Mavi looked at the two little gluttons in front of him and couldn't help but smile while shaking his head. After sharing a bottle of milk, the little tiger and the baby polar bear had become friends, and Mavi had decided to take them home.
As for naming the baby tiger, Mavi initially thought of calling her "Simba," but that was the name of the Lion King. So, in the end, he decided to name her "Little Tigger," which had a similar ring to "Winnie the Little Bear."
On the way back to the villa, Mavi sat in the back seat of his Rolls-Royce, holding Little Tigger in his left arm and cradling the baby polar bear, Winnie, in his right. Living the life of a billionaire was undeniably satisfying.
"Young Master, Google and V-Guest Video just sent a message," Butler Ivan reported while turning his head. "They said some investors are interested in funding the companies and would like to hear your thoughts."
The massive success of Counter-Strike was closely tied to Google and V-Guest Video's marketing and traffic generation. This had drawn the attention of capitalists who realized the power of internet influence and online advertising. Naturally, they wanted a piece of the pie and approached Mavi for investment opportunities.
"What are their backgrounds? Have someone investigate them. If they're not significant players, just reject them outright," Mavi replied casually while stroking Little Tigger's fluffy head and ears.
After all, Google and V-Guest Video were American companies. Once they fully matured, Mavi's Russian identity could pose certain challenges.
In the long run, bringing in shareholders to mitigate risk was inevitable. However, not just anyone with money could invest—potential investors needed solid backgrounds and the ability to navigate government relations.
Only by forming alliances with such powerful figures—where both sides held shares in each other's corporations—could Mavi ensure their mutual interests were tightly bound. In professional terms, this was called a "community of interests." It was the unspoken rule of the wealthy. Even though Mavi had been reborn into this life, he had no magical system to rely on, so he couldn't afford to act recklessly.
"Understood, Young Master. I'll have someone look into it," Ivan responded respectfully.
"Good," Mavi murmured as he gazed out the window, watching the sun set in the distance. What he was most eager to know now was how many shipyards were available for acquisition. He was more than ready to make his mark and build an empire.
---
A week later, Mavi arrived in Saint Petersburg, Russia, via private jet.
This city was the holy land of Russia's shipbuilding industry, home to many historic shipyards, including the Admiral Shipyard, the Baltic Shipyard, the Leningrad Naval Shipyard, and the Zhdanov Shipyard.
However, Mavi's destination today was none of the above. Instead, he was headed to a shipyard called Beihai Shipyard.
The Beihai Shipyard in Saint Petersburg was smaller than the Admiral Shipyard and the Baltic Shipyard. It wasn't capable of building aircraft carriers, but it did have the capacity to construct large warships such as nuclear-powered cruisers and destroyers.
A shipyard was the cradle of a navy, and Mavi saw it as the perfect gateway to building strong ties with the Russian Navy. Those connections would be incredibly valuable in the future—after all, a formidable military is always the best deterrent against potential threats.
"Young Master, Chairman Legorov of Beihai Corporation is waiting for you at the dock," Butler Ivan informed him from the front seat of the Rolls-Royce.
"Got it," Mavi nodded slightly, looking toward the shipyard's silhouette in the distance.
Following privatization reforms, Beihai Shipyard had been removed from the Russian Ministry of Defense's direct control and reorganized as Beihai Shipyard Joint Stock Company. This change made it eligible for acquisition.
As the convoy approached, the shipyard's condition became clearer. Compared to the modern military shipyards in Mavi's mind, Beihai Shipyard looked utterly lifeless.
The rusted iron gates hadn't been painted in years, and the security guard at the entrance looked drowsy, as if he might fall asleep at any moment.
Once inside, the vast facility was eerily empty. There were hardly any workers in sight. Massive piles of steel were scattered across open spaces, exposed to the elements, corroding into rust.
Through an open doorway, Mavi saw the factory's machines covered in rust, with lathes abandoned in the courtyard, left to be battered by the wind and rain.
The collapse of the Soviet Union had been a death knell for Beihai Shipyard. The Soviet Navy had ordered several warships from the yard, but those contracts had been canceled after the USSR fell. The enormous financial investments had gone up in smoke, leaving the company teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
The situation was made worse by Russia's post-Soviet economic crisis, which had left Beihai Shipyard struggling to secure new contracts. The facility was falling apart, and it was only a matter of time before it declared bankruptcy.
As the convoy moved deeper into the facility, they arrived at Beihai Shipyard's largest dry dock.
This 100,000-ton-class dock was nearly 370 meters long, extended 140 meters inland, and had a width of 72 meters.
Towering gantry cranes lined the dock on both sides, and heavy-duty transport trucks were parked nearby, used for moving large materials.
Despite the impressive scale of the dry dock, Mavi's Rolls-Royce and the accompanying Tiger armored vehicles looked like mere toys in comparison.
As Mavi stepped out of his car, a middle-aged man in a suit approached with a group of shipyard employees. The man had a round belly and a receding hairline, but he greeted Mavi with enthusiasm.
"Mr. Mavi! Welcome to Beihai Shipyard!" he said with a broad smile.
This Russian gentleman was none other than Legorov, the chairman of Beihai Shipyard Joint Stock Company. The workers standing behind him were the remaining technical experts who had stayed with the company despite its dire situation.
Legorov didn't know that Mavi had come to discuss an acquisition—he simply assumed Mavi was here to inspect the facilities and possibly place an order for a couple of cargo ships. That was why he had gathered the workers to give Mavi a warm welcome.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Legorov," Mavi said, stepping forward to shake hands. Despite this being their first meeting, they shared a common background in the military-industrial sector, which made their interaction feel surprisingly familiar.
"Haha! A pleasure! I must say, Mr. Mavi, for someone so young, you've done an outstanding job managing your family business. Truly remarkable!" Legorov complimented.
He wasn't aware of the full extent of Mavi's investments, but he wasn't foolish. From the elite convoy accompanying Mavi, it was clear that the young man had immense financial backing.
This was in stark contrast to Legorov himself, who had run his century-old shipyard into the ground. Once home to over 7,300 workers, the facility now had fewer than 1,900 employees remaining. Of its original 1,000+ engineers, only 300 remained. All that land—over 400,000 square meters—was being wasted.
"You're too kind, Mr. Legorov," Mavi replied modestly. "My family's military factory is nowhere near as large as your Beihai Shipyard—it doesn't even take up one-eighth of your land. And yet, we still struggle with employee turnover every month."