520: Chapter 520 He fell to the ground with a push

Void's infiltration of the Eastern Federation had quite obvious effects, but within the Company, the Shankong people felt as if they had strength but nowhere to apply it.

Within the Company, the evaluation of the Shankong Civilization was surprisingly uniform.

"Natives." "Primitives." "Laughably naive." "A bunch of idiots."

These were the most common discussions in the Market Development Department's breakroom. No one was intentionally belittling them; they were simply stating facts.

The only ones slightly friendlier toward the Shankong people were some members of the Traditional Projects Department.

It wasn't because they liked Void, but because they were responsible for interfacing with the Void market; having dealt with them often, they had a bit of professional patience.

Plus, seeing as they provided a market for indiscriminate "dumping," they tried their best not to insult their financial backers.

But that was the extent of it.

These evaluations had begun the day the Void market was officially integrated into the Company's system.

Before this, the local Void market was monopolized by several large enterprises. Behind these enterprises stood the Power brokers of the Joint Coordination Committee.

They controlled everything from biomedicine to energy and minerals, setting their own prices, writing their own rules, and dividing the profits among themselves.

Then, the Company arrived.

The Traditional Projects Department didn't even hold a special meeting to discuss the matter. A middle manager named Wang Tao, along with three subordinates, spent two weeks putting together an integration plan for the Void market.

The main content of the plan was to translate our existing standard trade terms into the Void language, send them over, and wait for them to sign.

Someone asked Wang Tao, "Don't we need to make some adjustments based on their market characteristics?"

Wang Tao thought for a moment and said, "What characteristics does their market have?"

The questioner was stunned for a moment, unable to respond.

Wang Tao continued, "A total population of eight billion, zero interstellar trade volume, and an industrial capacity that wouldn't even fill the cargo hold of one of our freighters. What's there to adjust? Just follow the standard procedure."

The questioner nodded, thinking it made sense.

On the day the integration process officially began, the Void side sent an entire delegation over.

Over twenty people, dressed in suits and leather shoes with solemn expressions, each wearing that abstract symbol pinned to their chest.

As for why they wore suits, they simply found them aesthetically pleasing for some reason and had bought quite a few from the Company.

Leading the group was the Economic Affairs Commissioner of the Joint Coordination Committee, a man in his fifties who introduced himself as Marcus. His attitude was humble to the point of being subservient.

Wang Tao took them on a tour of the Company's Standard Trade Port.

At one berth, three medium-sized freighters were docked. The carrying capacity of each one was equivalent to thirty times the total space transport capacity of all of Void.

A single warehouse was piled high with various basic supplies. Construction Materials, energy modules, daily necessities—the stock from just one corner would be enough to supply the entire territory of Void for a month.

A single production line, running fully automated, produced as much in one minute as a factory in Void did in an entire day.

Marcus's delegation remained silent throughout the tour.

After the tour, they returned to the conference room. Wang Tao projected the Standard Trade Contract onto the wall and began explaining it clause by clause. Halfway through the explanation, Marcus interrupted him.

"Mr. Wang, could these terms be negotiated further? For example, the tariff rates, the timeline for market access, or..."

Wang Tao looked at him and said nothing.

Marcus continued, becoming more agitated as he spoke.

The gist was that Void had its own market traditions, its own business rules, and its own industries that needed protection. The Company should respect these differences and provide more favorable conditions, more time, and more consideration.

After listening, Wang Tao nodded and said one thing.

"Mr. Marcus, did you see those freighters that just arrived outside?"

Marcus nodded.

"Any one of those ships, with the supplies brought in a single voyage, is enough to sustain your entire nation for a year."

"What do you have to 'negotiate' with us?"

Marcus opened his mouth but couldn't find the words.

Wang Tao continued, "Do all of your so-called enterprises combined have a gross production value high enough to buy even one of our production lines? Is the annual transaction volume of your market even enough to cover the pocket change of one of our departments' monthly bonuses?"

His tone was flat, as if he were reading a financial report.

"I'm not trying to insult you; I'm simply stating facts."

"The Company's standard terms are applied impartially to all civilizations that join the market. If you sign, freighters will be shipping goods to you tomorrow. If you don't, you're the ones who will suffer the loss."

"If you isolate yourselves from the interstellar market, what does that have to do with my Company?"

Marcus was silent for a full minute.

Then he picked up a pen and signed.

When the news reached Void, the bosses of those large enterprises hadn't even realized what had happened before the market had already changed.

The Company's goods began to pour in like a tsunami.

The prices were ridiculously low, and the quality was shockingly high.

For the same medical equipment, local Void enterprises charged three times the Company's price for only one-third of the performance. For the same energy modules, local enterprises had delivery cycles measured in months, while the Company had them in stock, ready for pickup the same day.

Most importantly, there were so many varieties that one could never finish choosing.

A month later, half of the local Void enterprises had collapsed.

Three months later, the remaining ones were basically gasping their last breath.

Those bosses who once commanded the wind and rain—some went bankrupt, some changed careers, and some ran to the Joint Coordination Committee every day, begging the Power brokers to find a way.

What could the Power brokers do?

They were the ones who signed the contract; the market access was granted by their own hands.

Moreover, they themselves had received benefits from the Company: cheaper supplies, more advanced technology, and longer life expectancies.

Having money, they naturally couldn't resist purchasing Life-extension services from the Company.

No one cared about the dead enterprises.

And no one mentioned things like protecting local industries anymore.

A Void scholar privately lamented to a friend, "We thought we were a civilization, a market, an opponent that could negotiate. As it turns out, they don't need to negotiate at all."

"They just reached out a pinky finger and gave a gentle push, and we collapsed to the ground, unable to ever get back up."

The friend asked, "What was that finger?"

The scholar thought for a while and said, "It wasn't some weapon or some conspiracy; they are just too strong. So strong that we don't even have the right to be at the table."

When these words got out, some people denounced them as defeatism. But regardless of the insults, facts remained facts.

After the market matter was settled, the Shankong people began to try something else.

Infiltration.

This was their best skill.

Historically, they had used this tactic against countless opponents: entering the other side's society, befriending their talents, learning their knowledge, and finally reaping the fruits.

But this time, they encountered a problem.

The Company's people weren't falling for it.