Business in the Underworld
The Seastone business was growing, and Lin Yuan needed a reliable sales channel.
Black-market middlemen were useful, but their cut was too steep. For every ton of Seastone sold, a middleman took twenty percent. Lin Yuan did the math: the money they had taken over the past few months was enough to buy another ship.
"This won't do. I need to find a direct buyer." He slammed the ledger onto the table.
Going through the books himself gave Lin Yuan a headache. Kaido couldn't do the accounting, and Bullet was even worse. King could, but he had to guard the lookout tower. Moria was new and hadn't even gotten the hang of Haki yet.
"Wororororo..." Kaido gnawed on a piece of meat. "Why are you doing the books when you're the captain? Have your men do it."
"None of my men know how."
"Then recruit someone."
Lin Yuan glanced at him.
"Easy for you to say. Someone who can keep accounts won't necessarily know how to fight. Someone who can fight won't know how to keep accounts."
"Then find someone who can do both."
"If there were someone like that, I'd have found them already."
Two
A few days later, King came down from the lookout tower.
"Lin Yuan, the black-market middleman is here. He says he wants to see you."
"Let him in."
The middleman was a tall, thin man in a black suit and round glasses, with the look of a bookkeeper. His name was Malcolm. He had spent over a decade in the Underworld, specializing in trading Seastone and weapons.
"Captain Lin Yuan, I've heard so much about you." Malcolm put on a broad smile. "I'm here to discuss a major deal with you."
"Go on."
"A major buyer wants to purchase all the Seastone you have in one go. Fifty tons, the whole lot."
Lin Yuan narrowed his eyes.
"Who?"
"Well..." Malcolm rubbed his hands together. "The buyer won't let me say. But the price is negotiable. He'll pay ten percent above market."
"Ten percent more?" Lin Yuan laughed. "Heh heh heh... Do you think I'm short of that ten percent?"
Malcolm's smile stiffened for a moment.
"Then what do you have in mind...?"
"Take me to the buyer. I'll negotiate face-to-face."
Malcolm hesitated.
"Well... the buyer doesn't like showing himself."
"Then I won't sell." Lin Yuan turned to leave.
"Wait, wait!" Malcolm hurriedly stopped him. "I'll go back and ask. Will that do?"
"Three days. Give me an answer within three days."
Malcolm wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded repeatedly.
"Of course, of course."
Three
Three days later, Malcolm brought his answer.
"The buyer has agreed to meet you. But he wants to choose the location."
"Where?"
"A neutral island in the New World. No faction holds it, and no Marines are stationed there."
Lin Yuan thought it over.
"Fine."
He brought Kaido and King with him, opened a door, and went straight to the agreed location.
The island was small, with a tavern at its center. There was only one person inside—a burly man with a fleshy face and more than a dozen gold rings on his fingers.
"The King of Loan Sharks, Du Feld," Kaido said quietly.
Lin Yuan narrowed his eyes.
Du Feld was one of the emperors of the Underworld, controlling the flow of money across the entire sea. Even the World Government had to show him some respect.
"You're Lin Yuan?" Du Feld looked him up and down. "You're younger than I imagined."
"And you're Du Feld?" Lin Yuan walked over and sat opposite him. "You're fatter than I imagined."
Du Feld stared at him for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha... Interesting! You're the first person who's dared talk to me like that."
"I'm not the first, and I won't be the last."
Du Feld's laughter faded, and his gaze sharpened.
"I hear you have fifty tons of Seastone?"
"I do."
"Where did you get it?"
"Stole it."
Du Feld stared at him for a few seconds, then smiled.
"All right, I like a straight answer. Fifty tons, I'll take it all. Name your price."
Lin Yuan held up three fingers.
"Three hundred million per ton."
Du Feld's eyelid twitched.
"The market price is only two hundred million."
"The market price is the market price. Buy from me, and you don't need a middleman or have to take any risks. Three hundred million isn't expensive."
Du Feld fell silent for a moment.
"Two hundred and fifty million."
"Two hundred and eighty million."
"Deal."
Du Feld held out his hand.
Lin Yuan shook it.
"Here's to a good partnership."
"Heh heh heh..." Du Feld laughed. "You're an interesting brat. If you have anything to sell in the future, come straight to me. There's no need to go through a middleman."
"Fine."
Four
After they left the tavern, Kaido asked, "Why didn't you keep pushing the price up?"
"It's enough," Lin Yuan said. "At two hundred and eighty million a ton, fifty tons comes to fourteen billion. That'll last us a long time."
"Wororororo..." Kaido laughed. "How much meat can fourteen billion buy?"
"Enough to feed you for a lifetime."
"Then it's not enough. I've got a big appetite."
Lin Yuan rolled his eyes.
Back on Hachinosu, Lin Yuan put the fourteen billion Beli in the warehouse. Looking at the chests of money piled up like a small mountain, King spoke up, a rare occurrence. "We're rich."
"We've always been rich," Lin Yuan said. "Now we're even richer."
"What do we do next?" Bullet asked.
Lin Yuan pulled a slip of paper from his pocket. A name was written on it.
"Find this man."
The paper read: Morgans, World Economy News Paper reporter, information broker.
"Who is he?" Moria asked.
"A newsman," Lin Yuan said. "We need an intelligence network. He can help us build one."
"You know him?"
"No." Lin Yuan smiled. "But he'll know me."
Five
A few days later, Lin Yuan met Morgans on another neutral island.
Morgans was a young man in his early thirties, wearing a top hat and holding a newspaper. His eyes were sharp; one look was enough to tell he worked in intelligence.
"Captain Lin Yuan, I've heard so much about you." Morgans smiled and held out his hand.
Lin Yuan didn't shake it.
"I hear you deal in information?"
Morgans withdrew his hand without any embarrassment.
"That's right. There's nothing happening on the seas that I don't know about."
"Then do you know the World Government recently arrested a group of dissidents in the South Blue?"
Morgans's smile faltered slightly.
"I do. But I don't deal in that kind of business."
"Why not?"
"Because if I offend the World Government, I'll die." Morgans put away his smile. "If I help you, what will you give me?"
"Exclusive news," Lin Yuan said. "I'm going to make a lot of big news. You'll be the first to publish it."
Morgans's eyes lit up.
"For example?"
"For example, I raided a World Government transport ship. I rescued Kaido from Punk Hazard. I took Hachinosu from Ochoku."
Morgans was silent for a moment.
"That's all big news."
"So, will you help me or not?"
Morgans held out his hand.
"Deal."
Lin Yuan shook his hand.
"Here's to a good partnership."
"Heh heh heh..." Morgans laughed. "Interesting. You're a lot more interesting than those old geezers."
Six
Back on Hachinosu, Lin Yuan told everyone about Morgans.
"From now on, he'll provide us with intelligence. We'll provide him with news in return. It benefits both of us."
"Can we trust him?" King asked.
"Not completely, but we can use him," Lin Yuan said. "He's a businessman. Businessmen only care about profit."
"Wororororo..." Kaido laughed. "Then are we businessmen too?"
"We're pirates," Lin Yuan said. "We just do a little business on the side."
Everyone laughed.
Seven
At night, Lin Yuan sat alone on the terrace, gazing at the starry sky.
Morgans's intelligence network would take time to establish, and Du Feld's business channel still needed to be maintained.
There was one more matter—Ginny.
Lin Yuan pulled a slip of paper from his pocket. It contained information Morgans had provided.
"Ginny, female, age unknown, from the South Blue. Arrested for participating in activities against the World Government. Held in a prison in the South Blue, awaiting transport to Mary Geoise."
Lin Yuan put the paper away.
"Soon," he said to himself.
"Once the intelligence network is in place, I'll go save her."
(End of chapter 19)