The Crooked Merchant's Proposal

Wang Xun stared at the various experiment plans and densely packed notes on the paper. After a moment's silence, he handed it back to Kisuke Urahara.

"I don't really understand it, but it looks complete. You must have put a lot of thought into it."

Wang Xun looked around. Though the setup was rudimentary, he could tell Urahara had put effort into it.

"Well, you did pay me."

Urahara smiled as he replied. Clients who were this easy to fool were rare.

"You paid so readily, so naturally I had to deliver results to match."

Wang Xun nodded and pondered for a moment.

"Besides checking on the experiments, there's something else I came to ask your advice about today."

Urahara raised his head, a flicker of understanding in his eyes. They had finally reached the point.

"What is it? Go ahead and tell me."

Wang Xun nodded and briefly recounted his earlier confrontation with Tokinada Tsunayashiro outside the Spiritual Arts Academy, along with the other man's threat.

"I need to watch out in case he targets my businesses, and I also lack ways to counter him."

"If he really makes it impossible for me to keep my business running, it'll be difficult for us to continue working together."

"Third Seat Urahara, do you have any ideas?"

Urahara stood up and poured two cups of hot tea from the desk, his expression growing serious.

"Tsunayashiro... You've crossed a dangerous man."

"If he's really determined to go after you, he'll be difficult to deal with. But since you've already been marked as someone associated with the Shihoin Clan, he probably won't act against you openly."

Kisuke Urahara took a sip and spoke slowly.

"If he simply wants to ruin your business, there are plenty of ways to do it."

"The simplest is to smear your reputation. That's also the method nobles use most often to suppress commoners."

"Spread rumors that there's something wrong with your ingredients or that your hygiene doesn't meet standards, or even go to your shop and cause trouble, driving away your customers."

"Next, you need to watch out for your supply chain being disrupted. He could threaten your suppliers and cut off your source of ingredients."

"Ichiroku Ramen must use a large amount of ingredients every day. If there's a problem with the supply, your reserves won't last long."

"Well, that's something I'm working on right now, but unfortunately, it won't be able to replace your shop's purchasing channels anytime soon."

"Lastly, you need to guard against the most direct approach: violent harassment."

Urahara put down his teacup.

"He could hire thugs from Rukongai, or some cash-strapped Soul Reapers, to attack your staff and smash up your shop."

"They wouldn't need to kill or injure anyone. As long as customers were afraid to come and your workers were afraid to work, the business would naturally collapse."

Wang Xun listened quietly. He could have thought of those things himself.

But hearing Kisuke Urahara lay them out so clearly still gave him a better understanding of the situation.

"So, Third Seat Urahara, what do you suggest?"

Urahara stroked his chin and got up, pacing a few steps around the laboratory.

"I can offer you some technical support."

He stopped and looked at Wang Xun.

"For example, I could install Reiatsu recorders in your shop. They're little devices I made myself, and they can record a target's Reiatsu signature."

"I could also add a basic video recording function. If anyone causes trouble, you'd at least have evidence."

"Besides that, I can provide some nonlethal defensive tools for your employees to protect themselves."

Urahara walked over to a cabinet by the wall and pulled open a drawer. Inside, a variety of strangely shaped tools were neatly arranged.

"Binding ropes, smoke bombs... and these. I call them Concussion Balls. When triggered, they release a shock that makes souls dizzy."

Wang Xun walked over and picked up a palm-sized metal ball to examine it. Its surface was engraved with intricate patterns, giving it a mysterious appearance.

"Of course, you'll have to pay for all of these."

"How much?"

"A friend's discount: ten to a set, two hundred thousand kan."

Urahara spoke with a smile.

The corner of Wang Xun's mouth twitched.

"Too expensive. Eighty thousand."

"One hundred and ninety thousand."

Kisuke Urahara's expression didn't change.

"Are you really going to cut costs on something like this, Wang Xun?"

Wang Xun snorted, unmoved.

After some haggling, they finally settled on one hundred and sixty thousand per set.

In the end, Wang Xun ordered ten sets, along with the Reiatsu detection and surveillance equipment for the shop. After the odd amount was rounded off, the total came to three million kan.

Once they had reached an agreement, Wang Xun suddenly felt some regret.

After being talked around, he'd gotten carried away and spent so much money on all this junk. He didn't even know if it would be useful in the end.

Wang Xun stared at Kisuke Urahara for a few seconds, then laughed in exasperation.

"Third Seat Urahara, do you know you look like a complete swindler right now?"

"Now, that's not fair. How can you call it a swindle when you're getting your money's worth?"

Wang Xun picked up a Concussion Ball and played with it in his hand before speaking.

"Actually, there's one more thing I need. I have a logistics operation now, run by a kid named Ganju Shiba."

"A logistics operation?"

"That's right."

Wang Xun nodded.

"They started out delivering ramen, but their numbers have been growing lately, and they've expanded into other lines of business. They've started doing some freight work."

"Those kids run around Rukongai all day, so they're the quickest to notice any stir in the various districts. I'm planning to have them double as lookouts and keep an eye out for unusual activity."

"For example, new faces suddenly appearing around a neighborhood, unusual gatherings, or people secretly watching the shop."

Wang Xun paused, then added,

"I'd like to equip them with some simple communication devices. Being able to contact each other within a small area would be enough. Do you have anything suitable, Third Seat Urahara?"

"That sounds like a simplified version of a Denreishinki... I can develop one, but it won't be cheap."

"Just name your price."

Kisuke Urahara thought for a moment.

"Three hundred thousand each. These would be custom-made, so there's no room to bargain."

Wang Xun quickly calculated in his head.

Ganju had more than twenty pig-riding kids working under him now. If each one got a communicator, the total cost would be around six million kan.

Honestly, that was a little over budget.

Wang Xun considered it briefly and ultimately ordered ten.

After they had finished discussing all their business, Wang Xun could see that Kisuke Urahara was struggling to keep the smile off his face.

"All right, Wang Xun. Since you've spent so generously, I'll give you one last piece of information."

Urahara's voice pulled Wang Xun away from the slight pain of spending so much.

"As a matter of fact, Captain Yoruichi has recently been paying close attention to some of the Tsunayashiro Clan's activities."

Wang Xun keenly picked up on the deeper meaning in his words.

"What do you mean?"

Kisuke Urahara fell silent for a moment, seemingly weighing his words.

"In fact, over the past few years, there have been frequent cases of souls mysteriously disappearing in Rukongai."

"There haven't been many, and the locations have been scattered. The ones who disappeared were all souls with relatively high Reiryoku, and quite a few were even Soul Reapers."

"The Stealth Force has been investigating in secret, but whenever they follow certain leads, they run into resistance."

He turned to look at Wang Xun.

"And some of that resistance comes from within the Seireitei."