?


    Shoutout to Bruh_Vista for beta-reading and providing extensive feedback for this chapter!


    ____


    Guy was shocked to see a familiar franchise from his previous world appearing in his humble organization''s portfolio. For a moment, he feared that he had unintentionally crossed paths with the only other person who had been transported to this world and had the foolish idea of giarizing a business venture from his past life without even changing its name!


    Observing his disciple''s awkward chuckle, Guy realized that there must be an interesting story behind it.


    "Lowe''s was acquired," Markus revealed. "Do you remember thepany we hired to handle the forestry clearing and establish the sect''s foundation? Well, we now own the majority shares of thatpany."


    "Thest I knew, Lowe''s didn''t follow that ownership model," Guy muttered.


    "They didn''t, but they were convinced that our proposed model would offer better financial opportunities," Markus responded, carefully choosing his words to avoid the main point.


    "What are you not telling me, Markus?" Guy asked, slightly frowning.


    "Master, do you recall the new member I recruited on my return trip?" Markus sighed before continuing.


    "I believe her name was Shuri, but I don''t know herst name," Guy confirmed.


    ''The insincere girl!'' The Other Guy eximed in his mind. The moment they saw her in the crowd, observing her behaviour and tone, the Other Guy immediately sensed that she was putting up a facade. Her words suggested sincerity, but her voice didn''t. Needless to say, the Other Guy didn''t like her - not one bit. After all, someone who passionately pursued the ''truth'' would take offence at someone living a life of lies. ''There is something odd about the girl...''


    Suppressing his right-sided twitch, Guy patiently waited for Markus to provide further exnation.


    "Well, through some unknown means, Shuri convinced Mister Lowe to shift his business model to our limited liability-based system," Markus began.


    "Unknown means?" Guy echoed in disbelief.


    "At first, I didn''t pay much attention, Master. But it was a sudden development, so I started monitoring the situation more closely," Markus borated. "After Mister Lowe made the change, she further convinced him to distribute a portion of his ownership among his three sons equally, to stimtepetition and prepare them for inheritance. Then, she persuaded the eldest son, who was born into a concubine, to sell some of his shares to her in order to umte funds and establish a subsidiary specializing in tools and hardware. The venture turned out to be quite sessful, propelling the eldest son to the forefront of the race for inheritance. This agitated the other two sons from the main wife, and Shuri capitalized on that by providing strategies to one of them to transform Lowe''s into a sessful brand, and to the other to optimize upstream channels by leveraging the diverse portfolio of the Verum Trading Company. In exchange for her consultation and assistance, she acquired shares from the two sons. As the market value of Lowe''s increased, she persuaded Mister Lowe to sell his shares to umte personal wealth, as using the business funds would be considered embezzlement and would vite the limited liability systemws enacted by the government."


    That''s right. Over the past few years, Guy had petitioned the Duchy to approve the limited liability-based business model. In this world, businesses were typically tied to individuals, families, or organizations. If any of them faced personal issues, their businesses would suffer by association alone, leading to unlimited liability. It was a challenging task, but Guy managed to secure a one-hour meeting with the Head of the Ministry of Finance of the Maika Duchy. He exined the benefits of the limited liability model, and although Guy initially had doubts, he eventually realized that it would be highly profitable for the government (and himself) to implement this strategy.


    By default, the government would own a minority, non-dilutable share of any venture adopting this model. If the business seeded, the government would secure a valuable asset. If it failed, the government could liquidate the business and sell its fixed assets for profit.


    This initiative swiftly made its way through the bureaucratic channels, and a region-wide bill was passed to establish the limited liability model asw. However, most businessmen were hesitant to switch to this model as it jeopardized their ownership on paper.


    "Ultimately, Shuri umted enough shares as the representative of Verum Trading Company to gain majority ownership. Furion seized this opportunity and... well, as you can see, we now have another business in our portfolio," Markus concluded.


    "Speaking of Furion, how is he doing? I haven''t had a chance to speak with him since returning to the sect," Guy changed the subject.


    "He actually achieved a breakthrough and reached the Foundation Establishment Realm," Markus snapped his fingers in response.


    "Really? How did that happen?"


    "Well, he mentioned that closing business deals had been giving him an exhrating rushtely. He described it as ''almost orgasmic.'' I thought it was just some perverted fetish of his, but it turned out to be his cultivation resonating with him. After the Lowe''s acquisition, he made a breakthrough and entered the Foundation Establishment Realm," Markus exined. "However, there have been some... unusual developments in that regard."


    "Unusual? In what way?"


    Markus took a deep breath and continued, "His skin has taken on a faint orangish shade, and his hair is turning pale blonde. Such outward changes usually ur with the advancement to the Core Formation Realm. Furion suspected that something else was at y and consulted a teacher specializing in bloodlines and physiques. Surprisingly, a faint trace of Voracious Citrus was discovered in Furion''s bloodline."


    "What is Voracious Citrus?" Guy snorted, amused by the name. In his mind, he envisioned aical scenario of a citrus fruit engaging in human activities.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Markus chuckled and replied, "Voracious Citrus is an extremely rare fruit that originates from the dense rainforests of the Fae Realm. It grows as a creeper nt that consumes everything in its surroundings, hence the name. Once the orange fruit consumes enough biomass, it reaches a critical point where it converts the mass into mana, propelling its cultivation to the Core Formation Realm. The fruit only grows in specific climates in Gaea and is highly sought after for its condensed energy density and properties for alchemy, including efficient mass-to-mana conversion."


    "How is Furion''s bloodline activating this?" Guy inquired.


    "Apparently, mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers resonate with the voracious nature of the aptly named Citrus," Markus responded, maintaining a neutral expression. "He hinted that there was something else that triggered his bloodline, but he''s been quite secretive about revealing it."


    "Well..." Guy muttered, "Good for him. I''m sure his father is thrilled by this development."


    "He definitely is!" Markus confirmed. "There have been discussions about securing alliances through marriage with noble ns as well. Although it seems that very few women are willing to overlook the discolouration of his skin."


    "Well, money and power can certainly influence people''s perspectives," Guy wryly remarked. "As Furion umtes more of both, the discolouration will fade away in their eyes."


    "That''s a rather cynical way to look at it," Markusmented sadly.


    "Well, an alliance through marriage is often more about two familiesing together than two people genuinely liking each other. What matters most is that the two individuals getting married learn to live harmoniously with each other. It''s a somewhat sad reality, but what can you do? Marriage has always been and will likely remain the most direct and effective way to establish rtions between parties," Guy exined. This concept held true even in his world, which could arguably be considered more advanced than the current one.


    "Nevertheless, it''s impressive that Shuri managed to secure such a valuable asset for the sect. We should definitely reward her!" Guy dered. "How do you think we should go about it?"


    "I''ll discuss it with Marie. She has worked more closely with Shuri, so she may have some ideas," Markus suggested.


    "Proceed as you see fit," Guy dismissed with a final nod. Markus bowed and left the room.


    "I don''t like that girl," Guy''s right side expressed.


    "Whether you like her or not is irrelevant. She is a member of the sect and should be treated as such. We don''t discriminate or show preferential treatment," Guy''s left side reminded him. "But what has got you so worked up about her anyway?"


    "When I saw her, I tried to read her soul as I usually do. It helps me get a sense of people," the right side exined. "But her soul kept screaming at me that her life was a lie, that she was living a lie. It''s hard to put into words, more of an intuitive feeling."


    "That''s a vition of privacy!" the left side eximed. "And speaking of which, what on earth did you do to Markus without permission? Are you out of your mind? I thought I made it clear that your experiments with Dora were thest straw. You can''t just tamper with people like this without their consent."


    "Whatever," the right side dismissed. "An ant is an ant, and its soul would agree. A monkey is a monkey. However, the girl''s soul didn''t align with whom she imed to be."


    "You''re being cryptic again," the left side scolded.


    "Yeah, well, screw you too!"


    Guy sighed in exasperation, his left index finger tapping on the newly added entry of Lowe''s Hardware, Landscaping, and Construction in the business portfolio chart.


    "Shuri..." he said aloud. "Maybe I should have a one-on-one session with her. I''ve personally spoken to all the other members, except her."


    ____


    Shuri had been screaming her anger into the down-filled bag when suddenly an irritating tickling sensation invaded her nostrils, causing her to release a loud sneeze.


    She pulled her face out of the pillows and sneezed loudly.


    "A-A-AAACHOOOOOOO!"