Chapter 15: The Deal
"Who is it?"
The knocking startled Eddie from his sleep. It was already past 2 PM, and this guy was still in bed? Considering what the landlady had said, it seemed the protagonist whose pills Jake had acquired was still doing as poorly as ever.
Jake didn't speak, but continued knocking, this time more insistently. His brain was currently operating in overdrive, and he knew exactly how to get this lazy, struggling writer to open the door.
Soon, a complaining voice came from inside, mixed with slurred profanity. The door opened quickly, revealing a disheveled, unshaven face.
It was Jake's target, Bradley Cooper—or rather, Eddie Morra.
"Hello, can I help you?" Seeing a well-dressed young guy in a tailored suit, Eddie swallowed the expletive that was about to escape his mouth.
Eddie, unable to find more NZT-48 at his ex-brother-in-law's apartment, was essentially back to his useless baseline. He'd even started to consider the superhuman intelligence he'd gained from taking NZT-48 as just some kind of vivid dream.
"I'm Vernon's friend," Jake said calmly.
The name caused Eddie to freeze instantly. He then grabbed Jake's collar with his right hand. "You! Did you kill Vernon?!" he demanded, almost hysterically.
"We just had a business transaction," Jake said calmly, unconcerned about being grabbed. "Besides, I don't think you really care who killed him, right?"
His eyes were fixed on Eddie, expressionless, causing Eddie to instinctively release his grip. In Eddie's eyes, this younger guy, though shorter than himself, seemed to harbor something dangerous beneath the surface.
Jake, who had survived a wolf attack with nothing but a hunting knife, still carried a certain edge. With slight control of his expression in his enhanced state, he could project genuine menace, easily intimidating a harmless writer like Eddie who'd never hurt anyone in his life.
"You...do you have...that?" Eddie's voice trembled. Although it was phrased as a question, it carried more hope than inquiry, like a desperate man grasping for salvation.
"Won't you invite me in?" Jake gestured, still standing in the doorway.
Hearing this, Eddie immediately stepped aside to let Jake enter, quickly clearing a small, relatively clean space in the cluttered apartment for him to sit.
"So..." Eddie couldn't wait to ask as soon as Jake sat down.
"Do you have any coffee?"
"Coffee...?" Eddie choked on his words. He desperately wanted to know about the pills, but Jake kept controlling the conversation, throwing him off balance.
"Haha, just messing with you," Jake laughed, then took out a small prescription bottle from his jacket pocket. The bottle contained about thirty clear, transparent pills.
Seeing the pills, Eddie almost lunged for them.
However, Jake easily pulled them back. "I came here in good faith, Mr. Morra. If you keep acting like this, maybe our potential partnership will have to be cancelled."
"Partnership?" Although Eddie hadn't taken the pills yet, given the situation—Jake specifically coming to his door, claiming to know the deceased Vernon, and producing a substantial amount of NZT-48—he'd already figured out most of it. "You want to partner with me regarding these pills?"
"Exactly." Jake pinched the small bottle between his thumb and forefinger and shook it in front of Eddie, then, under Eddie's expectant gaze, put the bottle back in his pocket.
He straightened his posture, looked at the somewhat anxious Eddie, and smiled slightly. "Now we can discuss business."
"You've taken this drug before, so you understand its value."
"Of course." Eddie nodded, staring at the bottle in Jake's pocket. He desperately needed this. "However, I don't have money to pay for these pills."
"I'm not interested in selling pills individually. Honestly, selling a hundred pills wouldn't net me much profit. I could make more flipping used electronics on eBay."
"So what do you want?" Eddie, without the drug's enhancement, vaguely understood Jake's intentions, but couldn't quite connect all the dots.
"Partnership," Jake snapped his fingers.
He pointed at Eddie with his right hand. "You're the only person I know who's taken this drug and won't waste it on pointless pursuits. Of course, whether you're ethical or not doesn't really matter. What matters most is that you won't want to screw me over after you've made serious money."
"And me," he gestured to himself, "I'm the investor. I invest in you with the pills, I provide you with startup capital, you make money with it, and I take a cut of the profits. It's that simple."
"You want to be my backer?" Eddie finally understood Jake's intention, but he had a new question. "Why don't you do this yourself?"
"Because I've got other commitments. Multiple projects, you know how it is. Diversification."
Eddie shrugged. He didn't believe that was the whole truth, but he still nodded and said, "I agree to this partnership." What else did he have that was worth taking? His unfinished novel that no publisher wanted?
Jake handed over the small bottle, and Eddie clutched it like treasure.
"By the way, fair warning—this drug has side effects. Long-term use can cause permanent neurological damage. If you want to actually enjoy your success, you'd better invest in proper research to solve that problem."
"Also, do you know how Vernon really died?"
"You mean... Vernon's death was related to this drug?" Recalling the horrific scene of his ex-brother-in-law's death, Eddie felt his blood run cold.
"So be careful how you operate." Jake didn't elaborate, but nodded knowingly. He never intended to stay in this world long-term. Coming here as an investor was more like placing a calculated bet. If it paid off, he'd naturally receive extraordinary returns; if it failed, he'd only lose some cash and a few dozen NZT-48 pills.
He tossed a small duffel bag to Eddie.
"There's three hundred bucks in there. Get yourself some decent food and clean clothes."
"Cheap boss..." Eddie muttered under his breath.
Jake pretended not to hear Eddie's grumbling and pointed to the bag again. "The rest is your startup capital. I trust you can handle it properly after taking NZT-48."
"How much is in this little bag worth?" Eddie slowly unzipped the bag and pulled out a plain-looking velvet jewelry box.
"That one you're holding is worth about five hundred fifty thousand dollars," Jake said casually, while taking out a lollipop from his pocket, unwrapping it, and popping it into his mouth, as if something worth over half a million dollars was less valuable than candy.
"What?!" Eddie trembled in shock and almost dropped the box.
"So the total value of everything here..." Eddie looked at the unassuming duffel bag in his hands. Could this be worth several million dollars?!
"This is just your seed money. I expect you to use it to establish yourself on Wall Street quickly." As he spoke, Jake stood up, brushing off imaginary dust from his suit as if the apartment were contaminated. "Give me your phone number. I'll check on your progress in a month."
"The goal I'm setting for you is to deliver one hundred million dollars to me in one month."
"Ten million becomes a hundred million! Are you insane?"
"That's just a baseline goal, Eddie. Trust me, your potential is far greater than that."
Starting with twelve thousand dollars and turning it into over two million in just over two weeks—a profit of over 150 times—Jake had reason to believe Eddie could turn ten million into a hundred million in a month with proper focus.
Jake felt like a venture capitalist pressuring a startup founder at this moment; the power dynamic was oddly satisfying, and he unconsciously ran his fingers through his hair.
Exploitation? Call it motivation. Jake walked out of Eddie's apartment, nodding to the landlady on his way out.
However, he also needed to be fully prepared for another possibility Eddie might choose: betrayal.
He'd never truly trusted Eddie, especially Eddie whose intelligence would skyrocket after taking NZT-48.
[+500 Power Stones = +2 Extra Chapter]
[+10 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter]
If you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review!
P*atreon/Soulforger (30+ advanced chapters)
Buy me coffee - ko-fi*com/soulforger01