Filed to story: A Bullied Boy Died: A Mafia King Woke Up In His Body
Damian ladled fresh soup into a bowl before handing it over to a disheveled young man. “There’s bread to go with it. Go over to that man there.” He pointed to Niko, who was busy serving an endless queue of homeless people desperate for free food.
“Thank you so much!” The man bowed respectfully and joined the queue. Damian gave a kind smile before serving the next person in line. The Seven Snakes had booked an area near the food market and spread word through the locals that they were offering free meals to those in need, no questions asked. There were obviously a few who feigned poverty just to save a few rakels, but it didn’t matter. The cost of the soup kitchen was barely a dent in their finances, and its benefits far outweighed its cost.
Some of the nearby food stall owners complained about the surge in homeless people who smelled like rotten eggs, but the local people in general looked favorably on the initiative. Neither the enforcers nor the Sanctum of Yual hardly did anything like this; if they did, it would always lead to a conversion. Many of the homeless didn’t want to be exploited or tangled up in some religious mess despite being citizens of the Yual Dominion, so they were more than appreciative of what the Seven Snakes were doing.
Monica and Adrian entered the soup kitchen with a few others, all of them panting as they held brooms and large buckets filled with trash picked up from the side of the street.
Damian nodded at their buckets approvingly. “Good work. Take a breather and head out to the next street when you’re ready. We got to clean up the next three streets before nightfall.”
“THREE?!” Monica was about to lose her mind, but Adrian hastily tried to calm her down. “We’ve been sweeping the entire day!”
“Better than wasting your life away making swill in random buildings, no?” Damian smirked. “You’ll get used to it.”
Monica seriously contemplated running away with her crew, but Eric was trapped inside the base, spending almost all his time in the new brewery. She had an inkling Eric didn’t actually want to leave and began to weigh whether her freedom was worth ditching Eric.
“Psst, Adrian. You wanna try to escape later?”
“Escape?” Adrian pondered for a moment, the hesitation clear on his face.
“What? Don’t tell me you like taking orders from these cunts.”
“I don’t, but to be honest, they are doing something good here.” Adrian motioned toward the soup kitchen. “I used to be a squatter myself before you recruited me; you know that. What they have now is nothing short of amazing to me. And I really feel much better and at ease doing something upright here.”
Monica scoffed. “They are doing this so they can collect information across the district through the squatters and scout potential recruits. You know this!”
“Doesn’t change the fact that they are getting free meals. It don’t matter to me what they do-at least they are alive and full.”
While the two of them bickered, a Seven Snakes associate ran up to Damian. “Sir, Boss Kyle wants to meet you in his office right away.”
Damian quickly handed everything off to another before returning to the base. As he entered Kyle’s office, he saw that Keith and Kyle were already deep in discussion. As for the topic of their discussion…
“You want to venture out beyond the city?” Damian exclaimed in surprise. “But why now? We just secured our ownership of the district, and the pub is about to be finished!”
“What we have right now isn’t enough. Even with the in-house brewery, potion contracts, and the new casino and pub on the way, it would be impossible to clear our massive debt on time. If we default on that debt, everything we own right now would be up for grabs by the Crimson Swords,” Keith explained.
Damian sighed, crossing his arms as he looked at the map of the nearby regions around the city of Raktor. “So what can you possibly get outside the city that can benefit you? Everyone from the villages and towns came to the city to make money-moving back doesn’t make any financial sense.”
“That’s not true.” Kyle pointed to a few regions nearby. “Every resource and commodity within the city is harvested or collected from the outlying villages or monster regions. For example, Keith and I have been tracking the production of Yul’s Tears, which we use for our Strength Potion. It’s extremely inefficient and requires adventurers to forage for it in the mountains.”
“If you manage to get a stable supply, undercutting the market will bring eyes to us again. Aren’t we limiting ourselves to this district for now because of Sebastian’s warning and the inquisitors?”
“Indeed, which is why we need to establish a shell company that will begin to supply the other sectors. We need a front to deflect attention while collecting the money. In short, raw material production should be industrialized, allowing us to reap the profit from economies of scale.”
“But what material should we be targeting?” Damian tried to rack his head. There were so many materials that they could focus on, but which one would provide the most profit?
“Keith?” Kyle motioned with his hand.
“Yes, sir. The report you asked for on individual consumption that has a good potential for future restrictions is ready. While the sample size is limited to this district alone, consumption of Euria seeds for personal enjoyment is quite high. Nearly fifteen percent of the population smokes it right now. Food tops the chart, but the ingredients used are far too diverse to compete against Euria seeds.”
Damian quickly raised an objection. “Wait, wait, wait. Shouldn’t we be targeting prohibited stuff like we discussed previously? Maybe like the raw ingredients for alcohol or arcia itself? What about Yul’s Tears? That’s expensive.”
“The objective of this expedition is not to spook any gang or enforcers. We don’t have a clear picture of how the other gangs are getting their supply, so doing anything related is dangerous, especially since we’re aiming to enter other sectors and districts.” Kyle had clearly learned his lesson from moving too fast. He had assumed this world was a simple pushover, but it was far more intricate than he thought. It was not going to be that easy to climb the ranks.
“Yul’s Tears directly affect the Alchemists’ Guild, so doing anything related to that would make Haui’s partnership and protection meaningless. I am now willing to consider legal ventures as a way to make money.”
It was not rare for criminal gangs to operate legitimate businesses. It helped to both obfuscate and complicate investigations into how far the criminal network spread. Kyle also considered it a diversification of revenue beyond just illegal stuff.
“Okay, so Euria Seeds. There are a few plantations of the stuff nearby, but nothing of a large scale yet, which is why it is relatively expensive. Probably impossible to buy them over with our current cash reserves,” Damian pondered out loud. “Euria Trees are native to the Culdao Peaks, which are infested with monsters, mostly goblins.”
“Goblins?” Kyle was confused by the fantasy-like term.
“Yeah. Small, little deformed things. Extremely primitive. There are a couple of dens around the area. Some adventurers have them estimated at two hundred per den. Very territorial. There’s a small town nearby where you can gather some information. Most of the adventurers have a base there.” Damian pointed to a mark on the map.