The Great Demon Lord of the American Comics World

Chapter 61, Bad Seed

The next morning.

Li Xingzhou, who had been diligently cultivating at home all night after dropping Gwen off last night, had just taken a shower when he received a call from Bancells.

"Boss, the office building is already rented. It's an entire floor, taken over from a bankrupt advertising company. The renovations are all done; we just need to add some office equipment and we can move in right away. Also, the job postings have been very well received; we've already received hundreds of resumes. I've selected a few and plan to interview them today. Would you like to come and take a look?"

"Of course. They are my future employees, so of course I have to personally oversee their selection."

After hanging up the phone, Li Xingzhou quickly made himself a sandwich and drove to Manhattan, arriving at a skyscraper that was nearly two hundred meters tall.
Looking at the emblem-like logo on the top of the building, Li Xingzhou was surprised to find that it was actually the Yashida family crest.

He wasn't surprised by this—Japanese conglomerates love to invest in overseas properties, especially during the period when Japan's economy was at its peak, when many conglomerates came to America and spent hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire properties there.

As the largest conglomerate in Japan, the Yashida family certainly wouldn't miss out on this opportunity, acquiring several large office buildings and luxury hotels in New York.

The five-star hotel where Mariko currently resides is controlled by the Yashida Group.

"Looks like we can save on rent from now on."

Li Xingzhou muttered to himself, walked into the building, took the elevator to the twentieth floor, and entered the newly established "MASA" company headquarters.

……

The entire floor of the company headquarters is still empty, except for Bancells with two relatively well-mannered-looking underlings and a DJ girl he pulled over to temporarily act as a receptionist.

"We need to recruit at least ten people today to set up the framework here in the office building."

Li Xingzhou sat in the leather executive chair in the president's office, flipping through a stack of job applicants' resumes.

Bansel pushed up his glasses:

"It shouldn't be a problem. The economy is sluggish lately, many companies have gone bankrupt, and a large number of unemployed people have flooded into society. There are also many college graduates who are unemployed as soon as they graduate. Even if we keep the salaries as low as possible, we won't have trouble finding people. After all, many unemployed people have to pay off various loan bills, and college students are burdened with high student loans. They are eager to find a job."

Li Xingzhou shook his head:

"No, we are socially responsible entrepreneurs. We cannot exploit our employees. We must provide them with high welfare and high salaries, and make them feel that the company is their own home and serve the company wholeheartedly. Our company's motto is: We are a family."

Bansel looked troubled:
"In that case, the company's profits..."

Li Xingzhou smiled and said meaningfully:

"Don't forget, we are a correctional company; we run private prisons."

Bansel understood immediately and nodded slightly.

"Okay, you're right. We should treat our own full-time employees like family."

Just then, the landline on his desk rang. Li Xingzhou picked up the receiver; it was the DJ girl at the front desk calling.
"Boss, all the applicants for today's job have arrived."

"Okay, give them number tags. In five minutes, let them come in for their interviews in order."

Five minutes later. The interview begins.

A young man in a suit and tie, carrying a briefcase, walked into the office with a nervous expression. He greeted Li Xingzhou and Bansel, who were sitting behind the desk, and then sat down in the chair opposite the desk.

Li Xingzhou flipped through the young man's file:
"Peter Watson... graduated from Brooklyn College with a business degree, a decent academic record... Okay, let's get straight to the point. Since you submitted your resume after seeing the job posting, you should know that MASA is a correctional company that operates private prisons. So, tell me, how do you think a private prison can become profitable?"

The young man was stunned. He had prepared his speech in his mind, ready to introduce his special skills, strengths, hobbies and so on to the interviewer, but he did not expect to be caught off guard by Li Xingzhou's direct question.

After a moment of stunned silence, he stammered:
"Private prisons, I think we should cultivate good relations with the city government and try to secure as much funding as possible..."

Bansel tapped the table with his pen:
"However, the municipal government contracted out public prisons to private companies like ours precisely because the number of criminals has been increasing year by year, putting too much financial pressure on maintaining public prisons. So, there will be government funding, but not much. To make a profit, we can't rely on government funding. So, do you have any other ideas on how to make a profit?"

"This one……"

The young man stammered and rambled on, rambling on incoherently. Banssel shook his head almost imperceptibly and gave the young man a polite smile.
"Okay, Mr. Peter Watson, your interview is over. Please go back and wait for the results. Once we decide to hire you, we will contact you by phone as soon as possible."

The young man realized he hadn't performed well, stood up dejectedly, said "thank you," and left looking crestfallen.

Li Xingzhou picked up his pen and put an X on the young man's resume.

Although Banssel was also not entirely satisfied with the young man, he still offered his advice:

"Boss, for young people who have just graduated and haven't yet experienced the harsh realities of capitalist society, they probably can't give you a satisfactory answer immediately. After all, private prisons are a rather special industry."

Li Xingzhou smiled:

"This is New York, a place that gathers the elites of the entire United States and even the world. Even among recent college graduates, I believe we can certainly recruit satisfactory talent. As for a good student like Mr. Peter Watson... he's probably not really suited for our line of work. Alright, call the next one."

After that, Li Xingzhou interviewed three more people, but he was not very satisfied with any of them, until contestant number five came on stage.

Looking at the petite, upright young girl opposite him, with a friendly smile, long dark hair, dark brown eyes, and a sweet and charming appearance, Li Xingzhou couldn't help but smile slightly and narrow his eyes.

It wasn't that he felt instinctively pleased to see a beautiful woman, but rather that Li Xingzhou's "demon radar" had been activated—as a nine-times-old demon, and especially since he started cultivating the path of inner demons in this life, Li Xingzhou was exceptionally sensitive to "demonic seeds," and could tell at a glance whether someone was a potential demon.

The beautiful girl in front of him, despite her seemingly pure and sweet temperament, giving off the impression of a sweet and obedient girl, Li Xingzhou sensed an aura of extreme coldness, indifference, and cruelty emanating from her.

She is a born witch. If placed in a demonic sect, based solely on her temperament, she could be a promising candidate to become a "saintess".

Even the flawless, dignified, and charming smile on her face—Li Xingzhou was certain that she had practiced it countless times in front of the mirror.

After scrutinizing the beautiful and charming girl for a while, Li Xingzhou lowered his head and glanced at her resume again:
Emma Grossman, a graduate of Imperial University, earned dual master's degrees in business and law at the young age of twenty-two—well, she's not only a genius, but also Li Xingzhou's senior.

The family situation is that of an orphan with no adoptive family - a tragic and beautiful character?

Li Xingzhou quickly skimmed through the resume, smiled slightly at Emma Grossman, a glint of light in his eyes, and asked in a somewhat ethereal, low voice:

"Federal law stipulates that prisoners also have human rights, so prisons must pay prisoners according to the local minimum wage when organizing labor. What is your opinion on this regulation?"

(End of this chapter)