618: Chapter 525: Seamless 618: Chapter 525: Seamless If asked if I’m happy, indeed I am.

When it touches the core, any man able to achieve this will make a woman’s mood a lot more joyful.

When night falls and all is quiet, after everything is done, Rinne would always sit by the bay window smoking a cigarette, admiring the night view of Anjiu City.

The city at night is more beautiful than during the day, with man-made neon lights rivalling the natural golden sunlight.

The day is made up of work and study, but the night belongs to each individual.

Now as well, the time belongs to Rinne, she can go to sleep whenever she wants.

Whenever her gaze shifts from the modern cityscape back to Xu Yang’s face, Rinne could always see Xu Yang’s silent and reserved expression, inevitably making her wonder if she hadn’t done enough just now, or if some of her faults had annoyed him.

After several days, Rinne came to understand that the problem didn’t lie with her.

Xu Yang never directed his anger towards others; his face was expressionless because he harbored a vast and unpredictable world within his heart, and he never let his emotions show.

Outsiders could only orbit around the exterior, never penetrating the inner world of this man.

To enter his heart and become his soulmate, making joy penetrate not just the senses but every layer of the heart, as if a soul was shared between two bodies, closely bonded.

When Rinne smokes, she would occasionally think about this.

She should go further, but is she qualified to seek an even closer place?

Such feelings take long-term companionship to emerge and reach their zenith.

But what is Rinne?

A newbie, with nothing to her name.

At least she is satisfied with herself, where others in the overwhelming joy of supreme pleasure would inevitably become distraught, turning into fleshly servants, infatuated with play all day long.

But Rinne could keep moderation, three times a day, and absolutely no more.

Mornings are fresher than afternoons and evenings.

Whoever wakes up first takes the initiative, thus starting the day’s schedule.

“You can now access all of Shijin Mansion,” Xu Yang handed a chip to Rinne.

She was about to make coffee, turned around to take the chip, and inserted it into the data interface behind her head.

She downloaded the level 4 decryption privileges of Nestor Corporation, meaning she could pass through most of the area access controls and investigate many encrypted files within the company.

Levels 0 to 3 are for people outside the company’s core, levels 4 and 5 give access to Nestor Corporation’s secrets, level 6 is for the president and other key persons, and level 7 is for Xu Yang alone.

Now that Rinne had received an upgrade in her clearance, she nodded slightly, pleased by the recognition she had received.

Looking back at Xu Yang, she felt regret.

If she were five years younger, less worldly, she could be more carefree and enjoy her youth to the fullest.

But Rinne was a wayfarer of this earthly realm, often haunted by visions of the bloodshed and mania she had witnessed in the past.

She had seen scavenger families torn to pieces by monsters in the wilderness, the cruel virus experiments in the West Coast biological labs, the extravagant casinos on Jialong Slope, the couple in Chiba City who froze to death, and one after another of the teams she had joined, all of which eventually fell apart and shattered.

Now… now she could finally settle down.

The fear of death, the nihilistic view of life all gradually faded away, replaced by a new drive.

“I have to fix this first, see you tonight,” Rinne said as she turned to leave.

She’d played too hard these past few days, some newly installed implants had come loose and needed to be re-soldered.

The designers considered various situations, but never anticipated someone would invert themselves on the ceiling to hammer.

Xu Yang watched Rinne leave, the pressures of the world weighing heavily on people, making them want to indulge themselves.

Everyone has their own pursuits and struggles, it’s hard to generalize.

After tidying up the room, Xu Yang continued with his work.

As Nestor Corporation’s control and influence over the Northern Archipelago further increased, their takeover of the region neared completion.

Cities and business entities sent favorable contract invitations, and Xu Yang now had to consider how to make good use of them, unite partners, and confront rivals.

In Anjiu City, Oohara Risa, the daughter of the former Mayor Oohara Nobuhiko, continued to maintain city operations.

Having married into the Kamibayashi Family as a commoner, she had thought she would live in their shadow for life.

To her surprise, several prominent members of the Kamibayashi Family died violently at sea, their wealth was looted and divided by their numerous descendants, forming countless insignificant branches.

Even her husband, Kamibayashi Kurou, inherited only a meager portion of the assets, falling from a distinguished young master to someone who now relied on Oohara Risa’s charity.

He found it hard to accept his new status, living a life of seclusion, and left Oohara Risa to handle the city’s affairs, maintaining its stability and prosperity.

Due to financial difficulties, he sold all the pastures, stables, cowsheds, rice fields, orchards, and bamboo groves surrounding Kamibayashi’s Old House to Nestor Corporation.

After renovation and transformation, their scale expanded significantly, altering their appearance entirely.

In Akasumi City, an industrial hub severely affected by irrational urban planning and environmental pollution, the entire city was undergoing renovation and rebuilding.

It was a protracted process.

Production had stalled.

Originally, Xisheng Industrial and Iwasaki Heavy Industries had concentrated all heavy chemical plants in Akasumi City to improve industrial density, which resulted in severe erosion of the city.

The residents, widely affected by radiation sickness, suffered greatly, with a life expectancy only half that of other cities in the Archipelago.

Now, healthcare assistance was being systematically carried out.

The current plan was to relocate residents while transforming the environment over the next 2–3 years, upgrading equipment, increasing automation, and allowing Synthetic Humans to take over, bearing the lingering industrial pollution and getting the largest industrial city in the Northern Archipelago back in operation.

The city’s standards in petroleum, steel, machinery, electricity, and shipbuilding industries were excellent, and in time it would become a strong productive force for Nestor Corporation, surpassing Shangjing Bay Industrial Area.

Shangjing, with intricate connections to the intercontinental economy, continued to be penetrated and influenced by world-renowned financial corporations and economies through Enomoto Bank as an intermediary.

Ghost Warriors were also significant personnel among them.

Even if just to root out spies like Ghost Warriors on the Secret Front, Rinne and others had to continue training.

Ghost Warriors, as secret agents of the Corporate Alliance, were strong and cunning, not easily captured in a short period of time.

The entrance of Nestor Corporation had broken down the rigid hierarchy in places like Shangjing.

Other powers from the Northern Archipelago began attempting to ally with Nestor Corporation.

Many small and medium-sized companies, judging the timing right, decided to join proactively, merging with Nestor Corporation to compensate for their weaknesses and becoming part of its ever-expanding business segments, offering loyalty to maintain survival or expand business volume.

Among these numerous partnership plans, Xu Yang’s current focus was a cooperation request from the Harutsu Education Group.

They wanted to establish an education center in Shangjing.

Beyond Shangjing, Harutsu City was home to a concentration of universities, highly recognized throughout the Archipelago and the world.

Located at the southwest corner of the Northern Archipelago and facing the Great Ocean, Harutsu City was a mild climate, originally a conventional business company city.

After decades of transformation and special planning by the Harutsu Education Group, it was mostly left with universities, research institutes, primary and secondary schools, and academic research facilities.

Of the original Z1–Z20 research institutes of Kyoto Infinity, seven were located in Harutsu City, hence it was also known as “Academy City,” providing a constant stream of corporate personnel for Kyoto Infinity and Xisheng over the years.

However, despite their efforts, Harutsu Education Group was still thoroughly overshadowed by the many established elite institutions in Shangjing.

Backed by the immense resources of Shangjing, they easily surpassed Harutsu Education Group, often considered a rural academy with inferior global influence and recognition compared to older universities in Shangjing.

“Excuse me, if Nestor Corporation would grant a land transaction permit and allow Harutsu University to establish a branch in the vicinity of Shangjing Bay, my company would respectfully offer Nestor Corporation full access to all information databases, skill archives, and literature reserves of Harutsu Education Group…” the chairman of Harutsu Education Group made the cooperation request, imploring Nestor Corporation to lend support and help them join Shangjing’s commercial education system, “…

These databases and records will surely aid your company in establishing its own corporate training system.”

The collaboration was profitable, as Xu Yang indeed planned to establish Nestor Education.

In addition to the community-supported primary and secondary schools allowing children a proper education, the company also needed to create a training system adapted for its employees—self-development being a significant pursuit for everyone.

Before entering the company, everyone had to receive training in schools first.

Education was too important, a crucial foundation for society’s functioning, Xu Yang reflected.

The information provided by Harutsu Education Group was not particularly high-end; even their top-level technical information could not match the reserves within Xisheng Shrine.

Yet, they possessed a unique advantage: unlimited online course reserves and vast databases and teaching resources.

With many years of educational experience, Harutsu Education Group knew how to build the entire system and all supporting facilities, which was vital for Nestor Corporation to establish its own educational ventures.