186: Chapter 186 Acquiring Nintendo

"Mr. Phiote, your statement is somewhat unfair." Sophia chimed in at the right moment. "The essence of market competition is the survival of the fittest, and it is also full of unpredictability. Journey VR was able to gain market recognition by relying on its leading technology and user experience."

"Before this, we also didn't expect a VR device to cause such a huge impact on the traditional gaming market."

Luke also spoke up, his tone carrying a well-measured sincerity, "Mr. Phiote, it's unavoidable. Just as the emergence of smartphones changed the camera industry, this is the inevitable result of technological innovation..."

The two of them went back and forth, both aiming to persuade Jim to accept reality and sell his shares.

But the latter didn't buy it, continuing to sneer, "Heh, after all that talk, you'd be better off raising the price a bit."

Luke and Sophia exchanged a helpless look. They knew that facing a shrewd person like Jim, talking about future visions wouldn't work.

So Luke sighed and said, "Alright, Mr. Phiote, 4.1 billion dollars, that is our limit..."

After a round of intense verbal sparring, the price was finally set at 4.25 billion dollars.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Jim finally showed a smile.

After having someone escort Luke and Sophia downstairs, Jim sat at his desk in deep thought. There was a reason he had agreed to their request so easily; he was one of the members of the Twenty-Two Great Seats of the Bright Council. What Jim wondered now was why Third-Party Technology wanted to acquire the shares of this gaming company?

This wasn't part of the ongoing acquisition plan.

But since they had come to his door, Jim didn't make things too difficult for them and sold at a price that was still acceptable.

—

After leaving the Fiote Capital building and getting into the waiting sedan, Luke finally breathed a long sigh of relief and smiled: "Mission accomplished. We can rest a bit before heading to our next destination."

"Beautiful Miss Sophia, may I buy you a drink?"

Sophia, however, did not relax. She looked out the window thoughtfully: "Luke, you have to admit, this negotiation was unusually smooth."

"What do you mean?" Luke's smile faded.

"Jim Phiote is known for being tough in the investment world, never making a losing deal," Sophia turned her gaze back. "But today, he only haggled with us over the price for a few sentences, which isn't like his usual style at all."

Luke sat up straight. Hearing Sophia say this, he also felt something was off. "Then why do you think that is?"

"Remember what he said earlier?" Sophia's voice dropped even lower. "He said this is all thanks to your boss..."

Luke was startled. "Could Phiote be acquainted with our big boss?"

"That's for certain. Perhaps there's a deeper reason, but we're definitely not qualified to know."

Sophia shook her head gently.

...

Two days later, Luke and Sophia traveled to Japan. Here, they would complete the final share acquisition of Nintendo, bringing Third-Party Technology's stake in the company to over 30%, making it the largest shareholder of this gaming company.

But unlike when they were in Los Angeles, the number of people from Third-Party Technology who came to Japan was double what it was before. Besides Luke and the rest of the negotiation team, there were several expressionless men.

"Manager Zhou Hui, they are..." Luke looked at the unfamiliar faces standing behind Zhou Hui and couldn't help but ask.

He knew the former was the company's security manager, but the people behind him put a lot of pressure on Luke. The sense of power radiating from them made Luke feel it wouldn't be strange if they could kill a bull with a single punch.

Zhou Hui said with a smile: "They were transferred from the Comprehensive Department. Like me, they are personnel for this operation, but they are just a precautionary measure."

"You don't need to worry about what a precautionary measure is. If the negotiations fail, you'll find out naturally later."

Luke, Sophia, and the others felt a chill in their hearts. They were actually people from the Comprehensive Department. If one were to ask what was mysterious about the company, the almost omnipotent Comprehensive Department was one of them. People from this department rarely appeared, but every time they did, they solved all problems efficiently. Was the company not optimistic about this acquisition negotiation? They had actually deployed people from the Comprehensive Department.

On the way to Nintendo headquarters, Luke looked over the equity documents in his hands again. This document detailed the four equity holders they were about to face: the four sons of Nintendo's late founder, Yamanouchi Hiroshi.

Meanwhile, these four had also received news of Third-Party Technology's imminent arrival.

"Is the news accurate?"

In a conference room at Nintendo headquarters, Yamanouchi Masato had been discussing with his three younger brothers how to save the company from its decline. Hearing this news, he couldn't help but frown.

The assistant bowed and replied: "Very accurate. Their motorcade has already entered the Kyoto city area and is expected to arrive in twenty minutes."

Yamanouchi Masato's face looked grim: "I understand. You may leave now."

"Yes!"

The assistant bowed and exited, gently closing the conference room door.

The room fell into a brief, dead silence, which was then broken by the sound of the second son, Yamanouchi Naoki, slamming his fist on the table: "They caused us so many losses, and yet they dare to come straight to our door! Do they really think our Yamanouchi family is a pushover?!"

"Second Brother, calm down,"

Seeing this, the third son, Yamanouchi Kentaro, hurriedly said, "This company already owns 11.2% of Nintendo's shares and is the largest shareholder besides us. Moreover, their Journey VR has indeed... indeed made our situation very difficult."

"Kentaro! How can you boost their morale!" Naoki glared at him. "Are we going to hand over our father's life's work?"

"I didn't mean it that way..."

"Everyone, stop!" Seeing the two arguing incessantly over just a piece of news, Yamanouchi Masato was furious.

Thanks to Yamanouchi Masato's prestige, the conference room immediately fell silent.

"Yuta, is it still impossible to crack that helmet?"

Yamanouchi Masato asked the silent young man beside him. The other party was the youngest member of the family, yet he was also the most gifted technical genius, a scientist hailed as a genius. Many of Nintendo's technologies had come from his hands.

Yamanouchi Yuta slowly raised his head and pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses. This twenty-five-year-old MIT PhD's eyes were currently bloodshot.

"I haven't found it yet..."

Yamanouchi Masato took a deep breath. "In that case, let's test their intentions first. But no matter what, the honor of the Yamanouchi family will not allow anyone to tarnish it."