Too Late to Hold Me Back novel Chapter 272

272 /380

"Have Felix negotiate with the city officials first," Mira instructed.

"Tell them we will resolve the issue as soon as possible, but we cannot suspend operations.

"The reason is that reorganizing the bikes requires unlocking them.

"With hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of bikes, it's impossible to physically carry and move every single one. We don't have the manpower for that.

"If they still refuse, tell them we can no longer operate the business and will have to pull out of Aethelgard entirely."

It was a drastic measure, a stalling tactic, but Felix was smart enough to read between the lines.

The underlying message was: if we leave, it's because you forced us out.

If it came down to that, the citizens who had grown accustomed to the convenience of the bikes would inevitably blame the officials.

At the same time, the officials would have a hard time explaining the situation to their superiors.

Mira firmly believed that the majority of government officials were principled and cared about the public.

The bike-sharing company provided a massive number of jobs and paid substantial taxes to the state.

If they withdrew, the local government's performance metrics would take a significant hit.

As for the idea that someone else could simply launch a new bike-sharing company after EcoRide left? Impossible.

The moment Solflare withdrew, they would make sure the public knew exactly why, complete with the names of the officials involved and transcripts of their conversations.

If EcoRide struggled with parking issues, would another company magically solve the problem?

No matter how strict the management, they couldn't watch every single user around the clock.

If a new company couldn't solve it either, it would expose the officials' double standards. Did they really think Solflare would just quietly accept that? It would tarnish the reputation of the entire city administration.

EcoRide had expanded nationwide. The people backing it were no lightweights.

If Aethelgard was the only city without the service, it would become a permanent stain on that official's record.

There was another factor to consider. Before heading to Aethelgard, Mira and the others had instructed Felix to build good relationships within the local government.