Investing in My Crippled Wife: Every Return Makes Me Stronger

Chapter 123: Visiting The Bureau [3]

Craig pulled up a new file on his desk, his expression turning thoroughly professional.

"Since the monolith remains your private property, we would like to negotiate an official co-ownership and management agreement," Craig explained, sliding the document slightly toward Soren so he could see the terms. "The bureau will handle the transport, high-level security, and continuous maintenance of the artifact. We will place it within a secure, premium cultivation facility right here in the main branch."

Soren leaned forward, his brown eyes focusing on the detailed breakdown. "And what are the specific benefits for me under this arrangement?"

"First, you retain absolute primary access," Craig stated clearly. "You will have a private, top-tier cultivation room permanently reserved for you at the center of the monolith’s radius, obviously free of charge. Second, the bureau will pay you a substantial monthly lease fee of fifty million credits just for allowing us to utilize the surrounding high-density mana zone for our elite teams. Finally, any secondary resources or compressed mana crystals generated by the artifact over time will be split sixty-forty, with the majority share going directly to you."

Craig paused, giving Soren a moment to process the sheer scale of the proposal. "We take care of the heavy logistics, the security risks, and the maintenance costs, while you receive a steady fortune and a premium training ground. What do you think?"

Soren stared at the document, his mind working rapidly. Fifty million credits a month, free primary access, and a sixty-forty split on generated resources. For any normal E-Rank hunter, this was a life-altering jackpot that required zero hesitation. It was a flawless commercial deal.

But Soren wasn’t a normal hunter.

’If I just accept a standard commercial lease for the entire artifact, the authority will view it as a pure business transaction,’ Soren reasoned inwardly. ’According to my research, the Investment Authority requires genuine investment to trigger. If the bureau pays me a flat fee to let their elites train here, it won’t count toward my growth or count as investment. But if I turn down the money or the benefits entirely, it will look incredibly suspicious and make them doubt my motives.’

He needed a hybrid approach. He had to secure steady cash flow to maintain his cover as a practical hunter while carving out a specific, private clause that allowed him to use the monolith as a massive investment.

"It is an incredibly generous offer, Mr. Craig," Soren began, leaning back in his chair and meeting the director’s sharp gaze. "The terms show that the bureau truly values its hunters. However, I would like to propose a slight adjustment to the structure of the agreement."

Craig raised an eyebrow, a flicker of amused curiosity in his eyes. "Oh? Let’s hear it."

"I am completely fine with the bureau utilizing the high-density mana zone for its elite teams, and the fifty million credit lease is perfectly acceptable," Soren stated calmly. "However, I want to adjust the resource split from sixty-forty down to a fifty-fifty split."

Veyra blinked in surprise, shifting her gaze from the data tablet to Soren. Craig leaned forward, his interest thoroughly piqued. A hunter voluntarily giving up a ten percent share of rare, high-grade mana crystals was unheard of.

"You want to give up a portion of your profits?" Craig asked, his voice laced with professional curiosity. "What exactly do you want in exchange for that ten percent, Mr. Soren?"

"I don’t want much, Mr. Craig," Soren replied, keeping his expression perfectly composed. "Just a few more rooms."

Craig blinked, the unexpected request catching him slightly off guard. He exchanged a brief look with Veyra before leaning back in his heavy chair. "Oh, I see. But is the private room we already offered not enough? Or do you want to use the extra space for something else? Don’t tell me you want to open a business?"

"Well, something like that," Soren replied with a small, noncommittal nod.

"Being too greedy isn’t good, Hunter Soren," Craig said, a knowing smile playing on his lips as he tapped his fingers against the mahogany desk. "If you are planning to charge an expensive price to sub-lease those rooms to wealthy families or private clients, you might find the logistics a bit complicated. The bureau’s elite facilities aren’t meant to be turned into a commercial marketplace."

Soren shook his head smoothly, offering a reassuring expression. "No, Mr. Craig, you misunderstood me. Actually, I want to give them away for free."

"...What?"

The word left Craig’s mouth in a rare moment of genuine bewilderment. Beside him, Veyra stared at Soren, her fingers freezing over her data tablet as her professional composure completely slipped. For a second, the entire executive office fell into a stunned, dead silence.

"You want to give them away... for free?" Craig repeated slowly, leaning forward as if to ensure he had heard the young hunter correctly. "You are voluntarily cutting your own passive resource revenue by ten percent, just to secure premium cultivation rooms that you plan to hand out without charging a single credit?"

"Yes," Soren replied calmly, unbothered by their intense confusion. "I intend to lend those rooms to others completely free of charge. However, I have a few specific conditions regarding who gets to use them."

Craig folded his hands over his mahogany desk, his sharp eyes narrowing into a look of profound, analytical interest. "Let’s hear these conditions."

"The candidates must be low-ranking hunters or struggling academy students who are currently stuck at a cultivation bottleneck," Soren explained, drawing from a perfectly constructed logical cover. "They must be people who genuinely cannot afford the exorbitant fees of high-density training facilities, yet they must possess a good personality, a solid moral baseline, and a decent work ethic. I want to give the underdogs a fair chance to grow."

He paused briefly, letting the weight of his words sink in before looking directly at the director.

"But of course, I am just an ordinary man," Soren continued smoothly, executing the final piece of his strategy. "I don’t have the time or the administrative network to scout, background-check, and manage all of that myself. That is why I will need the bureau’s assistance to help me filter out the candidates according to these criteria."