Chapter 48: A New Piece of Business

Chapter 48: Chapter 48: A New Piece of Business

The staff of the Luxe Morsel were astonished when their boss was led back in by young Mr. Martinez in a state of total daze, one foot tripping over the other.

The blond Beta, the very man in the kneeling photograph Daniel had sent Liam earlier, came forward to take Daniel by one arm.

"What’s happened to Mr. Daniel?" he asked in concern.

Liam said with a smile: "He’s had a great shock, he’s only a bit off balance. Would you take him to the rest room for me."

"Yes, sir."

The two of them led Daniel to the rest room together, setting him down on the bed. Daniel stared blankly at the ceiling, not blinking once. The blond Beta asked anxiously:

"Are you certain we don’t need to call a doctor?"

Liam held back a laugh: "Truly no need. He’ll be back to normal in a little while."

That said he stood up slowly, saying to the blond Beta: "I have an appointment in private room 7, has the party arrived?"

The blond Beta nodded at once: "They have, sir. Let me take you there."

"Thank you, then." He bent down, saying quietly to Daniel: "I’m going to meet them, you sleep. Sleep and wake up, and everything will be back to normal."

Daniel blinked twice, genuinely closing his eyes.

Seeing that, Liam left the room with the Beta, leaving Daniel a quiet space.

At the door of private room 7, the blond Beta knocked politely and said: "Sir, your guest has arrived."

"Come in." A low man’s voice came from behind the door. The Beta opened it to invite Liam in.

There was more than one person inside. Besides three male Betas there was a female Alpha along with a male Alpha. The moment Liam stepped in, before he could tell who was who, a male Beta with curly black hair took a step forward, smiling delightedly:

"Mr. Martinez, I’m LS. It’s a great pleasure to meet you."

Liam went blank for a moment, then smiled and held out a hand: "So you’re LS. We’ve known each other so long and only meet today."

LS looked at Liam’s outstretched hand, a little awkward. The other was an Omega, he was a Beta, so taking his hand seemed rather improper. Liam realized this too, drawing his hand back quite naturally, looking round the room. He asked:

"And these are?"

LS hurriedly pulled out a chair for Liam, then enthusiastically introduced each person in turn. The male Alpha was his boss, the female Alpha was from the auction house, while of the two remaining male Betas, one was his colleague, the other the female Alpha’s assistant.

Liam nodded a greeting to each of them. The people introduced greeted him politely, exchanging a few words with him as well. Afternoon tea was brought up, the server withdrew, then the female Alpha spoke up to come to the main matter:

"Mr. Martinez, may I see the antique in person?"

Liam nodded, laying a hand on his spatial bracelet: "You may."

The nut milk machine was set neatly on the table, the female Alpha immediately putting on white gloves, standing up with a smart scanner in hand, beginning the appraisal. A moment later, the scanner gave its result:

[Ting, appraisal complete. Year of manufacture 2026. Brand: unknown. Model: AG306. Star system of manufacture: unknown.]

Everyone in the room drew a deep breath together. LS exclaimed in shock: "More than a thousand years old. And it still looks this new!"

Liam shrugged: "It really is new, at first I thought it was a fake. But the truth is it’s that old." In truth he hadn’t expected the newest model of nut milk machine from his previous life to become a thousand-year-old antique here. It seemed that in any galaxy there had to be a period of step-by-step development. The blue cat had erased all information relating to the brand and the place of manufacture, probably to keep them from learning of the Milky Way’s existence.

The female Alpha put the scanner away in its case, saying solemnly: "Mr. Martinez, with your permission we would like to take this antique back for valuation." She set the auction consignment agreement out in front of him, Liam picking it up to read the terms very carefully.

Finding nothing amiss, only then did he put pen to it. The auction house people put the nut milk machine into a preservation case, then left quickly. Only LS’s party of three remained in the room.

Only then did LS’s boss speak: "Now it’s our turn to discuss the commission. This is the revenue-sharing agreement, see whether anything needs adding."

He pushed the agreement toward Liam. As before, once Liam had read it carefully he confirmed there was no problem, the two sides signing at once. With the negotiation done, the Alpha’s face relaxed, beginning to chat like a new acquaintance.

"Mr. Martinez, I’m very curious about your collecting star-beast droppings and rotted wood and leaves. May I ask what you use them for?"

Liam nodded: "There’s nothing to hide. I want to use them in place of soil-restoration fluid."

Everyone in the room was astonished: "Replace restoration fluid? But can that restore the nutrition in soil?"

Liam didn’t conceal it: "It can. Normally you only have to bury it in the soil for a few months to a year to restore the land. But it’s raw manure so it very easily kills crops. Which is why I have to use my own method to treat it."

A flash of interest lit the Alpha’s eyes. He wouldn’t dig the method out of Liam’s hands, but he had another idea. He sat up, introducing his real name for the first time:

"Mr. Martinez, allow me to introduce myself, my full name is Logan Cromwell. I’d like to discuss a partnership with you, may I ask whether that’s convenient?"

Liam didn’t refuse: "Name your terms."

The Alpha nodded in approval of Liam, saying solemnly: "We have three star-beast farms and own one dead planet. We use that dead planet to dump star-beast droppings. I’d like to ask you to help us restore that dead planet into an agricultural one."

Liam raised an eyebrow: "Oh, how long have you been dumping there? On the surface, or dug into pits and buried?"

"Five years now, dug into pits and buried."

Liam clicked his tongue, rubbing his forehead: "That planet of yours is a moving bomb at this point. One spark thrown in and it will go off like anti-aircraft fire."

Logan was alarmed: "It’s that serious? Can it be restored, then?"

Liam nodded: "Of course it can, but the process is fairly complicated. Even so the benefit in it is far from small. You know the energy gas cylinders used for ancient robots?"

Everyone in the room nodded. Liam went on:

"When you bury star-beast droppings underground for a long time with no air, that pit produces a great deal of toxic gas such as methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S). And this methane is exactly the gas most used in ancient times. You can use that very gas to run generators, supplying power to the entire system of machinery and robots restoring the planet, or even compress it to sell."

"Besides that, your planet is a dead planet, its atmosphere very thin, cold and dry. You can burn this gas to rebuild the planet’s atmosphere. Burning methane in the presence of oxygen produces carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor (H2O), and CO2 is the food that photosynthesizing plants live on while water vapor creates humidity, cloud and rain in the atmosphere. Only then does your planet truly come back to life."

Liam took a small sip of tea, then held up one finger: "One billion silver stars, and I’ll sell you the entire method for compressing the gas and restoring the planet."

Seeing the three of them in the room rather badly startled, Liam went on unhurriedly:

"I’d wager that planet of yours is certainly not small, what’s more it’s stinking badly enough to alarm the government and it’s about to be pushed out of the meteor belt. If you buy another dead planet now you’ll still run into the same state of things five years from now. So the optimal solution is to turn rubbish into gold."

LS and the other Beta leaned in beside their boss, discussing quietly. One billion silver stars really was a lot, far beyond the planet’s current value. But if one billion bought back a living planet, and from that living planet came an environment supplying abundant greens, then it would certainly be an investment with an enormous return.

"How long would it take?" Logan was plainly moved.

Liam set his teacup down: "Three months."

LS’s mouth fell open: "That fast?"

Liam said with a smile: "Of course, but if you want it fast you have to use my materials. I won’t charge for those, but all the star-beast droppings and rotted leaves for the next six months you must supply me free. How’s that?"

The Alpha drew a deep breath, slapping the table: "Done, settled."

As stated earlier, in restoring the planet Liam only supplied the method, but through these three months he also had to take responsibility for supervising their work, to avoid any unintended slip.

LS drew up a partnership contract on the spot, both sides reading every clause carefully, then signing. The moment the signing was done, three hundred million in deposit had been transferred into Liam’s account.

Liam also asked them to prepare machinery for the restoration process, the Alpha promising it would be ready within two days.

With the business settled, the two sides exchanged contact details, only then leaving the private room satisfied. LS leaned in close to Liam:

"My real name is Leonardo Santiago, let’s add each other on our smart units."

Liam was rather surprised. He had meant to add LS himself, only for LS to raise it first before he could say a word. Naturally Liam didn’t refuse. He opened his smart watch to scan LS’s ID.

No, it had to be Leonardo now.