With a deficit of three billion dollars in liquid assets, it should normally have put his competitor one step behind in all future bids.
As someone who knew perfectly well how to take advantage of such a situation, Mr. Black had been looking forward to watching his long-term rival's face crumble as he watched more and more 'opportunities' being snagged by him right under his eyelids.
Even if they bought themselves some fame in return, what exactly was the point of that? At their level, they didn't have to rely on the news media to solidify their images in the public's mind. All they had to do was pour some money into ad campaigns.
And whatever 'positive image' they managed to get using this event, wouldn't it just fade away a few days later, as people moved on to some other exciting piece of news?
But that turned out to be just a wishful dream.
When the stock market opened this morning, his secretary had already rung him up in a panic. Forget about reminding him of trivial things such as the commissioner's missed call, he didn't even wait for Mr. Black to get out of his mansion.
White Deer's stock rocketed up by twenty percent.
For a small corporation, although this would be worth celebrating, it wasn't something world-changing. Market valuation did matter a lot, but it could fall just as much tomorrow as it had gone up today.
But for the ones on the scale of the 'White Deer' or 'Black Tiger' corporation? A twenty percent rise in their stock price translated to literally trillions of dollars!
Compared to the 'measly' sum they had invested, the returns were a thousandfold!
Even if Mr. Black regretted making his move until his intestines turned green, at this point it was already too late.
He had severely underestimated the impact of public image on the market price. Mr. Black had never been too concerned about such things, because his own corporation already had a 'poor' public image, and thus their valuation was always based on objective facts and cold hard reports.
But the people who were buying White Deer's stocks right now and contributing to their rise were those who simply saw their future growth potential and wanted a slice of the pie.
With reports of the station overseeing the two missing boys' case being put under audit, combined with their timely rescue of the trafficked children, many believed that the White Deer corporation had not just public but also government support.
Moreover, they had always been steadily growing stronger over the past years, and have already proven themselves to be capable, dependable, and able to adapt to the changing trends.
Under such circumstances, wasn't it wise to invest in them while they still could?
It was all market hype, and seemed quite pointless in Mr. Black's eyes, but as long as the White Deer corporation didn't mess things up massively in the future, they really would get twenty percent richer in a single day!
The panic within the upper echelons of the 'Black Tiger', that is to say, everyone who was aware of their moves against the 'White Deer', was so great that Mr. Black had to turn off his phone and isolate himself in his study while issuing them a notice to remain calm.
But even though he told them he was working on the 'issue' in the notice, Mr. Black could feel that the world had grown dark and gloomy in his eyes. The only thing he could see was the report of the White Deer's steady rise, and regret his own 'contribution'.
==========
Meanwhile, Amos had gathered up all of his new 'followers' in one of their properties that were the closest to the school.
Of course, he had also heard about the White Deer corporation's great luck today, but that was none of his concern right now. He knew his father must be suffering from the fallout, but that was fine by him.
After all, the weaker his grasp was on the 'Black Tiger' corporation, the easier it would be for him to pry it off of his hands. Some minor collateral damage was acceptable.
What he needed to focus on now was to make sure he didn't make a mess of his own. He had already been humiliated enough for a lifetime, and from this point onwards he planned to slowly make them all pay it all back, one by one.
And the ones who would help him make it possible were these 'pawns' that his father had so 'generously' thrown his way.
Eight of the boys in his father's documents were class S students, while two were from class A, and Amos knew just how effective a weapon he had been handed. If he played his cards right…
So after digging into their past from the report he had been handed and making sure they could be more or less 'trusted', he decided to go all-in and turn them completely into his minions.
After all, though they couldn't betray him, if he didn't change anything they would remain extremely inefficient and unreliable to get things done with. His guess was confirmed once they reached his place exactly on the time he demanded, not even a minute early.
Forget about showing sincerity, wasn't this blatantly displaying their reluctance to follow him?
Of course, the external pressure on them was too great to even consider refusing his orders. And Amos intended to take full advantage of that.
He let them remain standing as he sat on the sofa, one leg on top of another, leisurely sipping a cup of coffee. Amos made no secret of their 'standing' in his eyes, and his position as their 'boss'.
The hero would have looked quite elegant and charismatic, if not for his swollen left eye.
Amos put down his coffee mug on the table, giving the group a nonchalant nod. "Introduce yourselves one by one, starting from the left.. And tell me why you deserve to be here, what your talents are, and what you can do for me."