Blood Nemesis-Chapter 112: Offer

Although the munchkin swindled him of the cookies, he was happy to know she was a fellow bare minimum hero. At least, that would keep her safe for now.

Oliver lifted his hand towards her and said;

"Give me a high five."

Immediately, the kid stood up on the sofa proudly, her small one-piece dress fluttering in the wind dramatically, and high-fived him.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to both, two pairs of curious eyes looked at them.

One was an older man in his fifties who looked weary, perhaps due to constant sleepless nights and a stressful lifestyle. He was wearing a formal well well-ironed shirt that nicely accentuated his slim body.

The other one was a young man in his teens wearing a loosely fitting plaid shirt. He had an air of calmness and peace around him. Other than that, he looked like someone easily forgotten. Oliver matched the image of the man in his mind with the appearance of the young man and smiled.

Meanwhile, both of them looked at Oliver and the kid with a certain amount of curiosity in their eyes.

Oliver was the first to notice their presence. Immediately, his senses focused, and he felt a little uneasy.

Sensing his sudden pause, the kid turned to look towards the door. Once she noticed the presence of both people, she jumped down from the sofa and ran to them.

"Grandpa..."

"Uncle..."

She called out with her sweet voice and ran.

The people who appeared suddenly were Sathyamoorthi and his son, Ajay. Sathyamoorthi was the scientist Oliver came to meet, and his son Ajay was his friend from his past life.

Neither recognized Oliver, yet they nodded at him when their eyes met.

’Arya might have told them about me,’ Oliver thought.

Meanwhile, Sathyamoorthi crouched to pick up the kid who was running towards him. But the kid dodged his hands and ran past him to Ajay. Her goal was the small plastic with condensation on the outside.

Sathyamoorthi felt betrayed by his granddaughter and reluctantly stood up.

Watching this scene, Oliver almost laughed.

’The heartless munchkin cares more about the ice cream than her grandfather or her favourite hero,’ Oliver surmised, glancing at the abandoned tablet computer playing the video on repeat.

’If she keeps up this attitude, she will one day become a great person,’ Oliver reflected.

Oliver didn’t know what exactly happened to Root and his family in his past life. The only information he got was snippets Root shared when they were working together. At that time, he didn’t have the heart to ask him in detail either.

’Anyway, I will protect them in this life.’

Oliver stopped his mind from going into reminiscence and turned to look at the newly arrived duo. Then he stood up from the sofa and greeted them.

"Nice to meet you. I am Oliver Thorne."

His voice was clear and audible, capturing the attention of everyone in the main hall of the house.

The kid frowned slightly when he said the name. She had an inkling that she had heard the name somewhere, but she didn’t immediately connect it with her favourite hero, the Golden Fiend.

"Hello."

Dr. Sathyamoorthi came close and extended his hand.

"..."

Oliver took it and shook it firmly, projecting a professional demeanor.

"What great fortune brings a hero to my humble dwelling?"

It was not the first time Sathyamoorthi had met businesspeople, so he, too, cordially greeted Oliver and asked him why he was there.

Both were wearing similar smiles when they shook their hands.

"I would like to discuss that," Oliver said and looked around, "But before that, can we get some private space?"

"Certainly. It sounds like a matter of great importance. Please, this way."

Then Sathyamoorthi led Oliver into his study. The room was small but lined with bookshelves, carrying books about complex physics topics that Oliver had no clue about, so he didn’t even bother to read the cover names.

Soon after, he was invited to sit on a sofa in the center of the room.

The sofa seemed much more comfortable than the hard wooden chair on the other side of the room, so he sat there with a smile.

Not showing his nervousness, he glanced around the room with feigned curiosity and waited for Sathyamoorthi to place the bag he was carrying on a table nearby and return.

After a while, Sathyamoorthi returned and sat opposite Oliver, waiting for Oliver to speak.

Oliver acknowledged this and began to speak;

"As I have said, I am Oliver Thorne, also known as Golden Fiend or the Bare Minimum Hero. Today, I come here with a proposal to invest in the research and development of the technology you are working on."

Oliver paused to observe Sathyamoorthi’s expression, which was less than enthusiastic. Obviously, he was not pleased that the information about his research topic had become public knowledge.

"Care to elaborate on that? I wish to know how you might have heard about my research," Sathyamoorthi inquired.

"Of course. I heard it from a friend who works for a venture capital firm."

"Then you might have heard that everyone is avoiding me, right? Even today, I had a meeting with someone, but he didn’t follow through..."

Sathyamoorthi wanted to say more, but he stopped himself and looked at Oliver.

Oliver, on the other hand, was reminded about the demon he buried outside the city gate. The person Sathyamoorthi was supposed to meet today was the demon he had killed. Technically, he did something good for them. However, he couldn’t claim the goodwill for now. freёwebnoѵel.com

"I know. It seems like your old company had spread lies about you, possibly about lawsuits you would have to face in the future because of stolen technology or something similar. Anyway, I can understand why they would avoid you."

Sathyamoorthi rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache when Oliver spoke about stolen technology.

The truth was that he stole nothing. Everything he developed was his own and based on his own knowledge. SK Research played no part in his research findings. If he were to be honest, the damned company actively worked against his research. That was also one of the reasons he left the company.

After taking a deep breath, Sathyamoorthi asked,

"So, why are you here?"

"Of course, to invest in you and your company," Oliver replied. The smile on his face widened, showing he was speaking his mind.

"Why?"

"Didn’t I just say it already? Your old company was disseminating lies. They are accusing you without any proof. That means I have an opportunity to make a lot of money."

Sathyamoorthi relaxed a little when Oliver said that. His body leaned back into the sofa, and the frown that had appeared on his face softened.

Finally, a chance appeared before Oliver.

"I have heard that you visited many VC firms to fund your research and invest in your startup. They were foolish to avoid you. I would like to be your investor this time. Regardless of the amount, I want to work with you."

Each one of Oliver’s words touched Sathyamoorthi’s heart. Finally, someone believed him.

However, at the same time, he doubted whether this young man could actually do what he said. After all, Oliver was a young man in his teens. He would have to be a little naive to believe him outright. Still, he didn’t show that on his face. You might never know in this day and age who is rich. Oliver was a hero. He could be rich or a rich young master of a prominent family.

Oliver smiled, seeing Sathyamoorthi think deeply. He was sure that he was seriously considering the offer.

Finally, after a short pause, Sathyamoorthi asked;

"Do you know what my research direction is?"

"Telecommunication. QCM-based Telecommunication," Oliver replied instantly.

"Hm...And you are aware of the potential lawsuit, correct?"

"Yes."

"Legal proceedings can be long and difficult. You understand this could be problematic, right?"

"Of course."

Oliver was amazed by the honesty. Most people would chase after money when an offer like he proposed was in front of them.

So, he added, "Ultimately, I don’t believe it will matter, sir. I have faith in you. I am certain the accusations of theft are baseless."

Oliver leaned in.

"We can fight them in the court of law."

"But it won’t be easy. It might be easy to prove my case in court, but the long and arduous proceedings would be a challenge that would slow down our progress. And the chances of proprietary information leaking when we exchange documents for the lawsuit are high. I didn’t even apply for a patent, fearing the exact thing..."

*Sigh*

"...If the information leaks, there’s no point in fighting the lawsuit."

The dark circles under the man’s face became even more pronounced at that moment.

Oliver, who heard the dejected voice of the man, understood his concern.

Sathyamoorthi was thinking purely on the basis of a lawful settlement. He was optimistic that he could win the lawsuit, but not what followed. He looked drained and tired.

’However, evil people and demons won’t work like that. They would do anything to get to their goal, even murder or theft. You can’t show weakness in front of them. Believing that the law would protect is a mistake that the vulnerable make,’ Oliver thought, observing Sathyamoorthi’s exhausted body.

’If you have to win against evil, you have to step out of the bounds of law.’ Oliver muttered in his heart. Although he showed he cared about the law outwardly, he had the disdain that any villain would have.

"Mr. Sathyamoorthi, I could help you with that," Oliver said with a pleasant smile. But underneath, he was planning to use all the resources at his disposal to protect them.