In June, Vienna was lush and green, with flowers in full bloom, like a paradise on earth—though of course that was impossible. Vienna in the twenty-first century might have been like that.
Once June arrived, competition between the supermarkets grew fiercer and fiercer. One traditional grocery shop after another suffered collateral damage and was forced to close!
Bustling Vienna had suddenly become much quieter. The streets were plastered with advertisements for shops to let, and only a handful of small stores were still open.
It wasn't just the shops selling daily necessities that were struggling. Many newly opened supermarkets were also facing a choice: change trades or close down!
But this couldn't stump the capitalists. If selling daily necessities meant losing money, then they would sell something else, following the supermarkets' example by displaying fixed prices!
Some opened clothing malls, others started buffets, and still others...
Thanks to the popularity they had built up beforehand, business boomed for a time. That encouraged even more people to join in, throwing many of Vienna's retail industries into chaos.
But none of this affected Robert! Kotei now had plenty of capital, and Robert was more confident than ever. He still had no idea Falcon had set its sights on him.
"Mr. Cameron, how much longer do you think it'll take to end this war?" Robert asked, full of spirit.
"If things continue as they are, the number of supermarkets in Vienna may fall by a third by next month, and then be cut in half again six months later. By then, everyone will be exhausted, and only the well-funded will have survived. With fewer competitors, this price war will come to an end!" Cameron analyzed.
"No. The shareholders will object to prolonged losses, and now the department stores have been affected too. This will impact our plans to go public!" Robert rejected the suggestion.
"Then we can only make the price war even more intense. Our losses will be huge!" Cameron said with a frown.
"Then keep lowering the prices. I want this battle over within three months. At any cost, get rid of those minnows, then we'll earn back the money we lost!" Robert said fiercely.
Robert then smiled knowingly, having thought of a clever plan. "The retail prices of goods in the supermarkets are now lower than our purchase prices. You can secretly send people to buy from the other supermarkets."
"That'll hurt our competitors and lower our purchasing costs at the same time! Remember, do it in secret. If they find out, they'll copy us, and that'll be trouble."
"Of course, sir. As you wish. I'll lower prices by another ten percent today. Maybe that'll scare off a few minnows!" Cameron said with a smile.
The retail market was once again filled with wails of misery. Volvo was a large-scale operation, so it had required most of its products to be printed with the label "For Volvo Only."
To avoid giving themselves away, any goods bought from Volvo had to be repackaged. Robert tried it once, found it far too troublesome, and had to give up!
The other supermarkets were soon in dire straits. Their losses were heavy, but Ferdinand quickly noticed that Kotei's purchases from the Shineway Food Group had decreased!
Ferdinand smiled knowingly and thought, Robert is digging his own grave. He'll soon find out what it means to have everyone turn against him!
Volvo could do this because it was big enough to distribute goods across different regions. Besides, it was targeting only Kotei, so even if the scheme were exposed, Ferdinand could handle it.
Those small capitalists might not seem very powerful, but if they all acted together, even Ferdinand would have to think twice.
Ferdinand didn't hesitate. He simply had someone spread the news that Kotei's purchases had decreased. Anyone who wasn't a fool would realize something was wrong.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before the shrewd capitalists copied the trick, sending people straight to Kotei's department store to pick up goods and leaving Cameron in a frantic scramble.
The capitalists with connections also used all sorts of favors to make trouble for Kotei. For example, the water and electricity at Kotei's department store were frequently cut off.
And of course, a few thugs would turn up now and then to cause trouble. Things got so heated that people were even killed.
Everyone knew that the more Kotei's department store sold, the more money it lost. They tacitly made the department store their target, with Ferdinand secretly guiding them along the way!
In just half a month, two bombs were thrown into Robert's home, and he was ambushed three times on the road. Members of the Hurd family were also frequent targets.
Kotei's department store employees were caught up in it too, and plenty were beaten from behind. Countless people asked for leave, and when it wasn't granted, they simply quit.
The Hurd family were true capitalists. This clearly wasn't the first time they had faced something like this; they seemed almost accustomed to it, and reacted immediately.
They tightened security and used their connections to pressure the police department. The chaos was quickly quelled, but their already poor reputation became even worse.
To settle the matter, Kotei paid the enormous sum of two hundred thousand pounds in just one month.
The department store's supermarket had suffered only moderate losses, a little over forty thousand pounds in half a month. But the department store itself had taken a much bigger hit. Its foot traffic had plummeted, and it too was now losing money.
Of course, the biggest expense was public relations! If you wanted to use your connections, you had to throw money around! Who wouldn't take a bite out of such a fat lamb? Otherwise, could they even call themselves officials of the Austro-Hungarian Empire?
Of course, it wasn't over yet. Even though the authorities had stepped in to suppress the trouble, the competition was still raging! Now Kotei was losing money not only on its supermarkets but on its department store as well. With money only going out and none coming in, who could take that?
James was forced to step in, and he soon stabilized the department store. He knew they had been targeted. Otherwise, without someone steering them, how could everyone have focused on the department store instead of going after the supermarkets?
The experienced James quickly narrowed down the target. He looked at Robert and said, "We should close the department store's supermarket. We admit defeat!"
"Why, Uncle? They're only acting this crazy because they're about to run out of steam!" Robert said, unwilling to accept it.
"Our opponent hasn't even made a move, yet they've already left us badly weakened. If we keep going, the Hurd family may cease to exist!" James said with a sigh.
"Are you saying the Kohary Family has come after us?" Robert asked uncertainly.
James shook his head. "Not yet. Otherwise, you and I wouldn't be sitting here now! I reckon it was that fellow Franz who pulled the strings, at most. What happens next is anyone's guess!"
It wasn't that Ferdinand didn't want to act. He was mainly concerned about his reputation. If he made a move now, wouldn't that tell the world he was behind it?
But that didn't mean Franz would stand by and watch.
If he didn't strike, so be it. But when he did, it would be fatal!
Before you continue