Negotiation

Sabaody Archipelago, Grove 78.

Gild Tesoro's home was a small two-story wooden house built beside a Yarukiman Mangrove.

The house was barely spacious enough. The furniture in the living room was simple, consisting only of basic necessities—a sofa, cabinets, a table, and several chairs—and the place was a mess, with empty bottles, old newspapers, and worn clothes scattered everywhere.

"Ahhh! Sorry, I've been too busy with work, so I never had the time to clean up properly."

Having his beloved woman see his messy living quarters, Gild Tesoro immediately let out a miserable cry and hurriedly began tidying the house.

With Stella's help, Gild Tesoro finally managed to straighten up the living room after a flurry of frantic activity. Only then did he invite Sephiroth into his study.

A moment later, Gild Tesoro carried over a cup of coffee and placed it before Sephiroth, who was sitting in the office chair. He himself stood respectfully at the side.

"Boss, how should our company get started?"

The moment business was mentioned, Gild Tesoro became serious and composed, a gleam of wisdom flashing in his eyes.

Over the past year or so, he had also been running some small businesses.

Otherwise, there was no way he could have saved over ten million Beli. That was money ordinary people would have to work decades to earn.

This showed just how capable Gild Tesoro was at earning money. Otherwise, he would not have become the richest man in the world in the future, with influence in both the underworld and the legitimate world.

"A company needs a large accumulation of capital in its early stages, so I'm planning to work as a bounty hunter for a while.

"As for the business side of things, I'm leaving it entirely to you..."

Sephiroth began outlining his plans for the future to Gild Tesoro. He intended to first enter heavy industry and arms dealing. As for weapons development, he planned to leave that to Franky in Water 7 when the time came.

That guy tinkered with weapons every day. He could even build something capable of blowing away Sea Kings in a single shot, and his enthusiasm had never waned.

If Sephiroth invited him, there was a high chance he would agree.

When the time came, Sephiroth would provide weapons-development ideas from his previous life, Franky would gradually bring them to reality, and Gild Tesoro, being a local, knew the Sabaody Archipelago well enough to help them open up trade routes.

Besides, since the Internal Combustion Engine already existed, wouldn't it be a shame not to develop cars and airplanes...?

If all else failed, Sephiroth could moonlight as a weapons developer himself. During his time in the military, he had learned quite a bit about firearms and arms dealing...

However, all of these ideas required a huge initial investment. Therefore, becoming a bounty hunter and earning money quickly had become Sephiroth's only option.

The Sabaody Archipelago was where pirates from all four seas gathered. Pirates with bounties in the tens of millions, or even over a hundred million, were far from rare.

It just so happened that Sephiroth needed to hone his swordsmanship, and he had already awakened Armament Haki. Improving his strength through real combat was also a good choice.

Although he did not have much Haki yet, and it was somewhat difficult even to fully coat the Autumn Leaf Blade...

For him, that was already enough!

With Observation Haki, Armament Haki, and the Vampire Fruit, hunting ordinary pirates with bounties in the tens of millions should be easy enough!

As for pirates with bounties over a hundred million...

He did not want to take too many risks. It was better to play it safe for now and consider it once he was strong enough.

"Boss, bounty hunting is extremely dangerous, and it can easily draw the hostility and joint attacks of other pirates. I advise you to think it over carefully..." Gild Tesoro said hesitantly.

Sephiroth waved a hand, looking unconcerned.

"Don't worry! I'll be careful...

"Besides, I'm a Marine right now. Pirates already hate me."

"Wait! Boss, you're a Marine?

"Then why are you building your own company and doing business...?"

A trace of surprise flashed through Gild Tesoro's eyes. He did not understand why Sephiroth, clearly a Marine, would want to start his own company.

Only then did Sephiroth realize that he seemed to have accidentally let it slip. But he figured it was not a major issue. Gild Tesoro was both his subordinate and business partner, and he would discover Sephiroth's identity sooner or later anyway. It was better to reveal it openly now.

With that in mind, Sephiroth shrugged, his tone casual.

"Well! I'm only a Military Academy student right now. I plan to spend a few years in the Marines and see how things go.

"If I find that the Marines aren't working out for me, I'll come out and build my own career and develop my own forces. That's why I'm making preparations for both possibilities in advance..."

Upon hearing that, Gild Tesoro waved his hands repeatedly, his face full of excitement.

"No, no, no! Boss, if you can get assigned to the Marine base in the Sabaody Archipelago after graduation and serve as a Marine here...

"I think our company can definitely grow bigger and stronger, monopolizing most of the industries in the Sabaody Archipelago..."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow slightly and replied with interest.

"Oh!? Go on..."

That night, the two discussed the company's future development at length, and Sephiroth gained a full understanding of just how sharp Gild Tesoro's business sense was.

At three in the morning, when Sephiroth saw that Gild Tesoro could no longer suppress his yawns, he finally got up to leave. Before departing, he also handed over the remaining thirty-odd million Beli in his suitcase to the other man.

He was not worried that Gild Tesoro would run off with the money...

After all, during their conversation, he could tell that Gild Tesoro was not someone content with an ordinary life. The man had ambitions as well.

Gild Tesoro and Stella stood together at the doorway, watching Sephiroth's figure gradually disappear down the street.

The blonde woman gently nestled into her lover's arms and said softly, "Gild Tesoro, Mr. Sephiroth really is a good person! We must repay him properly in the future."

"Whether he's a good person or not, I won't comment on that for now, but...

"I can always sense his contempt for the World Government in his words, as well as the ambition hidden deep in his eyes. He's a man with great ambition and dreams.

"I'm looking forward to seeing just how far he can go in the future..."