The Carman Vanida Group was the very corporation that had once proposed purchasing Lele's family amusement park and converting it into a golf course.
Its CEO's name was Carman Vanida.
He was born into the royal family of Islaria. He was the fourth son of King Aramuhan—also known as the Fourth Prince of Islaria.
Islaria was one of the world's great oil powers. Once, because of oil, it had briefly become the nation with the highest per capita wealth on the planet.
Even now, after declining from its former peak due to the depletion of oil reserves, Islaria remained one of the world's economic and financial centers. The wealth held by its royal family members was still more than enough to secure places on the Forbes rich list.
Carman Vanida was one of the prominent global figures on that very list. As a prince, he had been born with everything—education, wealth, reputation.
However, the Islarian royal family did not tolerate idleness among its members. They assigned royal representatives to be stationed across various countries.
The Carman Vanida Group was precisely the branch dispatched by the Islarian royal family to Shenzhou.
All along, carving a path with money, the Carman Vanida Group had expanded like ravenous wolves, seizing one prime commercial district after another across the cities of Shenzhou.
And now, the Homu Theme Park in Hokkai City had become a fish bone lodged in the Carman Vanida Group's throat.
Hokkai City lay at the very heart of the group's commercial strategic blueprint. All territories operated by the Carman Vanida Group were within a one-hour golden radius of Hokkai City.
As long as this dilapidated amusement park could be transformed into a golf course for elite gatherings, everything would proceed flawlessly.
After all, in this era, the most upper-tier form of business was direct communication with the wealthy and powerful. They controlled ninety-nine percent of society's wealth.
As for the people at the bottom—just ignore them. Even if they were willing to contribute everything they owned, it would amount to a pitiful one percent. It would not even be enough to wedge between Carman Vanida's teeth.
Originally, purchasing that poorly managed, near-bankrupt amusement park had not been something Carman Vanida considered significant. A park facing bankruptcy and debt liquidation simply had no ability to refuse the price he offered. In fact, he even felt he had overpaid—under normal valuation, that sum could have bought two such parks.
Therefore, Carman Vanida had not personally involved himself. He had entrusted the matter to his executive vice president.
And that executive vice president—second only to him within the company—naturally would not handle it personally either, so he passed it down to the senior director in charge of business operations.
Anyone capable of serving as a senior director within the Carman Vanida Group was, by nature, proud and ambitious. Seeing that it was merely the acquisition of an old amusement park, he paid it no mind and delegated it to a department manager.
At the level of department manager, the situation changed again. In large corporations, department managers were usually seasoned veterans. They would never personally handle major matters. Big tasks were always assigned to subordinates—if it failed, the subordinate would take the blame; if it succeeded, the manager would claim the credit.
Thus, the department manager passed it down once more to a section chief.
The section chief was even more slippery. He smoothly handed the task to a new employee. After all, if the newcomer messed it up, they could immediately brush it off with an excuse like, "The temp didn't know any better."
The new hire was too diligent. Before I even issued formal instructions, he secretly opened my drawer, took the documents, and went to handle it himself. I was on a business trip and had no idea.
That temp who stole the documents has already been dismissed. But this is still my responsibility—I accept partial fault. Three drinks as self-punishment. Ahahaha.
Excuses like these had proven foolproof time and again. And wasn't it a win-win for everyone?
Because of this very chain of delegation, when the Carman Vanida Group's new employee went to negotiate the purchase plan with Lele's family, he did not coerce them into signing an agreement on the spot. After all, he was just a bottom-level employee who could be fired at any time. How could he casually invoke upper management's authority to apply pressure?
And because of that, the amusement park gained a brief acquisition gap—one that the HoMu Company seized to slip in.
But after learning of this development, the department manager chose to conceal it.
It was not until Carman Vanida wanted to inspect the progress of the golf course construction that he saw instead a colorful children's amusement park. In that instant, his entire face darkened with rage.
Were they planning to have the elite sit on carousels in a children's park while discussing top-tier business strategies?
Damn it—was that how this was supposed to work?
With a single sentence, Carman Vanida dismissed every so-called elite who had handled this task from top to bottom—including the group's vice president.
Then he personally came to the amusement park, intending to meet its director and forcibly reacquire it.
Carman Vanida traveled everywhere by private helicopter. It was his preferred mode of transportation. For any distance exceeding one kilometer, he would take a helicopter directly.
As for places without open landing space?
What a joke. Only areas inhabited by commoners were that crowded. Would he ever go to such places?
But the moment he arrived, the park director gave him a show of authority. She firmly prohibited their helicopter from entering the park.
After all, the amusement park had many high-altitude attractions. Allowing a helicopter inside would be extremely dangerous.
Thus, Carman Vanida had no choice but to land at the park's designated helipad one kilometer away and walk into the park on foot.
Most infuriating of all, the staff would not allow him to use the green channel, stating that it was reserved for special groups.
In what way did he not qualify as special?
"Once I acquire the Homu Theme Park, the first thing I'll do is fire the director."
Grinding his teeth, Carman Vanida stood in line.
Standing among that crowd reeking of poverty made him feel insulted.
What was poverty? It was a character flaw. They were lazy, ignorant, short-sighted. Their impoverished way of thinking created their poverty.
And now he was being forced to stand among such people. The sensation was more unbearable than being defiled.
But if he did not enter the Homu Theme Park, he would not even be able to see the director, much less fire her.
The mere thought drove Carman Vanida nearly mad.
If he could, he would have ordered his bodyguards to drive away every single visitor standing in line.
But the park's security gates would absolutely bar him from entry.
If ticket inspection were handled solely by staff, that would be one thing. But the security gates were not something one could simply argue past—unless Carman Vanida intended to roll tanks into the city center.
So he had no choice but to line up obediently.
At that moment, a staff member dressed in a yellow Homu mascot suit approached him.
"O chosen Homu-Homu warrior, thank you for answering the king's summons, Homu. In recognition of your excellent observance of order, this Homu Order Medal is presented to you as a commemorative gift, Homu."
When visitor numbers were high, queuing was essential for the experience—but standing in line was undeniably dull.
To address this, the Homu Theme Park had arranged certain Easter eggs that only appeared while queuing.
For example, Carman Vanida had just encountered a medal-giving Homu.
It was said that there were eight types of these medals in total. If one managed to collect the entire set, they could exchange them for a Homu certificate and mount the medals inside it to hang in a display cabinet.
These Homu medals were actually quite valuable. Obtaining them depended heavily on luck. The type of medal was uncertain, and the method to trigger the Easter egg was unknown. Very few warriors could rely purely on their own luck to gather the complete Homu certificate series. As a result, their prices were driven extremely high on secondhand trading websites, making them a popular hard currency in online resale markets.
But did Carman Vanida look like someone who browsed secondhand trading sites?
"Get lost, yellow rabbit."
Carman Vanida coldly ordered his subordinates to drive away the Homu staff member. Then he turned icily to a man in black beside him wearing a wireless earpiece.
"The director isn't in the amusement park office. You're certain?"
The man in black looked slightly nervous, afraid of displeasing Young Master Carman Vanida. The fate of his predecessor was still vivid in his memory.
"Yes. According to the park's administrative HR clerk, the director is accompanying guests around the park. By his account, she won't return to the office until evening."
"If we go to the chairman's office now, we'll likely find nothing—unless we wait an entire day."
"Wait an entire day? She certainly thinks highly of herself."
Carman Vanida bristled with anger. Although he had not scheduled an appointment with the park director in advance, as a prince of the Islarian royal family, wherever he went he was greeted with smiles. When had he ever waited for someone else?
Before he could fully lose his temper, his eyes suddenly lit up.
Because an unexpected surprise had appeared before him.
"Oh? I didn't expect to encounter the two doctors here. What luck... Fate truly is fascinating."
"By the way, regarding the proposal we previously submitted—have you reached a decision?"
...
Carman Vanida's arrogant tone made Tesla's brows knit sharply.
"Who the hell are you? I don't recall knowing anyone this rude."
Carman Vanida choked slightly, but he did not show his anger. Royal upbringing forced him to swallow the curse that nearly slipped out.
This washed-up woman had lost her position and still acted so high and mighty. She was just someone who lived off her brains. What was she so arrogant about?
The researchers his family sponsored all treated him like their benefactor.
He forced a smile that did not reach his eyes. "It seems you've forgotten me, Dr. Tesla. That's understandable—you're a busy person."
"I'll take a moment to refresh your memory."
"I am Carman Vanida, prince of the Islarian royal family. I once offered to fund you, to help you return to MOTH. In exchange, you would serve Islaria—"
Before he could finish, Tesla waved her hand dismissively.
"You came to me. I'm not interested."
Tesla remembered him perfectly well. She had never sought help from any consortium. It was this group that had approached her out of nowhere and then bombarded her with a stream of harassment messages, all of which she had deliberately ignored.
There were always plenty of consortiums scrambling desperately to wedge themselves into MOTH and claim a share of the pie. And in fact, quite a few had succeeded through underhanded methods.
Tesla found it laughable. MOTH these days truly let any stray cat or dog through the door. She had no intention of holding it open for them.
At the same time, Tesla deeply despised such consortiums. Back when she was still in MOTH, it had been one of those opportunistic, consortium-backed individuals who not only stole her patents but also forced her out of MOTH.
She wanted to punch every one of those people she saw—better yet, knock one out cold if possible.
And this Carman Vanida before her was precisely the kind of mastermind behind such figures, a ringleader trying to mold her into the same opportunistic breed. That made him even more deserving of a beating.
Tesla silently slipped on her ancestral exoskeleton gauntlet...
Einstein understood Tesla all too well. Nearly thirty years old, yet her temper was still as blunt and explosive as a child's.
If that punch landed, it would likely trigger lawsuits that lasted for centuries.
Recognizing that the situation was unfavorable, Einstein hurriedly grabbed Tesla's arm just as she was about to erupt.
"Oh my... I suddenly feel dizzy. Perhaps it's heatstroke. Could I trouble you to take me to the lounge, Dr. Tesla?"
The moment she heard that Einstein felt unwell, Tesla panicked. She halted her attack and quickly supported her.
"Chicken-head, I told you that burying yourself in research would ruin your health. At times like this, you need the great Tesla—the top of the class—to step in. Hurry up, I'll carry you to the infirmary."
"Would you require—"
Carman Vanida's polite offer was cut short by the sharp glare Tesla shot him.
Watching Tesla stagger away with Einstein on her back, Carman Vanida spat disdainfully.
"Oh, acting like you're some highly sought-after prize. If the royal family had other suitable collaborators, we wouldn't even consider someone as stubborn as Tesla."
Anyone who entered MOTH as a research institute representative was an absolute top-tier genius. Not even the researchers maintained by the royal family could enter MOTH's core circle. At best, they worked on the periphery.
To be honest, even making contact with Tesla had been pure coincidence. Normally, MOTH would never leak information about its key researchers.
But Tesla was different. She liked reallocating funds to run around everywhere, and she had little filter on her speech. She had been noticed by royal spies working behind Carman Vanida.
Unfortunately, although Tesla had reallocated funds and even leaked certain secrets, she still considered herself a principled researcher. Faced with the royal family's mix of threats and inducements, she remained completely unmoved.
That infuriated Carman Vanida. So he used his influence to spread rumors that Tesla had leaked MOTH's confidential information.
Thus, her forced resignation had not been without his contribution.
Yet even so, Tesla continued living her carefree post-resignation life, utterly indifferent to his threats.
Faced with someone immune to both carrot and stick, Carman Vanida found himself at a loss.
"Forget it. I didn't come here to recruit Tesla anyway. Let the royal family's lawyers handle the wall-digging."
Before long, Tesla would be entangled in endless lawsuits.
And then she would have no choice but to kneel before him, begging him to resolve that mountain of trouble.