Chapter 30: The Price of Power
“Victor’s North American sales have already surpassed 20 billion dollars, but isn’t the growth much steeper than expected?”
“That’s correct. Over the past 100 days since the launch, it’s been generating more than 200 million dollars in sales daily.”
“What do you think is the reason behind this?”
“Firstly, many experts predicted that as energy efficiency increased, fuel consumption would decrease, but the reality was different. In fact, there was almost no change.”
“Even though Victor’s price was reflected in fuel prices, people felt less burdened because of the perceived increase in energy efficiency. What else?”
“Secondly, environmental groups like Greenpeace have been closely monitoring the results of using Victor but found no grounds for criticism. Harmful emissions decreased rather than increased. Still, some extreme advocates of pure clean energy oppose Victor, arguing it only perpetuates fuel consumption.”
“Their claims don’t seem to have gained much traction.”
“Exactly.”
“Good. Any other reasons?”
“Surprisingly, sales of Victor for diesel and kerosene have been strong too, along with various smaller factors. But the most important point is that so far, only North American sales have been counted.”
“If sales expand worldwide, the results would be terrifying.”
“Terrifying? I would say it’s horrifying.”
“Just how much are we talking about?”
“The United States alone consumes well over 20 million barrels of oil daily. Adding the top 10 oil-consuming countries exceeds 60 million barrels. Now, imagine expanding that market globally—it’s nearly double that amount.”
“If it follows that scale, Victor’s sales would break 120 billion dollars quarterly.”
“Yes. Considering Apple’s quarterly sales are still stuck below the 100 billion dollar mark, that’s a shocking figure. Of course, Victor plans to license its technology, so it’s not exactly comparable to Apple, but its market impact surpasses Apple’s by far.”
“Victor’s developer is a blessing for the United States.”
“More than a blessing. The figures we just discussed only reflect Victor’s sales. The economic ripple effects and the political and military strategic advantages it brings to the United States are nearly impossible to quantify.”
Since the Supermajors announced Victor, Chris McDowell, a producer at CNN, had been creating related programs roughly every other week.
It was a grudge.
A chance for an exclusive scoop had slipped away.
They had finished in-depth investigations, yet the broadcast scheduled as the economic segment’s first program was indefinitely postponed due to a secret pact between the White House and CNN’s top brass.
Of course, after all that preparation, the program that aired after Victor’s launch was the most comprehensive and insightful broadcast to date, but Chris still wasn’t satisfied.
That’s why today, he released a roundtable discussion format program.
However, the Russians gathered in a hotel in Washington watching the CNN broadcast didn’t care about Chris’s circumstances.
A quarterly economic value of 120 billion dollars in sales.
Even that pales in comparison to the political and military advantages just mentioned by the panel.
Of course, without Victor, Russia’s economy would collapse first, but Russia, bordering multiple countries, was in a completely different situation from the United States.
“Tomorrow, we’ll finally meet.”
“I never thought I’d be this nervous about meeting a young man in his twenties.”
“It’s not something to be ashamed of.”
“He’s not just any young man. He’s the owner of Victor.”
“Yes, but the more I think about it, the more regretful I am that he chose the United States instead of Russia.”
“Well, at least you’re the second partner.”
Even the self-deprecating remarks from Yuri Nabokov, Russia’s Foreign Minister, were met with nods of agreement.
What if Russia hadn’t been chosen as Victor’s second production country?
Everyone here knew well that Russia was unmatched in science and technology, but severely lacked practical industrial production capacity.
They also knew all too well that resource exports occupied an absolute position among Russia’s national revenue sources.
If the United States had excluded Russia from Victor,
instead of withering away, Russia might as well have started a war.
“Do you think he will be friendly toward Russia?”
“That’s why it’s fortunate.”
“At least we became the second partner.”
However, it was troubling that even the United States seemed to be making many concessions to the developer’s wishes.
They speculated in various ways about the reason.
The conclusion was Victor’s current maximum efficiency of 22%.
If an additive yielding even greater efficiency was under development, the U.S.’s attitude wouldn’t seem strange at all.
Victor’s developer was Korean.
In fact, Korea had already released an 11% additive, and it turned out the same developer was behind it, making the speculation nearly certain.
By any means necessary,
by any method,
they had to win over the young man’s heart.
Even if a superior additive didn’t appear, such a genius might surprise the world from a completely unexpected field.
“The President said even if we have to give up all of Siberia, we must establish a friendly relationship, so we have to do our best.”
“…Let’s hope the gift is well received.”
“I’m sure it will be.”
After a day spent sleeping like the dead in the hotel, stress still showed on his face.
Dragging himself reluctantly to the bathroom, the reflection in the mirror was of a zombie who needed no makeup.
Despite sleeping for 12 hours straight after seeing his house yesterday, the stress of the past few days was clearly taking its toll.
He had been exercising steadily at the Wonju lab and should have been in better shape.
“This won’t do. Let’s go together.”
So desperate was his state that when Lyndon came to pick him up for lunch, seeing him like this, he decided there was something more urgent than eating and dragged him to a massage parlor.
When had Lyndon discovered such a place?
He had no idea there were so many types of massages in the United States.
An 80-minute massage cost 220 dollars, and with tips, the total was roughly 300,000 won—an eye-watering price, but the effect was so great that he almost wanted to visit regularly.
Thanks to it, he felt somewhat revived, but still grumbled,
“Too expensive.”
“…Jay, you’re about to make enough money to have a massage therapist on call at home every day, so it wouldn’t be strange at all.”
“…”
From Lyndon’s perspective, he was stingy.
In fact, the account Lyndon had set up and given him a card for yesterday held a whopping ten million dollars.
When he asked what that money was, Lyndon said it was the settlement of profits from his nine hundred thousand dollar investment.
Lyndon called it a magic trick to turn nine hundred thousand into ten million and told him not to worry.
From Lyndon’s view, Jay was definitely a scaredy-cat.
He could afford to visit the massage parlor every day.
The problem was his low-income mindset.
“Anyway, I’m glad you’re not looking too haggard for your meeting.”
“Me too. This morning, my face was so dark I was shocked looking in the mirror.”
“Severe stress is dangerous. That’s why managers must manage both physical health and stress.”
After lunch, still not fully energized enough to go back to the lab, they were hanging out in Lyndon’s room when—
Brrring
Lyndon’s phone rang.
After checking the caller ID, he smiled.
“Mark.”
“…Ted’s with him too, right?”
“Probably?”
“Answer and ask if they’re on the first floor. I’ll come down.”
He really liked the elevator that wouldn’t operate without an employee’s security card, whether for scheduled visits or urgent matters.
“Mark, are you downstairs?”
-Yeah. Did you talk to Jay?
“I explained the situation when we met yesterday.”
-What did he say?
“He seemed reluctant to decide.”
-Damn it! That idiot would take it right away if they offered. What’s he thinking? Ted refuses to find another investor.
“He’s a friend’s company. Of course, Jay is conflicted.”
-Still, right now Jay’s the only option.
“Let’s talk upstairs. I’m coming down.”
Lyndon could be an actor.
Handsome face, understands my signals instantly, and is great at acting like I’m not even there.
“I’ll go deal with the idiot.”
I had a security card of my own.
Time to have a showdown today.
“Let’s go together.”
“You too, Lyndon?”
“Happiness and fun in life aren’t things to be postponed. It’s an entertaining show; I’m not going to miss it.”
Happiness and fun aren’t to be postponed?
Good line.
Dressed neatly in a suit for the guest meeting, feeling excited for the first time in a while, he stepped into the elevator.
Ding
The doors slid open.
Two familiar faces came out and their eyes locked with his, their surprise obvious.
Their pupils dilated as if to say, “Why the hell are you here?”
“…Eli, I heard you were resting at the hotel.”
“You really were a zombie until this morning.”
“…Damn it! Lyndon, how could you?”
Mark growled at Lyndon.
He hadn’t even acknowledged my presence.
But Lyndon wasn’t one to be intimidated.
“I’m here. Jay is my employer.”
“Don’t take it out on Lyndon. Were you just waiting for your friend to get drunk? Took the chance to declare surprise, turn off your phone, and disappear? What kind of joke is handing over a company like that?”
Every time I took a step forward, they stepped back.
I considered pushing them against the wall, but just then, more people approached. Probably staff.
We hadn’t been formally introduced yet; didn’t want to ruin my employer’s image.
Rumors could spread that the Asian mafia boss was bullying people.
“Let’s go upstairs first.”
“Why don’t you just have STA invest and keep managing the company yourself?”
“First, I don’t want to be so involved in management anymore, and second, what difference does it make if they invest or if it goes to your affiliate?”
Back in Lyndon’s room, after a thorough grilling, Ted still refused to budge.
He was the one who had finally found a clue and was excitedly explaining it.
That excitement wasn’t because he was now comfortable handing over the company? Because he wouldn’t be left with the burden?
“When did it start?”
“What?”
“When you started thinking about dumping the company on me and getting out.”
“…”
“You didn’t suddenly decide while drinking.”
Ted glanced at Lyndon briefly then looked away.
He’s not your ally now. Don’t look.
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it.”
“Didn’t Lyndon tell you?”
“I want to hear it directly from you.”
You’re stubborn, but so am I.
Finally, Ted opened his mouth.
“…I was actually exhausted since you left last year. I came up with the idea, gathered Eli, Jason, and Dave, and finally Mark joined and got the investment, but I ended up having to waste time on unrelated things. How could I step away from my own idea’s research?”
“You were already hitting a limit but forced yourself to hold on, get more investment, and maintain it. But seeing how you set up the STA base, I realized I don’t need to do that.”
“You owe me too. Admit it. So consider this repaying that debt. I introduced Mark, you accept my decision, and we call it even.”
How that could call it even, he didn’t know, but Ted wanted to avoid dragging it out.
“You were planning to claim your share if our research produced positive results, right?”
“That’s obvious.”
“Same here. I’ll demand my share boldly.”
“…”
“But I won’t ask for much, since I’m the one burdened with management.”
“…”
“Patent shares are divided equally among everyone, and for T-Chemical shares, calculate the minimum. Lyndon! Can you help?”
Lyndon was the easy one.
He’d been preparing STA’s Santa Clara office during the half year Jay was gone, and apparently had become quite close with Ted.
“If you two can agree.”
Lyndon smiled and backed off.
For the first time, Jay found Lyndon annoying.
“Are you sure you won’t regret this?”
“I’m happy to leech off you for life.”
A half-impulsive agreement.
Just then, as if waiting for this moment, Lyndon’s phone rang again.
After checking the message, Lyndon glanced over at me.
“Looks like the guests are arriving soon.”