Yep. It's another half and half chapter. Rip me. Can't wait for my new person to start, but until then it's writing as of and when I'm able! Daaaaamn, I hate when this happens.
Chapter 42
The streets were already alive with music and brightly coloured floats when Jaune stepped out of a black sedan and was welcomed by four men dressed in black and green, who bowed in welcome. It was Sunday and he should have been meeting with Tammy, would have been, but for Bon-Hwa's reputation for being a stickler and Cinder's shadow looming behind. They needed dust, and, if they wanted to prove Roman was surplus to requirements, they needed it fast.
With any luck, that might even prompt Cinder to `get rid` of Roman in the same way she had Hei. It wouldn't be them getting their revenge, but it would do. He'd take it.
"Lord Xiong." One of the men rose up from his deep bow. Jaune had only returned it with a nod as, according to Miltia and Melanie, matching their bows would imply they were his equals. As much as Jaune disagreed with the notion he was better than them, appearances had to be kept. "We welcome you today. Lord Bon-Hwa awaits you inside. Would your people wish to dine while you conduct business?"
"Melanie. Miltia." He spoke with a calmness he didn't really feel. The correct words had been drummed into him, however. "Help yourselves to some food. I will speak with Bon-Hwa alone."
"Yes Xiong."
"As you wish, Xiong."
Ha. As if those two would ever normally be so polite with him. It was an amusing façade and one the East Dragon Company didn't really have any way of knowing was fake. Every clan, every gang, was different, but the EDC seemed to respect those who were formal. As such, he'd come in a full black suit with white shirt and red tie, as close to dressed as a politician than a gang leader. His leather shoes were polished to a mirror shine and clicked loudly with every step he took over terracotta and then marble tiles.
The Jade Dragon was as lovely as it had been the last time; it was either a common haunt of Bon-Hwa or, and more likely, the front he'd chosen to portray that is. In reality, his real holdings were probably deeper into his territory where he'd be safe.
Not that anyone dared try anything today. With the parade out and so many people in the streets, not a single gang would dare raise a gun let alone fire it. To do so would bring an avalanche of huntsmen, soldiers and officers down on your head. Even if it wouldn't have, no gang would want to start a panic with all the international visitors arriving right now. They were customers after all.
Lord Bon-Hwa stood behind a low table waiting for his arrival. He was garbed in emerald robes with golden trim and dragons winding up the sleeves. His usual uniform, it seemed. His face was impassive, calm, and he had his hands tucked into his opposite sleeves, only drawing out in a wide-spread sign of welcome as Jaune was ushered into the room.
"Lord Xiong," he greeted. "I welcome you again to my domain."
"Lord Bon-Hwa." Jaune returned the gesture with a respectful nod. "Thank you for accommodating me on such short notice. I wouldn't have taken it amiss if it took you a few days."
That would have been helpful actually. He could have finished his date first.
"Given your last warning and the importance of such, I decided I would hear you out sooner." Bon-Hwa gestured to the table, folded his knees beneath him and sat. Jaune did the same, cross-legged. With a clap of his hands, two serving girls in green and white uniforms were summoned in to pour tea, while the other laid out a small buffet of spiced meat and vegetable rolls. "A light lunch," Bon-Hwa said. "To eat while we talk."
"Thank you." Jaune took a drumstick and ate it, if only because it seemed rude to ignore it. He'd eaten before coming so as to keep his strength up. "I trust my associate informed your people of the reason for my visit?"
"I trust he did, and I trust my men passed the correct message onto myself. Dust?"
"Dust. The Xiong Clan is in need of a significant amount of dust."
"This is quite the favour you ask…"
"No favour." Jaune said quickly. Firmly. "We're looking to purchase a significant amount of dust, and we were hoping you could either have it shipped from your associates in Mistral or procured there if you don't have enough."
"Hmm." Bon-Hwa hummed to himself. "Business, is it? Yes, this is preferable. Of course, I cannot comment on whether we have enough without knowing of your needs."
That was fair. "We need six tonnes but we're willing to buy twelve for the sake of convenience."
Tony already had a warehouse capable of containing such set up. Legally, the warehouse dealt in pet food. Not that it had ever seen any. Drugs were its main storage, but Tony was convinced those would ship out soon once the dealers started selling to all the festivalgoers.
"Twelve tonnes. Six containers. Quite the shipment. Quite the order. Naturally, I will have to speak with my associates."
"Naturally." Jaune nodded. "I don't expect you to know immediately whether your people in Mistral have that much on hand. If you don't however, we'd be willing to pay you a finder's fee for putting us in contact with anyone else who can top up the difference. We'll buy yours first of course, but any you don't have, we don't min paying some of your allies for. Or we're happy to pay a commission for you to purchase it on our behalf."
Bon-Hwa appeared momentarily surprised. It was a pretty big sign of weakness for the Xiong Clan to offer that, mostly because they would have no way of knowing if the EDC were being legit or not. They could buy dust cheap, claim the price was much higher and then gouge them for it. They could, but it would be a risk for the EDC as well. If the Xiong Clan somehow found out and called them out on it, their reputation would suffer.
If their groups were strictly neutral to one another then Bon-Hwa might not care, but Jaune was banking on the idea the man wanted more. It only occurred to him when Sebastian told him just how much the Mistral gangs wanted to take over Vale. If Bon-Hwa's task really was to make aggressive moves, he would need to pick his targets well. That also meant picking people not to attack, people who you kept on good terms so as not to leave you exposed when you went out and started a gang war.
Bon-Hwa warned me about Kane and then destroyed their whole gang for me. Sure, he has a favour he's yet to cash in from that, but the fact he did all that in the first place was no accident. Bon-Hwa wants me, or the Xiong Clan, around for some reason or another.
Jaune didn't mind being useful or convenient if it meant staying alive.
"If I may go to other clans then I will certainly be able to find you the dust you need." Bon-Hwa eventually said. "The price may be higher, you understand. If we are to buy from them and then sell to you, we are adding a middle man to the process."
"We understand that. We're prepared to pay you 40% retail rates for the dust you have and then 15% on top of whatever the buying price for the rest is."
Bon-Hwa frowned. "Only 40%? Dust is in a shortage, especially in Vale."
"Legally-obtained dust is short." Jaune countered. "Your associates would need to get rid of the dust they've obtained through less legal methods. We're offering to buy it no questions asked. We'll even cover shipping fees."
"Even so, I could not go below 65%." Bon-Hwa said.
"If it's 65% for you and an extra 15% on top for the rest then we're paying 80% for stolen dust. Including shipping fees, we might as well buy from the SDC directly. My offer of 40% is fair, but I can be generous at 45."
"Stretch your generosity to 50% and I may be able to accept. You are a business associate of mine, but the clans back home do not know you. I will have to bribe a few people to do business with you."
Jaune winced. Dust was not cheap. "That's a lot of lien, Lord Bon-Hwa."
"Then a compromise. Let it be 50% if I can provide all twelve tonnes, 45% if I cannot and must commission dust from elsewhere. Is that to your liking?"
"Yes." It was a trick. Jaune could figure that out without Melanie or Miltia to tell him. What Bon-Hwa was really saying was that his clan back home were going to either steal more or buy from other gangs at even lower, then mark it up to 50% and claim it as their own. Ultimately, it didn't matter. Tony had given him 50% as the most the clan could afford to pay, and if they got the dust then so be it. "The Xiong Clan is prepared to meet those terms."
"Excellent. Now, then, is the matter of payment."
"Instalments." Jaune said quickly. "We're prepared to pay a quarter now, a quarter when you confirm you have the twelve tonnes and then the last half when the dust is delivered."
"Acceptable. Only a fool pays an advance in full. I will expect my full half before any dust is shipped, however." Bon-Hwa looked to the side with his eyes closed. "All told," he said, calculating, "That would come to sixteen million lien."
Sixteen million. Jaune tried hard not to show how much the number staggered him. He was the Xiong, he was a gang leader, crime paid, but sixteen million was a number plucked out of fantasy as far as his means were concerned. His father could never earn that much in a life of being a huntsman. Few people could. And now, the Xiong Clan were essentially throwing that into a fire just to please Cinder and hopefully knock Roman down a few pegs.
Tony is going to flip out. Hopefully the profits from the drug sales around the festival will make up for it. They better or we're in real trouble.
"That's fine." Jaune was amazed at how calm he sounded. He never knew how good an actor he could be. "How do you want your payment? Cash or assets?"
"Assets is fine," Bon-Hwa said with a gentle wave of his hand. It may have sounded strange, but Tony had drilled into him just how worthless `cash` could be. If your business suddenly gained several million in cash out of nowhere, the tax offices would notice and investigate. It wasn't always a good idea to accept money unless you had either an excuse, a smokescreen or a quick way of laundering it. "We will accept merchandise at the value the cartel has approved."
Drugs. Bon-Hwa wanted them to ship goods over, which they would then sell off to the public. That way the money would come in slower, but the EDC could launder and trickle it into their accounts without alerting anyone.
"I can have them shipped over within four hours. How do you want them?"
"I have a drop-off factory." Bon-Hwa removed a card from his sleeves and slid it across the table. "Deliver them here and my people will move them on. I am pleased we could do business today, Lord Xiong. This has been a far more fruitful meeting than I expected it to be."
"The same on our end." Jaune shook the psychopath's hand. Bon-Hwa didn't feel like one, but then not all people like that frothed at the mouth. "I look forward to any future deals."
"As do I. The East Dragon Company is always open for business."
/-/
"Sixteen million." Miltia groaned and threw her head back in the car's seat. "Fucking hell. Sixteen million. Talk about wiping profits away. Fuck!"
"It is about the going price right now for how much we're ordering." Melanie said.
"Dust we're not even going to use. It's a waste!"
"Don't think of it like that." Jaune said. "Think of Roman being strung up for failing to be the one to procure it."
"Hmm." Miltia's scowl turned to a pleased smirk. "Okay, that's a nice thought. You really think that bitch will off him, though? Even if he's not pulling as much as he should, he's probably still useful in other ways."
"At least it gets him out our way for now. He won't be calling on our people."
"At a price tag of sixteen big ones, part of me says he can call all he wants. Ugh." She screamed loudly, which was ear-piercing in the confines of the vehicle. Jaune winced and Melanie punched her arm. The driver made a show of turning the volume on the radio up to block her out. "What a piece of shit!" she howled. "Everything has gone to shit since you took over!"
"I'm trying my best!"
"It's enough." Melanie interrupted, shooting her sister a firm look. "What Miltia means is that things have gone to shit since Cinder made her move, which happens to coincide with you taking over. You have done well enough."
"We'd be screwed if Cinder made us give men to Roman." Jaune said. "He'd have used us as a distraction while he ran away, then the Xiong Clan would get smashed to pieces by the city's huntsmen."
"All of which wouldn't be a problem if the freaking White Fang hadn't shown up to ruin things for us. Fucking Torchwick. He should have known better! He does know better!"
"Makes you wonder just how dangerous Cinder is that he thinks it's worth the risk."
It really did. Jaune couldn't claim to know the man half as well as the twins did, but someone who called themselves a master thief surely knew how to avoid causing a fuss. Jaune had learned in just a few weeks how important that was. Was Roman that dumb? Or was he doing this on purpose? Maybe this was Roman's way of chafing against Cinder's control. He posed the question to the twins.
"If it is then it's stupid." Melanie said. "I doubt Cinder is dense, and she'll notice him failing to even-"
The door on Jaune's left crumpled in like kitchen foil. Glass shattered and exploded over them, and the world shifted left as their vehicle was driven off and to the side, almost flipped entirely. Miltia smashed straight into Jaune, who fell back onto Melanie. The two girls shielded him from the worst of the glass and metal completely by accident. Tyres screeched, horns blared, and their world finally stopped spinning, coming to an unsteady, disastrous stop in the centre of the road.
Then, just when Jaune dizzily thought it over, the gunfire began.
Cliff-hanger mid-chapter ending, except sort of a chapter ending because of work. Fun. The other half will come tomorrow I guess. Argh, I could have done this yesterday, but I was convinced today wouldn't be a busy day. Shows what I know.
Next Chapter: Tomorrow (and then 11th November)
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