Lucent knew rich people well.
After developing new technology as a researcher, the people he encountered most weren't fellow researchers, but those wealthy individuals.
Most wealthy people dressed in flashy and stylish outfits, and were extremely conscious of how they appeared to others.
For Lucent, with his unkempt hair and unwashed white gown, this was incomprehensible.
So he always had the same thought: wealthy people live such exhausting lives.
But now, Lucent met an entirely new type of wealthy person.
"I was contacted immediately about an interesting deal, is this the person?"
Delan Goldiron.
Lucent shrank back from his gaze, which was so cold it seemed like anything it touched would freeze.
To Lucent, Delan was a new type of person.He didn't greet him with a smile, nor did he boast about how wealthy he was.
Unlike others who cared about appearances, he wore simple clothing, and unlike those who were always out socializing, he had papers stacked beside him and was actually working.
But that didn't make him seem lacking.
Rather, he had so much that he didn't need to show it off.
'All the wealthy people I've seen until now were fake.'
Delan Goldiron was the real deal.
Lucent wondered, why am I even here in front of this person?
Delan looked at the still-dazed Lucent with contempt.
His gaze then turned to Osian, who was sitting slightly apart watching the situation.
"Is this person really supposed to have ideas that will pique my interest?"
"You seem skeptical."
"If it weren't for you of all people saying that, I wouldn't have even bothered to respond and would have thrown him out immediately."
Though his tone was brusque, his voice carried deep trust toward Osian.
Sebastian also knew this, so he didn't bother pointing out Delan's attitude.
Lorraine was equally surprised by this situation.
'My goodness, how much are these people worth?'
Lorraine's eyes quickly scanned Delan's office.
Being sensitive to money, she could quickly recognize the value of the furniture, paintings, and various items in Delan's office.
Just selling the items in this one room would be enough to buy a house in another district.
Though Lorraine always cried out for money, more money, when actually faced with such enormous wealth, she felt dizzy.
'Ah, it's intoxicating.'
It felt like stuffing her mouth full of sugar.
But at the same time, an immense emptiness swept over her. She realized that even the money she had earned through all that struggle with Saint Tree stocks was nothing in front of Delan.
This overwhelming difference in financial power. Is this what mortals feel when facing a god?
Ignoring Lorraine who was closing her eyes tightly and trembling, Osian spoke.
"This person is currently my client and the chief researcher closely connected to this Saint Tree incident."
"Lucent Philburg. I thought he looked familiar, so it was him."
Sebastian, who consistently kept track of what was happening in the city, recognized Lucent.
Actually, though he said it like that, he had probably noticed from the moment they arrived in the vehicle.
"Saint Tree?"
Delan reacted to those specific words. Though the complete succession hadn't taken place yet, he was clearly the next head of the Goldiron family.
Given his sensitivity to money, he couldn't have been unaware of an incident involving such massive financial flows like this one.
"Yes. I heard about some mediocre fellows intentionally growing their business to handle some money. Of course, I also heard that it was all lies."
"You seem well-informed."
"But bringing a key person related to that company before me, what's the reason? Are you asking me to save a failing company? Even for me, this isn't a matter of ordinary scale."
Even Delan, who could treat considerable sums as pocket change, pointed out that the current situation wasn't of ordinary scale.
This was evidence of how inflated Saint Tree's bubble had become.
Delan thought Osian had come to him asking to resolve this bubble.
As if guessing Delan's thoughts, Osian shook his head.
"It's not what you're thinking. For a detailed explanation, it would be better to hear from the person directly involved."
"Uh, me?"
Lucent jumped in surprise, his shoulders trembling.
His reaction showed he hadn't expected Osian to pass the ball to him here.
"Why are you surprised? This is your matter, isn't it?"
"Well, that's true, but..."
"Didn't you come all this way to take responsibility for your actions?"
Responsibility.
That heavy word weighed down on Lucent's body and mind like an iron weight.
It felt like his breath was caught and everything went dark before his eyes.
Yes. The reason Lucent had come all this way through such hardship was because of responsibility.
After all, he couldn't say he was completely blameless in this incident.
'I must take responsibility.'
Lucent recalled the consequences of his choices.
He had witnessed it even just while riding in Sebastian's car.
'Citizens rioting in the streets.'
Through the car window, he had seen citizens attacking a media company building in real-time.
That media company was where Lucent had passed information about Saint Tree's corruption.
Citizens who held Saint Tree stocks broke into the newspaper company that had published articles causing their stock prices to fall, destroyed printing machines and set fires.
Even when guards tried to control them, it wasn't easy. The madness of people who had lost money was like an uncontrollable wildfire.
That fiery chaos even consumed some of the guards.
The chaotic streets. Burning machines. Rising black smoke. People fallen and bleeding. Citizens screaming almost like beasts.
While that was enough to constrict Lucent's chest, it wasn't the decisive factor that made him move.
There were various neighbors in the tenement house where Lucent lived.
Usually in such places, neighbors keep their distance, but Lucent's neighbors weren't like that.
Miranda from the bakery.
Jack the taxi driver.
They were all precious people who treated him well and were friendly.
And among them was the flower shop girl whom Lucent secretly held in his heart.
Her name was Anne. A beautiful lady with brown hair and a smile as bright as the sun.
'But everyone has fallen into deep worry because of this incident.'
Saint Tree's stock price had risen too high, and with rumors spreading extensively, even neighbors who weren't interested in such things ended up getting involved.
Unless they had gotten in early, people with delayed information like them had no choice but to jump in near the end, and had to face the subsequent crash directly.
Smiles disappeared from faces that always used to smile, and even friendly greetings between neighbors no longer occurred.
Their faces were full of worry, and their gaunt expressions were soaked in depression.
Even Anne, who always smiled brightly, secretly wiped away tears where others couldn't see.
When Lucent happened to watch this from the second-floor railing, he felt his heart being torn apart.
Some might cynically respond that they were paying the price for their choices, that this happened because they were greedy.
But Lucent couldn't do that.
'They weren't like that from the beginning. Everyone just wanted to live a better life than they had now.'
So Lucent moved to properly fix what had gone wrong.
Though he had exposed the corruption and caused the stock price to fall, that was just a trigger.
The stock price was already falling and he just accelerated it.
And whether it happened sooner or later, it was something that would inevitably occur.
'Rather, we need to recover the money by exposing Saint Tree's corruption and return it to its original owners.'
But it wasn't an easy method. Saint Tree's directors had lobbied government officials and bought off media companies with the money they had earned.
Even the city officials who should protect citizens were essentially in league with them.
No matter how much Lucent shouted about truth and justice, there was no one who would properly listen.
'This is my only remaining chance.'
If only Anne from the flower shop could smile again.
He resolved to gladly walk this path.
'Hooh.'
Watching this scene, Osian smiled faintly.
Others couldn't see it, but Osian could.
A beam of light was burning in Lucent's chest.
A firm conviction believing in what's right and determined to realize it.
That was the starlight of the heart that Lucent possessed.
And the strengthening of that starlight meant that he had steeled his resolve.
Lucent looked at Delan Goldiron. His expression, which had been extremely timid and frightened, was now more serious than ever before.
Delan also noticed the change in his demeanor and adjusted his posture.
He didn't bother to speak. Instead, he spoke with his eyes. Try to convince me, they said.
Lucent took a deep breath before speaking.
"Saint Tree attracted people's attention through new technology and caused stock price manipulation. So some people suspect their technology might be fake. But that's wrong. Saint Tree definitely has the technology. No."
Lucent firmly shook his head.
"I have it."
"Finally, we're getting to the real story."
Interest gleamed in Delan's eyes. Sebastian watched the scene contentedly, then excused himself saying he would go get some tea since the conversation seemed like it would be long.
*
Lucent's attempt to persuade Delan continued at length.
Delan pointed out curious or insufficient parts one by one throughout.
Lucent didn't panic and provided exemplary answers.
"Hmm. So."
After hearing everything, Delan organized the information in his head.
"The multi-faceted technology using those plants actually exists, and you still have the knowledge to develop it. Is that right?"
"Yes."
"Then why did Saint Tree do such things? If the technology's effectiveness was proven, they could have made big money with just that."
"They were concerned about high initial costs and didn't even try. Moreover, they mentioned the possibility of failure and used that to say it couldn't be done."
"Yet they took money using that technology, and later planned to make more money by selling the technology to other companies."
"Yes. That's exactly it."
Even if Saint Tree built a communication network using plants, it would take considerable time for that to convert into profits.
Besides the basic costs involved, the fact that there wouldn't be immediate profits made it a difficult situation.
One could say it was just the nature of business and exercise patience.
But they rejected the orthodox path and took the path of heresy.
They promoted the technology to gather money through people's inflated interest, and then planned to make a hefty profit by leaking the technology externally.
"Right. Even if a company does well, the money that goes into their own pockets is small. But if they make money by creating a bubble like now, and then make more back-door money by selling the technology, that's a different story."
The board members wanted their own pockets filled rather than the company's survival.
So Saint Tree was corrupt from its founding purpose.
"Yes, that's right. So I want to make one proposal to Mr. Goldiron."
"Let's hear it."
"Please take this technology, Mr. Goldiron."
Delan tapped the table with his finger as he asked.
"Though you say take it, this is a deal, right. You want financial support from me. Then, what can I get in return?"
"You can utilize this technology as much as you want. As long as you use it properly."
"Is there any reason I should do that? Though they're greedy, even those pigs at Saint Tree made their judgment after calculating in their heads. I also recognize that the investment required is not small."
Investment is not charity.
No one invests knowing it won't make money.
"Just how exactly can this benefit me?"
"You can't expect immediate financial benefits."
Lucent admitted honestly.
Seeing this, Lorraine tried to stop him, asking why he would say that so directly, but Osian restrained Lorraine.
"Watch."
When Osian said that, Lorraine composed herself and waited for Lucent's next words.
"You can't expect immediate financial benefits?"
"Yes."
"Then there's even less reason for me to accept that proposal."
"No. There is. For you, the next head of Goldiron, there definitely is."
Delan crossed his legs and interlocked his fingers.
"Explain."
"For someone like you who's overflowing with money, the profits this business might generate when successful don't mean much, do they?"
Lucent, as calmly as possible, presented the conclusion he had reached by wracking his brains.
"What's important is a new project you can pursue as you take the position of next family head. An achievement befitting the position of Goldiron head that no one can dispute."
"......"
"I will make that possible for you."
Silence fell over the office.
While no one could open their mouth and remained still, Delan threw his head back and burst into laughter.
"Ha, hahaha. Hahahaha!!"
Laughter that seemed to burst out as if he truly couldn't contain his amusement.
Having gone all in, Lucent anxiously waited for Delan's next reaction.
"To think there would be someone who would speak so boldly."
Delan, suppressing his chuckling laughter, clapped once.
"You pass. I accept the deal. Partner."