Yama Rising

“Sss…” “Ahh…” “How bold!”

Jobs were a tricky situation. Truth be told, the 4,500 jobs that Qi Jun had envisioned could easily be considered the upper limits of such an industry. After all, they had considered the corresponding coffee chains back in the mortal realm, such as the Star Coffee chain, and yet they had no more than 150 stores in the largest cities. With 10 staff members helming each store, each city would probably only be able to account for at most 2,000 jobs, give and take.

This was coffee after all.

What were they going to do with that many coffee specialty stores?

“50,000…” Qin Ye’s eyes gleamed brightly as he glanced at the young man. Then, with the quick wave of his hands, the documents held up by both Qi Jun and the young man rose into the air and flew straight to the front of the stage. It was only then that Qin Ye nodded at the young man.

“Haaa--...” The rest of the entrepreneurs gasped deeply. They finally understood the depths of this young man’s ambitions!

Qi Jun immediately understood the young man’s intentions, and he shook his head with a bitter smile, “You want to monopolize everything and cover the supply and distribution routes? That means we wouldn’t actually be competitors.”

Just then, Fei Liming interjected with his clarification, “Five years.”

The young man nodded, “That is to say, within the first five years, the orchards would definitely be at a loss. Therefore, we’ll need the profits from the Have A Cup retail stores to keep us afloat. Admittedly, I believe that with King Yanluo Qin’s foresight, Hell has probably already set aside a portion of the fruits for the government to do their own internal tests and experimentation with the seeds. And it’s only once they have seen results that they would plan to push for the cultivation of these crops. But if we want to ensure a consistent supply of high-quality drinks, it’s only natural to control your own orchards.”

He bowed apologetically towards Qi Jun, “I’m sorry, but we are indeed competitors.”

Qi Jun had stuck to his guns of what he knew of the mortal realm. But unfortunately, the rigidity in his thinking meant that he failed to consider what he could do with the coffee shrub seeds and the fruits of the milk bottle trees.

That’s right. The entrepreneurs knew that this round of auction was over. It was a fight between 5,000 jobs and 50,000 jobs. Hell wasn’t blind to its own interests.

In Hell’s prudence, they naturally chose not to put all of their eggs into one basket. Qin Ye reckoned that someone would be willing to do something with these raw materials, such as planting and cultivating them, rather than processing them to be sold in retail stores. That said, not even Qin Ye expected someone to step up so quickly!

Their eyes gleamed wildly, and each of them began to consider how their own businesses could be vertically integrated as well.

“This could greatly strengthen the depth of our business to be proposed! We don’t have to limit ourselves to a single product! After all, we live in an era when industry disruption is key! The ones who can think out of the box will take the cake! Think about those days in the 80’s and 90’s when new products were released to the contempt of all naysayers! Look at how large Ashmound City is! Our bicycle idea will definitely take off! And we can naturally use the profits gained to our advantage!”

Unfortunately, the Yin spirit on the right sighed softly, “It’s too late.”

He glanced around the hall. It felt almost as though he was in a tank full of sharks. And yet, the orcas hiding amidst the sharks were already emerging, waiting to devour any shark they would encounter. The orcas had keenly captured the essence of all materials offered to them, and made full use of everything from the onset. Naturally, anyone who had failed to recognize the opportunities presented to them would never be granted a second chance by the government right now.

And so, the auction continued.

And with that, five sets of auctions quickly passed.

Fengyun Group and Jiangnan Group were both competing for various types of jewellery and artwork of all kinds.

After five rounds of auctions, Fei Liming bowed slightly, “And now, we’ll take an intermission of 10 minutes. Please return right where you are.”

Every single entrepreneur who had participated in the auctions thus far remained right where they were, eagerly awaiting the results. Even Qi Jun, who had clearly been crushed by his competitor, couldn’t help but cross his hands at the table with a grave expression on his face.

The next auction was clearly going to be more difficult. No, in fact, there was a possibility that Hell might not even need to organize an auction like this ever again.

Calm down… calm down… Fei Liming felt like a celebrity right now. Even then, he forcefully repressed the feeling of intense excitement in his heart as he unfolded the docket, “Technology category. Winner of the bid goes to… Dingxin Technology.”

Meanwhile, his opponent, the representative of Dasan Chemical, also shut his eyes quietly and sighed softly. However, everything was done in despondency.

“Art category. Winner of the bid goes to… Feng Yun Group.”

Qi Jun chortled slightly, and then threw his head back and gazed blankly at the ceiling. Meanwhile, the young man who had competed with him threw his fist into the air. Had it not been for Qin Ye’s presence right now, he might well have smashed fist into the table in joy and celebration.

The netherflames in his eyes danced wildly. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t experienced auctions like this before. That said, this was the first time he had ever felt this nervous about the results.

Tap, tap… He tapped his fingers anxiously on the table, almost as though he could already see the bright gleaming road open up ahead of his company.

Qin Ye took in everyone’s expressions and nodded his head gently.

And then, five years later… Hell is going to usher in a new age of prosperity! The citizens will lead richer lives! And once that happens, we’ll finally be able to launch other industries, such as medical care, education, insurance and others!

“We’re getting there.” Qin Ye stood up. With him around, the entrepreneurs would never dare to act too boldly, but that would defeat the purposes of such auctions to begin with! His job here was done, and there was no longer any need for him to stay around and be an eyesore around these parts.

As soon as they did, the rest of the entrepreneurs glanced at each other sheepishly.

King Yanluo has left, and that means that there’s no longer any cause for concern! We’ll use any means possible! Let’s disrupt the industries as we know it back in the mortal realm!

There’s nothing to lose! Conversely, we’ll only regret it if we don’t give it our best now!

“Greenland Group. We will create in excess of 30,000 jobs for the entire nation! We’ve taken a good look at the resources to be had. There are 6 kinds of meats and poultry and 20 types of vegetables listed on the resources traded, all of which are preserved with special technology from the netherworld. We don’t just want to do catering. We want to be the biggest catering group of Hell, and we plan to be vertically integrated, serving our customers straight from the breeders and farm to the table!”

Qin Ye could no longer hear the clamor in the auction hall.

That said, there were two other matters to attend to.

It was now time to harvest the fruits of the relationship between nations.

“Prefect Qin, shall we begin?” A dark-skinned Yin spirit stepped forward and bowed respectfully. The scarlet netherflames in her eyes flickered with great excitement, “I can’t wait to see what exquisite artwork you have in store for us. You might not know this, but Hell’s silence in the last century has caused demand for Cathayan artwork to surge to new heights, while the supply has naturally fallen substantially! Ah, where are my manners! I’ve forgotten to introduce myself! I am the Chief Advisor of Art for the Coalition of Alkebulan Underworlds, Nadia.”