# Chapter 4: Asian Angels

Alex drove his new Porsche Taycan out of the dealership with a wide smile that felt like it might split his face in two. The salesman had been more than happy to rush the paperwork when Alex mentioned he'd be paying in full. The car handled like a dream, responding to his lightest touch as he navigated through city traffic.

"This is more like it," he said to himself, adjusting the seat position slightly. "A proper car for a proper businessman."

He turned up the premium sound system, letting the bass thump through the luxury interior. He imagined pulling up to investor meetings in this beauty. Everyone would know he was successful before he even opened his mouth. That was half the battle in his line of work - looking the part.

Alex checked his watch. He figured he had time for a quick spin around the city before heading to the office to deal with Marcus and Byron's latest crisis. Whatever technical problems they were having with the NFT project, they could wait another hour. This car needed to be properly appreciated.

He took a detour toward the coastal highway, where he could really test what the Porsche could do. As he merged onto the less congested road, his phone rang through the car's Bluetooth system. The name "Patricia Wong" flashed on the dashboard display.

Alex considered ignoring it. He was having too much fun with his new toy. But Patricia wasn't someone he could afford to brush off - not when she was his ticket to those deep-pocketed Asian investors.

He reluctantly tapped the steering wheel button to answer. "Patricia! What good timing. I was just thinking about you."

"Alex," Patricia's voice was crisp and professional as always. "I have some news I think you'll want to hear immediately."

Alex eased off the accelerator, bringing the car down to a more reasonable speed. "I'm all ears."

"The Singapore investors I told you about? They're in town. Today. They want to meet with you in two hours."

Alex nearly swerved the car. "Two hours? I thought they weren't coming until next month!"

"Last-minute decision. That's how they operate. They're only in town for 48 hours and want to see as many potential investments as possible." Patricia paused. "I told them you'd be ready. Was I wrong?"

Alex's mind raced. He hadn't prepared his presentation for the Asian market yet. His office was a mess. Byron and the development team were in the middle of a meltdown over the NFT timeline.

But this was also an incredible opportunity. These investors could solve all his problems in one go. Thirty million dollars, Patricia had mentioned previously. With that kind of money, he could pay off Johnson, Rodriguez, and the Singapore collective, plus have plenty left over for... well, whatever he wanted.

"No, no, you weren't wrong," Alex said, forcing confidence into his voice. "Two hours is perfect. Where are we meeting?"

"They've booked a private dining room at Tao. 1 PM sharp. They hate tardiness."

Alex quickly calculated. It was just past 11 AM now. He'd need to swing by the office, grab whatever presentation materials he had, brief Marcus, maybe even drag Byron along as technical support.

"I'll be there. Should I bring my team?"

"Just you for now," Patricia replied. "If they like what they hear, they'll want to meet your technical people later. But the first meeting is all about you and the vision."

Vision. Right. Alex could do vision in his sleep.

"One more thing, Alex. These aren't naive investors. Mr. Liang in particular has a strong technical background in blockchain. Come prepared."

The call ended before Alex could respond, leaving him with a knot in his stomach that slightly dampened the joy of his new car. He immediately called Marcus.

"Drop whatever you're doing. Meet me at the office in twenty minutes with every piece of technical documentation on Baba-Yaga you can find. And tell Byron I need him there too."

Alex sped back toward the city, taking corners faster than he should have in his brand new car. This was both terrifying and exhilarating - exactly the kind of high-wire act he lived for. He just needed to pull together enough convincing material to dazzle the investors for an initial meeting.

When he arrived at the office, Marcus was waiting for him, looking harried as usual. His eyes widened slightly at Alex's new car but he was too professional to comment on it directly.

"Nice wheels," he muttered as Alex rushed past him into the building.

"Where's Byron?" Alex asked, ignoring the comment.

"On his way. He was in the middle of a dev meeting about the NFT project."

"Good. We've got a bigger opportunity now." Alex quickly filled Marcus in on the meeting with the Asian investors as they rode the elevator to their office suite - a modest space that Alex had deliberately kept low-key. No need for expensive real estate when most of his business was conducted digitally or at fancy restaurants on the company card.

Inside, Alex went straight to his office and started rifling through his desk. "Find me the latest technical white paper on Baba-Yaga. And the market analysis from last quarter."

"Alex," Marcus said hesitantly, "we don't have an actual technical white paper. Byron put together some basic documentation for the developers, but it's not investor-ready."

Alex looked up, irritation flashing across his face. "Then what do we have?"

Marcus handed him a thin folder. "The investor deck we used for Rodriguez and Johnson. It's mostly market projections and use-case scenarios. Light on technical details."

Alex flipped through the colorful slides showing exponential growth curves and smiling diverse users enjoying the benefits of Baba-Yaga coin. It was all fluff - compelling fluff, but fluff nonetheless.

"This won't work for Liang. Patricia says he has a technical background." Alex ran a hand through his perfectly styled hair, messing it up slightly. "Where the hell is Byron?"

As if summoned by his frustration, Byron appeared at the office door, looking like he hadn't slept in days. His rumpled shirt had a coffee stain on the front, and his eyes had the glazed look of someone who had been staring at code for too long.

"You called?" Byron asked, adjusting his glasses.

Alex pointed at him. "You. Sit down. I need you to give me a crash course in blockchain architecture in the next..." he checked his watch, "thirty minutes."

Byron blinked slowly. "Why?"

"Because I have a meeting with investors who could potentially put thirty million dollars into Baba-Yaga, and I need to sound like I know what I'm talking about."

Byron exchanged a look with Marcus that Alex didn't miss. It was that "here we go again" look that annoyed him to no end.

"What?" Alex demanded.

"Nothing," Byron said, sitting down heavily in a chair. "It's just... there's not much technical depth to explain about Baba-Yaga. It's a basic ERC-20 token built on Ethereum. We didn't do anything special with it."

"Well, make something up then!" Alex snapped. "These investors think we're revolutionary. Give me something I can tell them that sounds revolutionary."

Byron sighed, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. "I created a simple slide deck for the development team explaining our token economics and distribution model. It's not fancy, but it has actual facts in it. Maybe that would help?"

"Yes. Get it. And both of you help me prepare for potential technical questions." Alex looked at his watch again. "I need to leave in forty minutes to make it to Tao on time."

The next half hour was a frantic preparation session. Byron pulled up his developer slides, which were indeed plain and technical, while Marcus tried to help Alex memorize key blockchain terminology.

"Just remember, if they ask about our consensus mechanism, we use Proof of Stake, not Proof of Work," Byron explained for the third time.

"And that's better because...?" Alex prompted, trying to commit the answer to memory.

"Because it's more energy-efficient and allows for faster transaction processing," Byron recited mechanically.

Alex nodded, repeating the phrase under his breath. "Energy-efficient. Faster transactions. Got it."

Marcus looked at him doubtfully. "Maybe we should postpone this meeting until you're better prepared?"

"Absolutely not," Alex said firmly. "These investors are only in town for 48 hours. It's now or never. I'll handle it."

He stood up and straightened his tie, already mentally shifting into his charismatic presenter mode. "Byron, keep your phone on. If I get stuck on a technical question, I'll text you for an instant answer."

Byron nodded, though he didn't look confident in this plan.

"Marcus, compile all this into something more presentable and email it to me so I can review it on the way." Alex grabbed his jacket. "Wish me luck, gentlemen. By this evening, we might be thirty million dollars richer."

The drive to Tao gave Alex time to settle his nerves and review the hastily prepared materials Marcus had sent. He parked his new Porsche with the valet, making sure to tip generously and point out that the car was brand new. First impressions mattered, and he wanted word to get around that Alex Reynolds rolled in style.

Patricia was waiting for him in the restaurant lobby, elegant as always in a tailored navy suit, her dark hair pulled back in a sleek bun. Her expression was professionally neutral, but Alex could sense her apprehension.

"You're cutting it close," she said quietly as they shook hands. "They're already here."

"Perfect timing then," Alex replied with a confident smile that belied his internal anxiety. "How many am I meeting with?"

"Three. Mr. Liang is the lead investor. Ms. Zhao represents a technology investment fund from Shanghai. And Mr. Park is a private investor from Seoul who follows Liang's lead on most deals."

Alex nodded, mentally preparing himself. "What's their interest level?"

"Cautiously interested. They've heard rumors about Baba-Yaga but want to hear directly from you." Patricia lowered her voice. "Remember, they're looking at five other investments while they're here. You need to stand out."

"Standing out is what I do best," Alex said with a wink, straightening his posture.

Patricia gave him a measured look. "Just don't oversell. Liang in particular can spot embellishment."

"Noted. Shall we?"

Patricia led him to a private dining room at the back of the restaurant. The space was elegant but understated, with a large round table in the center. Three people were already seated, examining menus and speaking quietly among themselves.

"Mr. Liang, Ms. Zhao, Mr. Park," Patricia announced formally. "May I present Alex Reynolds, founder and CEO of Baba-Yaga Enterprises."

Alex stepped forward with his most winning smile, extending his hand to each investor in turn. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. Thank you for making time in your busy schedule."

Mr. Liang, a slim man in his fifties with penetrating eyes behind rimless glasses, gave Alex a measured handshake. "Ms. Wong speaks highly of your venture, Mr. Reynolds. We're curious to learn more."

Ms. Zhao, younger and sharply dressed, merely nodded, while Mr. Park offered a polite smile. Alex immediately sensed that Liang was indeed the decision-maker of the group.

They all sat down, and servers immediately appeared with tea and appetizers. Alex noted that no alcohol was served - this was purely business.

"I understand you're exploring several opportunities during your brief stay," Alex began, falling into his smooth presenter voice. "So I appreciate your interest in Baba-Yaga. What aspects of our project most interest you?"

It was a calculated question, designed to let them reveal what they already knew so he could tailor his pitch accordingly.

Liang took a sip of tea before responding. "We're primarily interested in blockchain technologies with genuine utility and growth potential in Asian markets. Ms. Wong mentioned your user base is expanding rapidly."

Alex nodded confidently. "That's correct. We've seen 37% month-over-month growth in user adoption, with particularly strong metrics in Singapore, South Korea, and increasingly in China."

This was a complete fabrication - they had no real data on user adoption beyond the handful of investors who had purchased the coin. But it sounded good, and it was virtually impossible to verify.

"Interesting," Ms. Zhao interjected. "What features are driving this adoption?"

Alex launched into his standard pitch, describing how Baba-Yaga offered faster transaction processing compared to traditional cryptocurrencies, with lower fees and greater accessibility for everyday users. He carefully wove in the terms Byron had coached him on, speaking about their "innovative proof-of-stake consensus mechanism" and "optimized smart contract implementation."

As he spoke, he could see Mr. Park and Ms. Zhao taking occasional notes, their expressions revealing little. Mr. Liang, however, watched him with unwavering attention, his eyes rarely blinking.

"And now we're expanding into NFTs," Alex continued smoothly, "creating a complete ecosystem that bridges digital collectibles with practical currency applications."

The lunch arrived, giving Alex a brief respite. He used the momentary distraction to check his phone under the table. No messages from Marcus or Byron. So far, so good.

As they began eating, Mr. Liang set down his chopsticks and fixed Alex with a direct gaze. "You speak very convincingly about the business model, Mr. Reynolds. But I'm curious about the technical foundation. What modifications have you made to the Ethereum Virtual Machine to achieve the transaction speeds you claim?"

Alex felt a cold sweat form on his back. This was exactly the kind of specific technical question he'd feared. He had no idea what the Ethereum Virtual Machine even was, let alone what modifications might be made to it.

"That's an excellent question," he stalled, discreetly reaching for his phone under the table. "Our approach to the EVM has been... perhaps unconventional."

He managed to type a quick text to Byron: "HELP! What modifications did we make to Ethereum Virtual Machine for faster speeds???"

"We've focused on optimizing the way our tokens interact with the underlying architecture," Alex continued vaguely, willing Byron to respond quickly. "Rather than wholesale modifications to the EVM itself."

Liang's expression remained neutral. "Specifically?"

Alex's phone vibrated. He glanced down to see Byron's response: "WE DIDN'T MODIFY THE EVM! We can't! Say we optimized our smart contracts instead and use layer-2 scaling!"

"Rather than modifying the EVM directly, which as you know presents significant challenges," Alex said, incorporating Byron's suggestion smoothly, "we've focused on optimizing our smart contracts and implementing layer-2 scaling solutions."

He proceeded to elaborate on this point, essentially repeating the same concept in different words while providing no actual details, a technique he had perfected over years of investor pitches.

Liang nodded slowly. "Interesting approach. And your sharding implementation? How have you addressed the cross-shard communication latency issues?"

Alex had absolutely no idea what sharding was in this context, let alone cross-shard communication latency. He quickly texted Byron again: "What's our sharding implementation? Cross-shard communication latency???"

While waiting for a response, he took a deliberate bite of his meal, chewing thoughtfully as if considering how best to explain complex technical concepts to laypeople.

"Our sharding approach is still in development," he finally said, noticing his phone screen remained frustratingly dark. Where was Byron? "We're exploring several solutions to the cross-shard communication challenges."

Liang's eyes narrowed slightly. "Which solutions specifically?"

Alex's phone finally lit up with Byron's response: "WE DON'T HAVE SHARDING! That's a future Ethereum upgrade. Say we're waiting for ETH 2.0 but exploring our own interim solutions using ZK-rollups."

"We're primarily waiting for the official Ethereum 2.0 implementation," Alex said, relief washing through him, "but we've been developing interim solutions using ZK-rollups that have shown promising results in our test environment."

He had no idea what ZK-rollups were, but Liang seemed to accept this answer, nodding slightly.

Ms. Zhao jumped in with a question about their token economics, which Alex found much easier to address, having rehearsed this part extensively for previous investors. He explained their tokenomics model with confidence, describing the fixed supply cap and carefully avoiding mention of the trillions of new coins he had recently minted.

The technical questioning continued throughout lunch, with Liang periodically probing deeper into aspects of Baba-Yaga's infrastructure that Alex barely comprehended. Each time, he managed to text Byron frantically under the table, receiving increasingly exasperated responses that he would then articulate as if they were his own expert insights.

After a particularly complex exchange about their "theoretical throughput capacity" (a term Alex had never heard before today), Mr. Park spoke up for the first time.

"Mr. Reynolds, your technical expertise is impressive, but I'm curious - do you handle all the development yourself?"

It was a perfect opening. Alex smiled modestly. "While I established the technical vision and architecture for Baba-Yaga, we have an exceptional development team led by our CTO, Byron Chen. He's a true genius in blockchain engineering."

"I'd be interested in speaking with him," Liang said.

Alex sensed both danger and opportunity. Byron would certainly know more technical details than Alex could ever fake, but he was also terrible at presenting, and worse, had a troublesome commitment to honesty.

"He's actually available right now," Alex said, making a split-second decision. "Would you like to video call him briefly? I'm sure he'd be happy to address any deeper technical questions."

The investors exchanged interested looks, and Liang nodded. "That would be helpful."

Alex's heart raced as he dialed Byron's number, simultaneously sending a text: "EMERGENCY VIDEO CALL. PRETEND YOU EXPECTED THIS. TECHNICAL INVESTORS. DO NOT CONTRADICT ANYTHING I'VE SAID!!!"

After three rings, Byron's confused face appeared on the screen. His hair was messier than before, and he was clearly in the middle of something at his cluttered desk.

"Byron! Perfect timing," Alex said cheerfully, turning his phone so the investors could see the screen. "I'm here with Mr. Liang, Ms. Zhao, and Mr. Park, who are interested in partnering with Baba-Yaga. They have some technical questions that I thought you'd be perfect to address."

He could see the panic flash across Byron's face, quickly replaced by a forced professional expression.

"Of course," Byron said, adjusting his glasses nervously. "Happy to help. What would you like to know?"

Liang leaned forward. "Mr. Chen, I was interested in your implementation of ZK-rollups for addressing cross-shard communication latency. What parameters are you optimizing in your current test environment?"

Byron blinked rapidly, clearly trying to parse this question. Alex held his breath, seeing his entire scheme hanging in the balance.

"Well," Byron began slowly, "our approach to ZK-rollups is somewhat experimental. We're focusing primarily on compression efficiency for transaction batching while maintaining verification integrity."

To Alex's amazement, Byron launched into a detailed technical explanation that sounded completely legitimate. The three investors listened attentively, occasionally nodding or asking follow-up questions that Byron handled with increasing confidence.

While Byron spoke, Alex discreetly texted him: "YOU'RE DOING GREAT. KEEP GOING. MAKE US SOUND REVOLUTIONARY."

After about ten minutes of technical discussion that went completely over Alex's head, he sensed it was time to wrap up the call.

"Thank you, Byron," he interjected smoothly. "I know you need to get back to the team. We'll catch up later about the NFT implementation timeline."

Byron nodded, looking relieved to escape. "Yes, of course. Pleasure meeting you all."

After ending the call, Alex turned back to the investors with a confident smile. "As you can see, we have the technical expertise to back up our business vision."

"Indeed," Liang said, looking genuinely impressed for the first time. "Your CTO is quite knowledgeable."

The remainder of the lunch proceeded more smoothly, focusing on market strategy and revenue projections - areas where Alex could shine without technical assistance. By the time dessert arrived, the atmosphere had warmed considerably.

"Mr. Reynolds," Liang said finally, setting down his espresso cup. "We typically take weeks to make investment decisions, but given our limited time in the country, we need to expedite our process."

Alex nodded, maintaining a calm exterior while his heart raced.

"We're prepared to offer a term sheet for an initial investment of thirty million dollars, contingent on due diligence and a more comprehensive technical review with your team."

Alex fought to keep his expression professionally pleased rather than ecstatic. "That's excellent news, Mr. Liang. We would be delighted to partner with your group."

Patricia, who had remained largely silent throughout the meeting, now stepped in to discuss next steps and logistics. Alex participated in the conversation while his mind raced ahead, already calculating how he would allocate the money - pay off the old investors, fund the NFT project properly, maybe even build something legitimate for once...

No No, it is a bad idea after all.

As the meeting concluded and they all stood to leave, Liang shook Alex's hand firmly.

"I must say, Mr. Reynolds, your technical grasp of blockchain architecture is impressive for a CEO. Most founders I meet understand the business side but leave the technical details to others."

"I believe in knowing every aspect of my business," Alex replied smoothly. "You can't innovate if you don't understand the foundation you're building on."

Liang nodded approvingly. "A wise approach. We look forward to working with you and your team."

Outside the restaurant, after the investors had departed in their town car, Patricia turned to Alex with a mixture of amazement and suspicion.

"That went surprisingly well," she said. "Especially the technical discussion. I've never heard you talk blockchain architecture in such detail before."

Alex gave her his most charming smile and a wink. "There's a lot you don't know about me, Patricia. I contain multitudes."

As he walked toward the valet stand to retrieve his new Porsche, Alex felt like he was floating. Thirty million dollars. All his problems solved with one brilliant performance. He'd have to give Byron a raise - or at least stop threatening to fire him every other day.

His phone buzzed with a text from Byron: "What the hell was that??? I had to make up technical gibberish on the spot!"

Alex chuckled and typed back: "But it worked! They're investing 30M. You're a genius, Byron. I always said so."

He slipped the phone back in his pocket as the valet brought around his gleaming new Porsche. Yes, everything was falling perfectly into place. The Asian investors were convinced, Byron had unexpectedly proved himself useful, and soon he'd have thirty million dollars to play with and close the deal with the previous investors.

What could possibly go wrong?