Chapter 391: A Stream of Visitors
By the next morning, the small villa, which had previously seen few visitors, suddenly became bustling.
Car after car, as if pre-arranged, appeared one after another—though not simultaneously—visiting Basalt and Zhou Yuan in orderly fashion.
Given Basalt's current value and fame, many smaller clubs had already conceded defeat. Those who still dared to extend an olive branch were all well-known First Division clubs, such as the Divine Club, Heavenly Mansion Club, and Warlord Club.
This number was already relatively small due to Basalt's Sandstorm team specialization, which has low compatibility with most club strategies. If he had specialized in a more versatile type, the number of clubs would have at least doubled.
The first person Basalt and Zhou Yuan received was Zhang Shu from the Divine Club.
"Basalt, our Divine Club is genuinely sincere in inviting you to join us. An annual salary of 12 million is definitely the highest in the industry."
Zhang Shu spoke eloquently, first describing the Divine Club's future prospects, then genuinely expressing how much Bella Bai looked forward to working side-by-side with Basalt. He also guaranteed Basalt at least three brand endorsements in the first year.
Furthermore, since the Divine Club was the leading club in Jiangnan Province and Basalt was a fellow native, he subtly hinted that Basalt shouldn't forget his hometown after becoming successful.
As a personnel manager responsible for recruiting and discovering talent, Zhang Shu's verbal skills were nearly maxed out. Basalt was almost swayed.
The 12 million annual salary also surprised Basalt. His previous modest goal was only 10 million, yet he had achieved it with the first offer? Crucially, this was just the initial contact! It was clear this was not the Divine Club's absolute bottom line.
Basalt might be easy to fool, but Zhou Yuan wasn't. He quickly coughed a reminder.
Basalt snapped out of it and quickly expressed his thanks. "Manager Zhang, thank you very much for your invitation. But honestly, my mind is still reeling a bit. I need some time to process things. Could you allow me some time to consider before giving you a definitive answer?"
"Uh... alright then!"
Zhang Shu hated Zhou Yuan fiercely. Basalt had been so close to agreeing! However, he knew Zhou Yuan's identity and dared not cause a scene, so he left with an awkward smile.
After Zhang Shu departed, the manager of the Heavenly Mansion Club from Sichuan Province entered the room. The Heavenly Mansion Club was based in Rongcheng City (Chengdu), a burgeoning first-tier city whose strength was not to be underestimated. Crucially, the Heavenly Mansion Club was far from the cutthroat competition of the eastern coastal areas and was the core city of the western region, secretly drawing in a large number of talents from the west.
The provinces surrounding Sichuan also featured deserts, making the area extremely suitable for the growth of Rock, Ground, and Steel-type Pokémon. This would also make it convenient for Basalt to train in the desert in the future. Theoretically, the Heavenly Mansion Club had the highest compatibility with Basalt's team among all the First Division clubs. Some of the Technical Machine (TM) secrets they had collected also greatly interested Basalt.
The only two drawbacks were that Heavenly Mansion was too far from Jiangnan, making travel inconvenient, and their offer was surprisingly low: an annual salary of just five million, less than half of the Divine Club's offer.
After seeing off the Heavenly Mansion Club manager, Zhou Yuan took a big sip of tea, narrowing his eyes. "It seems Heavenly Mansion is determined to pursue the compatibility route this time."
A five million annual salary was indeed low. Although Heavenly Mansion promised to arrange commercial activities for Basalt, as a club in a western city, their financial scale was still different from the eastern coastal areas. Their only advantage was the high compatibility. If Basalt wanted to improve his strength quickly, their TM library could indeed provide the greatest help.
Heavenly Mansion was gambling: betting on whether Basalt valued rapid improvement more than money.
The third club was the local Saffron City club, the Warrior Club. This club had an extremely aggressive fighting style, highly favoring Pokémon with great size, great mass, and great power—preferring violent breakthroughs to crush opponents. Since Basalt's Pokémon were all slightly larger and more powerful than their average counterparts, he was quite favored by the Warrior Club's executives.
The Warrior Club's final offer was an annual salary of 10 million, with comprehensive support including commercial operations, TM support, and even Pokémon selection services, listing various benefits.
The next few clubs offered similar conditions, each with different focuses.
It wasn't until the sixth club that Basalt and Zhou Yuan started to feel a bit numb. However, upon hearing the name Warlord Club, they quickly snapped to attention.
Warlord—this was a powerhouse!
"Hello, Basalt. I'm Zheng Tong from the Warlord Club. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
Zheng Tong wore a cordial smile, but Basalt sensed an air of composure and confidence from him. Perhaps this is the confidence of a powerhouse.
After some small talk, Zheng Tong revealed his conditions. However, despite Warlord being a wealthy powerhouse, their terms felt rather petty compared to the previous clubs.
The initial annual salary was only a pitiful 1 million. Although he mentioned that Basalt's value would be re-evaluated annually to adjust the salary, Basalt felt that even with raises, it wouldn't be much. Most importantly, the contract duration was a lengthy five years, and the termination fee was frighteningly high—an astounding 100 million!
Not only that, the Warlord contract had many clauses, many of which were highly unfavorable to the employee. Basalt frowned deeply. He felt the terms were quite harsh.
Seeing Basalt's discomfort, Zheng Tong quickly pitched the club's merits. "Basalt, as a powerhouse club in the Alliance, the Warlord Club is a frequent winner of the First Division League, and our training system is the most scientific. Our track record is the best proof."
"If you sign with us, we can immediately arrange for you to play in our subsidiary clubs in the Second Division as practice matches. Once your strength improves, you'll return to the main club to play in the First Division. We are confident we can make you the next superstar."
"Don't doubt the Warlord Club's star-making ability. Currently, the lowest valued player among our five main players is worth over a hundred million. An annual income of fifty million in salary, bonuses, and commercial revenue is easy..."
In the end, Basalt sent Zheng Tong away, citing the need for consideration.
"Powerhouses are like this. They don't lack geniuses, so their urgency to acquire one is lower than other clubs. They keep the price low. You only strike it rich when the first contract expires, and you switch clubs a second time—that's when you'll truly realize your ambition." Zhou Yuan quickly reassured him.
One thing he didn't mention was that if Basalt hadn't been a member of the Weather Bureau, providing some protection, the Warlord Club's contract duration might have been eight or ten years, and the terms even harsher. Many superstars in powerhouse clubs, despite their massive fame, didn't have high incomes—at least not commensurate with their fame.
But alas, the club's prestige was its selling point. As long as you persevered, you would eventually shine.
"Five years?"
Basalt's mouth twitched slightly. He had gone from nothing to Pro-level in two years. In five years, he would probably be a Gym Leader-level trainer! Although the jump to Gym Leader was extremely difficult, Basalt was highly confident given the legacies of the Legendary Pokémon.
Not long after Zheng Tong left, another powerhouse club arrived from Capital City: the Divine Court Club. However, Divine Court's offer was practically identical to Warlord's—very harsh. Moreover, their manager was extremely arrogant, haughtily scrutinizing Basalt as if inspecting merchandise.
This conversation completely shattered Basalt's previous aspirations for powerhouse clubs.
"Screw the powerhouse clubs!" Basalt decided internally. Those damn clubs, let someone else join them. If he ever met them on the field and conditions allowed, he would crush them every time.
Although the powerhouse clubs were out, choosing among the non-powerhouse clubs was still difficult. The Divine Club offered a good salary, was based in his home province, and allowed him to fight alongside his senior Bella—Basalt was quite tempted. The Heavenly Mansion Club was also a consideration, as it was genuinely a good fit for his team's characteristics. As for the Warrior Club, it was slightly less appealing.
Dazed, Basalt slumped back onto the sofa, rubbing his temples.
Tough choice!
The main issue was that once a contract was signed, the minimum service period was three years. To switch clubs later, he would have to pay a termination fee. Although the fee was usually covered by the new club, Basalt still had to consider his options carefully. If the fit wasn't right, three years would be wasted. They could even put him on the bench for three years if they disliked him!
Thump, thump, thump!
Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed on the wooden stairs.
A man wearing a long robe and a large turban emerged from the stairwell.
Basalt's eyes widened suddenly. "The big spender... Abdullah?"
☆☆☆
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you