Buenos Aires.
Rhodes, the owner of Rhodes Company, was tallying up recent earnings. Judging by the grin splitting his face, the company's business was still booming this month.
Rhodes was a British immigrant who happened to share the exact same name as the owner of De Beers Mining Company of South Africa, though the paths the two had chosen were different.
Although East Africa had sliced away more than half its territory, the South African mining industry still held tremendous potential. It was simply that De Beers Mining Company could no longer grow into the colossal behemoth it had been in the previous life, much less could the Rhodesia colony of the previous life ever come into being.
Rhodes of Argentina was likewise British by birth, but in a place like Argentina, livestock farming clearly offered greater prospects.
Of course, as a British man, Rhodes had not chosen to become a ranch owner. Instead, relying on his identity and his British family connections, he had gone into trade between Argentina and Britain.
After setting down the account sheet, Rhodes said to his secretary, "Very good. This month's profits have risen another eight percent. I only hope this war doesn't end too quickly. That way, we can make even more."
His secretary, Paul, was not so optimistic. He reminded him, "Boss, demand for supplies in Europe has skyrocketed. Even food is in short supply, let alone livestock products. This is exactly the time for us to export more beef to Europe. But we have some troubles as well. Many ranch owners have raised their prices to cash in, so our purchasing costs have climbed considerably. And with shipping capacity tight, freight charges have gone up a great deal too."
With everyone raising prices, profits were naturally spread thinner. Besides, Argentina was