "Colin, agree to the Infinite Consortium. It's difficult for us to compete with a universe-level consortium. Besides, their acquisition price is also very good. Maybe after joining the Infinite Consortium, our business can develop further with their support."

This seemed to be a signal. Many senior executives present spoke up to advise him.

"You, you..." Colin widened his eyes in shock. How could he not understand? The senior executives who were speaking had basically been bought off by the Infinite Consortium. The combined shares of these people were enough to kick him out of the game.

Unknowingly, the decision-making level had been infiltrated to such an extent!

The remaining wavering senior executives also showed some interest, staring at Colin with hopeful eyes.

Colin's expression was uncertain, and he gritted his teeth. "If I don't agree, are you planning to sideline me?"

The second shareholder said lightly, "That depends on whether your decisions are rational. If your decisions will lead the group into the abyss, then we have to save ourselves."

Colin stared at the acquisition agreement on the table, gritting his teeth and weighing it for a long time. He didn't say a word, grabbed the acquisition agreement, read it carefully, and finally signed the agreement silently with a gloomy face.

"Clap clap clap..."

At this moment, a burst of applause suddenly rang out. The door opened, and a person walked in while clapping, a confident smile on his lips.

"A wise choice."

Colin frowned and looked over. Before he could ask, the second shareholder took the lead in introducing him.

"This is Mr. Madick, a senior executive of the Infinite Consortium."

"Oh, so you're the one who bought off my people." Colin said sarcastically.

"Hehe, don't be so hostile to me. In the future, the Colin Group will be a company under the consortium, and we'll all be colleagues."

Madick waved his hand with a light smile. "I'm here to tell everyone that the original decision-making structure will not change significantly. You are still the group's senior executives."

Everyone had different expressions and did not speak. Some were glad, while others disagreed.

Madick glanced around and said lightly, "However, the business direction needs to be adjusted. I need you to immediately terminate your cooperation with the Black Star Army."

"Why?" Colin asked, puzzled.

Acquiring them was one thing, but what did this have to do with the Black Star Army? Why abandon such a good cooperative partner?

"Hehe, our Infinite Consortium has signed a cooperation and development agreement with War Realm. War Realm is preparing to imitate the Black Star Army and create its own interest group, so it needs many organizations to join. Every company that we acquire must switch to War Realm, provide them with their respective channels, and expand their business."

Madick smiled calmly.

Colin frowned, and suddenly his expression changed, a hint of surprise and uncertainty flashing in his eyes.

He had also attended the Black Star gathering some time ago and met Sorokin, but Sorokin had invested in War Realm and was instead dealing with the Black Star Army's partners. As a local of the Shattered Star Ring, Colin had a bold guess in his mind when he thought of all this:

—No… the Infinite Consortium doesn't simply want to enter the Shattered Star Ring. On the surface, they are acquiring our companies, but the real target they want to deal with may be the Black Star Army!

We may just be pawns caught in the storm!

…

The Colin Group was just one example. During this period, many other local enterprises in the Shattered Star Ring were acquired or controlled. Some enterprises were directly subdued by the power of money, happy to join the Infinite Consortium, with senior executives taking the money and happily retiring.

And for companies that did not agree, the Infinite Consortium also had many methods.

For example, targeting conflicts within the decision-making level to divide senior executives, integrating small shareholders to overthrow large shareholders, conducting hostile takeovers, or buying off some important key personnel, or attracting civilizations through investment and factory construction, indirectly hindering the business of some enterprises, and also using the consortium's own high-quality products to directly seize market share. The Infinite Consortium's production technology and product quality were higher, and it also had hardcore supporters with a brand effect throughout the universe, or directly using financial operations to deal with listed companies and so on… The Infinite Consortium was experienced and had dozens of combo moves. After a round of attacks, many companies couldn't hold on.

Even if they were determined not to compromise, they would eventually be suppressed to the point of being half-dead. At that time, being acquired would be even more disadvantageous.

The Infinite Consortium could not directly shake a behemoth of the Black Star Army's level. They could only gradually erode it. For some small and medium-sized enterprises in the star field, this kind of cross-star field, universe-level top consortium was a giant crocodile that they could not compete with at all. They were not opponents in the same dimension.

These local enterprises had money, but the Infinite Consortium… was especially rich!

Under such operations, the Infinite Consortium, which had been brewing for several months, acquired many local enterprises, and suddenly had many business channels, strongly inserted itself into the Shattered Star Ring market, gained a firm foothold, and attracted widespread attention and vigilance.

At the same time, War Realm and the Infinite Consortium jointly issued an announcement, publicly announcing the joint development of the two companies. War Realm stated that they would expand their business and carry out a power transformation, aiming to become a diversified interest group organization… Although it was not explicitly stated, people in the Shattered Star Ring knew that War Realm's target of imitation was the Black Star Army.

"The Infinite Consortium and War Realm are working together in depth?!"

In the Chief Executive Officer's office at the army headquarters, Sylvia looked at the report in her hand, her face showing a dignified expression.

"Chief Executive Officer, War Realm is trying to seize our business. There is already a conflict of interest between the two sides. Those organizations that have been acquired by the Infinite Consortium have terminated their cooperation with us and have switched to joining War Realm." The secretary next to her shook her head, her tone somewhat worried.

"They don't want the Evolution Cube quota anymore?" Sylvia frowned.

"This... I'm not sure, but these acquired organizations are all private organizations. Their need for Evolution Cubes may not be that great."

Hearing this, Sylvia nodded.

Indeed, those private organizations were different from civilizations. Even if they needed Evolution Cubes, they had basically bought them all in recent years. Those who remained to cooperate were mainly for the influence of the interest group. Now that they had been acquired, they could only act according to the Infinite Consortium's wishes.

Normal commercial competition was a contest of power, financial resources, and influence, and could not be resolved by force. Moreover, War Realm itself was also a Super-A grade power, of equal level, and also an ally of the empire. The Infinite Consortium used it as a shield, making it difficult to deal with.

The teacher was right. The Infinite Consortium really had ulterior motives.

Sylvia snorted softly and carefully read the report again.

The Infinite Consortium had great energy, but it was impossible for it to fight against all the enterprises in the entire star field on its own. Not to mention those civilization forces, it was impossible for them to give up cooperation on Evolution Cubes. The Infinite Consortium could only start with private organizations, and acquisitions also cost money. Larger organizations had not been targeted for the time being.

The Infinite Consortium was a very strong river dragon, but even if it was strong, its energy was limited. At present, it had only dealt with a small number of enterprises, gained a firm foothold in the star field's market, and even if it wanted to acquire more organizations, it had to do it step by step.

So far, although the Black Star Army had lost some business channels, it was far from being injured to the point of being crippled. Only peripheral businesses were affected. Core businesses such as Evolution Cubes, the development of the Glittering World, and the extraction of resource planets were still as stable as ever.

But this trend... had to be prevented.

The Infinite Consortium's investment in War Realm was a problem. If War Realm rose up, it would be enough to compete with the Black Star Army on an equal footing. Then the army's partners would decrease, representing a corresponding reduction in the army's size. This would restrict the army's development speed, affect the blueprint set by the army commander, and the consequences would be very serious.

Thinking of this, Sylvia's face was serious, and she took out her communicator.

"I must notify the teacher immediately."