Chapter 2: Chapter 2: "Reset" and "Descendants"
Naming the company "Titan" or "ATLAS" was Samuel Young's way of filling an unresolved void in his heart.
But Soldier Boy...
As a popular character from "The Boys" Season 3, Samuel couldn't be unaware of who Soldier Boy was. In short, he was a souped-up version of Captain America who wasn't afraid of nuclear bombs, had a chest-mounted beam weapon, and was arrogant, erratic, and volatile.
But the information Samuel read went beyond that.
If Soldier Boy existed, it indicated that the federal government had already reached an agreement and cooperation with Frederick Vought, and the Compound V drug that could turn humans into "superhumans" also existed...
The world was truly chaotic.
This was Samuel's first thought after reading the newspaper.
Immediately after, a cold, hollow, and emotionless voice echoed in his mind once again, still repeating intermittently:
"With billions in assets in North America... the door to other worlds will open... the survival of humanity... will be your decision..."
Hearing this, Samuel felt the world was becoming increasingly mysterious.
Leaving aside the matter of billions in assets, a door to another world?
Whether humanity survives is up to him??
What kind of nonsense is this?!
However, Samuel merely sighed and continued his work.
Embracing the philosophy of "since I'm here," he continued to develop systematically. Not for any other reason, but for the sake of his family and friends in this world, he had to deal with the "superhumans" and potentially more hidden dangers.
Who knew what else existed in this world?
To avoid direct conflict of interest with Vought International, which could lead to extreme actions such as assassinations by superhumans, Samuel made some adjustments to the company's development strategy.
First, to ensure ATLAS's position in the United States, involvement in the arms industry was necessary, but Samuel shifted the focus to the development of relatively "cheaper" individual equipment and undertook "sales" and "contracting" services both domestically and internationally.
Next was public welfare.
Through decades of operation, Samuel ensured that the fruit produced on his estate and farms was transported to his own factories for "extraction" and "processing," producing effervescent tablets and lozenges of compound vitamins as "health supplements."
Samuel also maximized advertising. Newspaper ads were just a small part of it. The major move involved spending tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars, to collaborate with cinemas in large cities like Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
The requirement was simple: to play advertisements for ATLAS's consumer products before movies.
Moreover, the content of these ads was more "brainwashing."
One classic ad started with a female actress lying sideways on a bed, looking slightly forlorn at the nighttime cityscape, while the male actor, in the shower, angrily pounded the wall in frustration.
At this point, a male voiceover said, "After a long day at work, feeling drained, worried about not being able to give her stable happiness."
The screen suddenly went black!
When it returned to normal, the big screen showed a bottle of supplements with the ATLAS logo, a red "Λ" symbol.
The male voiceover then exclaimed with enthusiasm, "Titan Kidney Treasure Tablets, restore vitality, replenish what's lost!"
The scene then switched to the actors lying in bed wearing pajamas. The female actress, with a happy expression, looked toward the approaching camera and smiled, saying, "He's good, and I'm good too~."
And that was it, the whole thing lasted only 30 seconds.
For creative ads like these, ATLAS, or rather Samuel, had an endless supply of ideas. In the 1940s and 50s in the United States, such ads were explosive, even sparking a trend across the country.
The initial contracts with cinemas and theaters were for a minimum of two years, with additional clauses explicitly stating that during the cooperation period, no other manufacturers' ads could be played, or they would need to pay five times the breach of contract fee.
At first, cinemas and theaters thought it was easy money.
Given that the purchasing power of ten thousand dollars at that time was equivalent to three hundred thousand dollars before Samuel crossed over, who would make the advertising fee more expensive than producing a movie?
But when the advertising effect led to ATLAS's sales doubling continuously and its reputation rising, other manufacturers flocked in, all wanting a piece of the pie.
Due to the contract restrictions, cinemas and theaters with large crowds and good locations could only show ATLAS ads for two years unless they paid a hefty penalty.
And in those two years, ATLAS achieved a commanding lead.
Lastly, communication and transportation.
By the 1960s, ATLAS had fully acquired a telecommunications company and owned a professional research team. In terms of transportation, it chose to invest in other companies in the railroad, automotive, and aviation fields.
For example, the company that partnered most deeply with ATLAS in the automotive industry was General Motors, which even created a high-end brand specifically for ATLAS.
Over time, in the public's eyes, ATLAS was a "conscientious" company involved in pharmaceuticals, healthcare, agriculture, livestock, and industrial manufacturing.
In the eyes of the federal government, however, it was a "diligent" company that helped the military handle tricky situations, actively paid taxes, especially estate taxes...
Speaking of estate taxes, one cannot ignore the issue of Samuel Young's descendants.
Samuel was only 25 when he crossed over to this world, but from 1870 to 1960, ninety years had passed, and his appearance hadn't changed at all.
In fact, Samuel had discovered soon after crossing over that his physical attributes far exceeded those of ordinary people.
His strength, speed, and endurance were far superior, and he was not troubled by diseases. But what troubled Samuel the most was...
Immortality.
That's right, his appearance seemed to be frozen at the age of 25.
He had not been without companions, and even had many romantic escapades during his "cowboy days."
But as he gradually understood his special constitution, he chose to refuse marriage to reduce the risk of exposure, and thus had no opportunity to have biological offspring.
Fortunately, these facts did not cause him much distress, as Samuel wanted to solve the mystery of why he crossed over and where the voice in his mind came from.
As for those who knew the secret of his immortality, initially, only Arthur Morgan and a group of adopted orphans and their direct descendants knew, and they formed the foundation of ATLAS's mercenaries.
Returning to the topic of estate taxes.
To conceal his identity, Samuel would use makeup to fake an elderly appearance and fake his death every fifty years, then reappear in public under the guise of a "grandson inheriting his grandfather's business."
So far, Samuel had faked his death twice, each time paying 50% of his cash assets to the tax office, without using welfare or charitable foundations to circumvent the law that required 50% estate tax on amounts exceeding $2.5 million.
This was why, even though the founder of ATLAS was Chinese, the company still faced few obstacles in the western United States... Of course, at times, Samuel also had his private security use some "small" means behind the scenes. Until May 30, 1993, at 14:14 Seattle time, his net worth successfully exceeded $100 billion.
He then received coordinates, leading him to the depths of the West African rainforest.
A century's worth of memories flashed through his mind in an instant, and Samuel only shook his head with a smile before preparing to enter the ruins with the others. But then...
"Through the first world... you can obtain... reset... and... descendants..."
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