Takayuki suddenly recalled some obscure historical knowledge he had come across in his past life.
For him, back when he was still a Chinese citizen, this story had been quite offbeat.
Around the 1990s to the early 2000s, internet conglomerates like YOO also began to emerge.
At that time, the internet industry grew very quickly, rapidly occupying the territories once held by the old financial powers.
In Japanese society, unless you had already become part of a financial conglomerate, you couldn't challenge the established giants.
In other words, you had to first enter the circle to be able to challenge someone inside it. This way, no one could object.
However, the internet companies of the time, armed with the latest technologies and an infinite future, naively believed that they could fight against the financial giants without entering their circles.
But the old financial powers weren't to be underestimated. Once they faced such an attack, they quickly united to take down the new internet-rich group.
...
...
The entrenched old financial powers quickly gained the upper hand, using their influence in both politics and business—and even the shadowy sides of society—to rapidly expel the new internet-rich companies from Japan.
There was a time when Japan truly had the potential to develop a massive internet conglomerate. If the financial giants hadn't suppressed them, it's hard to say what the global internet landscape would look like today.
Originally, this obscure historical knowledge was something Takayuki had nearly forgotten, as he was no longer in his original world but a parallel one.
The big picture of history hadn't changed much, but most things had already been altered. He didn't need to dwell on the history of his past world.
Yet at this moment, he suddenly remembered this incident and realized that there was some inevitability to it in history.
It seemed that there were indeed elements from the history of his past world that could still be useful.
Upon hearing Takayuki's words, Kitada Kase also showed a keen interest. "You want to deal with YOO? Mr. Takayuki, are you asking us to join you in developing games? That's something I'm actually a bit interested in."
"No, no, no, I don't mean for you to join me in game development. Of course, if you're interested, you can enter the industry, but not right now," Takayuki quickly clarified.
"Then what do you mean…" Kitada Kase thought Takayuki was someone who liked to fight hard in his own industry, and he hadn't really ventured much outside of the entertainment industry. So, what was Takayuki trying to say?
"I just remembered something, something that might be initiated by your family but not something I'm suited to start—something to deal with YOO," Takayuki said.
Kitada Kase immediately became serious. "Takayuki, tell me."
Takayuki recalled the long-forgotten historical knowledge from his past life and said, "I remember YOO bought a partial stake in a TV station a couple of years ago?"
"Yes, that's true," Kitada Kase nodded.
"Have you investigated how much foreign capital is behind YOO? Have they crossed the line in terms of foreign capital involvement in Japan's television and media industry?"
Kitada Kase was stunned. "What do you mean…"
"I suspect that YOO's investment in the TV station wasn't just his own money. There must be more foreign capital involved. If foreign capital has gained a foothold in Japan's broadcasting and television industry, that could become a big issue, don't you think?" Takayuki explained.
Kitada Kase's eyes immediately lit up.
By now, Takayuki had made his point very clear. If Kitada Kase couldn't understand it now, he didn't deserve to be in this position.
It was obvious that Takayuki was giving them a sharp weapon, and a very useful one at that.
Normally, the financial giants would eventually notice such issues themselves, but Takayuki had brought it up first, which was a way of alerting Kitada Kase in advance. This would boost his reputation within the family.
"Takayuki, that's a brilliant idea. I hadn't thought about that before."
To deal with YOO, the old powers had many ways to do it. Their decades of standing in Japan couldn't be matched by any new power.
However, the approach needed to be both reasonable and legitimate.
If there was a valid reason to take down the new powers, they would certainly be willing to do so.
But YOO had developed too quickly, and there wasn't much to attack yet. Perhaps because it was growing so fast, it hadn't had time to build up much of a black history.
But pinning foreign capital involvement in domestic media would definitely be a solid move.
Kitada Kase immediately became eager to act. He was already thinking about returning to his family to discuss this matter.
YOO was already encroaching on their interests, and if they didn't act soon, it would only get harder to deal with.
Now was a good time to strike. Besides the foreign capital angle, he was sure there were plenty of other dirty secrets he could dig up. He could use this opportunity to deal a blow to YOO.
Seeing Kitada Kase's impatience, Takayuki didn't waste any more time. He also had his own matters to attend to, so they bid farewell, and Kitada Kase extended a warm invitation for Takayuki to visit his family's estate in the near future.
This would be a gathering of the upper class, and it would be impolite for Takayuki to refuse again. So, he nodded and agreed.
Both Takayuki and Nagao were the rising stars of this era, each achieving notable success in their own fields. As long as there were no unexpected circumstances, their futures were undoubtedly limitless.
But from the looks of it, Nagao probably wouldn't be able to last much longer.
The financial giants' attitudes toward Takayuki and Nagao were clearly different.
After all, Nagao had disturbed their territory, undermined their roots, and desecrated their ancestral tombs. It was no surprise that the financial giants were in a hurry.
Takayuki, on the other hand, only expanded within his own domain. The video game industry, in the eyes of the financial giants, was a completely unknown and purely entertainment-based sector. At most, it would only slightly affect TV media ratings, but it wasn't the main cause of the issue—most of the disruption came from the internet itself.
Takayuki had barely interfered with the traditional financial territory, so his threat was much smaller than Nagao's.
And Takayuki himself had no black marks. His identity was pure, and his development had always been transparent.
Conquering the United States, conquering South Korea, and now preparing to conquer Europe—Takayuki was like a hero expanding his empire, using the sword of video games to break through his enemies' defenses.
At the same time, Takayuki was still a guest of the Prime Minister's office, someone whom the financial giants were happy to accept.