Face to Face || Wang Ba [Shinagawa Contract]

They say that arriving late is a valid negotiation tactic. They are wrong. Certainly, it can prove a point- When you are already holding the upper hand. It reminds your partner that they need you more than you need them. But right now? Fresh off the boat, Wang Ba was by no means in any position of power- Especially when the other side was the representative of Pluto, the largest organization in Japan. Not a person he could afford to offend, five minutes, or not. In fact, his desire to forge a relationship could be seen in the simple fact that he he had arrived in person- Not a common occurrence, to be sure. He may lack the resources he had amassed in his homeland, but the villain was by no means destitute. For a deal such as this, having a representative meet a representative would be more than adequate.

Of course, that wasn't the only reason. Wang Ba and the Plutocracy were competitors- Any relationship they forged would be superficial at best. This show of sincerity was placing himself in the lower position, yes- But it also allowed him to place his own eyes on the fabled Mercury. For a man such as Wang Ba, his companions may earn his trust- But never more so than the trust he placed in himself. For his first contact with Japan's criminal underworld, it was truly unsurprising that he came in person. In fact, perhaps what be considered surprising, was that he did not come alone. Standing next to the morbidly obese man was a beautiful woman, her red dress shimmering in the light.

"Hiyo~" The winged woman would announce, voice remarkably chipper considering the circumstances. Certainly not an appropriate greeting for a business meeting, nor did it show any signs of remorse for their tardiness- When suddenly, she would shudder, as though she could see the glare boring into her back. "Eto, eto... Sorry we're late!" She would add as an afterthought. Behind her, eyes rolled beneath a pair of dark sunglasses. Some things would never change- Of course, not that he would want them to. Zhu Que's oddity was a part of her charm- And her charm was what made her so profitable. Still, this young girl before him, he would be amazed if she would fall for the ditzy girl act the way those old perverts did. As such, the fat man could only fill in the gaps.

"Ah, yes. As my companion said, I am very sorry for our tardiness." His voice was truly sincere, unlike his employee. "I had brought this one out in the hopes of granting her some much needed experience... It is my fault that I seem to have neglected her attitude." Ignoring the girl's pout, the man took a seat, chair creaking in protest. As for his lateness, he offered not exactly an excuse- "Do please forgive me. I grew quite intrigued by the Japanese architecture, and seem to have lost my track of time." The subtext, of course, being that he had taken the time to survey Mercury's insurance before entering- As Pluto's envoy, she surely was not alone. But to admit to knowing of her bodyguards, similarly suggested that he was confident in his own preparations should the Plutocracy have decided to nip a potential problem in the bud. Or perhaps it was a bluff?

"As for this... Que'er, would you please?" He was only half lying about this trip being a chance to grant the girl some much needed experience- After all, whether or not a deal would come to pass rested purely on the Plutocracy's attitude towards his intrusion. If they saw him favorably, then Zhu Que could not possibly sabotage the deal- And if they were unfavorable, would even he be able to negotiate better terms? For her own part, the Zhu Que who had been sulking after being implicitly scolded perked up. Hai! Yes, it is a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Mercury! I have heard much about you!" If it were her boss saying it, the implication of that statement would be much darker... But with Zhu Que, who knew what was going on in her head?

"As for why we are here... Well, with this timing, it can only be that, you know!" The auction of the following day, naturally. I won't do you the insult of introducing ourselves as though you haven't done the slightest research! As such, I am sure you are aware of our... Circumstances. To have goods but no market to sell them in, is that not truly unfortunate?" Wang Ba's problem was quite simple- He lacked brand recognition! Even if what he had was good, it was still the black market. There was no rule of law to fall back on, so trust was king. So, to that end... Our purpose is quite simple. We would like to offer some of our products for sale in your auction." Zhu Que quite simply got to the point. With that, the two paused, giving the other a chance to respond- Off to the side, Wang Ba watched the Plutocracy representative's face closely, looking for any sign of her inner thoughts. As for the woman in red... She merely looked proud, as though glad she had not stumbled over her words.

The benefits of such a deal were clear- To Pluto, it would mean an increase in the number of attractive items on show, at little cost to them- In fact, depending on the quality of the goods, it may even mean a higher profit than sourcing them personally. As for Wang Ba... Certainly, giving up a cut of the profits to another organization was painful, but the invisible profit of the connection with Japan's underground was an immeasurable benefit... Not to mention, even selling at a loss was more profitable than not selling at all.

Well, it was about as he has expected. Whether or not those other patrons existed, wasn't important. What was important was that the bargaining power was... Entirely on Plutocracy's side. Well, that was as he expected. Taking a loss in this deal was quite the natural outcome. Having accepted that, his goal... Zhu Que's goal, was to minimize the impact. It was truly a difficult opponent for her first true negotiation, but then... The difficulty was what made it such a good experience. A loss was set in stone, so whether it was a loss by 10% or by 30% simply was not worth mentioning... Compared to the intangible benefits, the connections, the brand recognition... And the chance to train his messenger.

"It's a pleasure working with someone who gets to the point." Wang Ba would reply, the corners of his mouth turned upwards in a faint smile. "Yeah! Those old fogies back home would talk for ages about jack shit! So booooriiiiiing!" The vermillion bird would pipe up once more. For once, her boss did not berate her for it- If anything, he was dissatisfied with Mercury. He had made it quite clear that Que'er was the one in charge of this negotiation, and yet she insisted in talking to him. Wasn't this not placing his representative in her eyes?

Well, perhaps to Mercury, it wasn't worth placing a small figure in her eyes. After all, to do so would mean placing Wang Ba on the level of her boss, Pluto. Naturally, Wang Ba felt no inferiority to the other man- But merely the fact that he had come while the other had not, showed the actual levels of the two. Tch. But as a professional, his annoyance would not show on his face at all. He just simply left it at that, with his eyes on his partner. How would she respond to this blatant disrespect?

Apparently, with a smile. "Humu humu!" The red-dressed girl was still fuming over those 'old fogies-' Or, as it were, the heads of China's criminal underworld. But she soon recovered- As the messenger of Wang Ba, she wasn't a complete airhead... Despite evidence to the contrary. "Ahem. Trust, was it? It's true that we represent newcomers on the scene, but you are well aware of our background. What is a better measure of trust than credit history? Our record speaks for itself." If Mercury hadn't done even that much research into the two before agreeing to meet them, they would be surprised. "As for the rest... Well, the truth is as it is. I understand that you cannot give a latecomer the same treatment as early adopters." It was a shame they had only received word about this auction so late, or they wouldn't be in such a precarious position... But then, it was understandable why Plutocracy would keep things so hushed. After all, with any more time... Let alone selling goods in the auction, Wang Ba would be looking for ways to crush it under his thumb. Let alone any of the many others who would enjoy a piece of the market Pluto held so firmly.

"With regards to what we have to offer, I'm sure you'll have no objections. Compared to your other patrons, I believe you'll find that we have something they do not... A supply chain." She withdrew a piece of paper from her pocketless dress... Where she had been keeping it, a woman's secret~ It was a manifest of what Wang Ba's group had to offer... Most of which, unwise to mention out loud in a public space. That is to say, the most legal item on the list... It would be hard to determine if it was the weapons, explosives, and what have you... Or the remains of such endangered species as the rich and powerful would love to have... Whether for decoration, or consumption. Drugs too, of course- Though nothing so conspicuous as the recently popular QED.

But perhaps the largest offer on the list was simple manpower. Of all the countries in the world, few could compare with China in terms of that. India, perhaps. But in terms of supplying warm bodies, Wang Ba was easily among the strongest in Japan at the moment. There were those who didn't exist officially, abandoned at birth for having the wrong features. Those who sold themselves to feed their family. Quirkless, quirkers. Young, old. Male, female... He had it all. Certainly an enticing list. "Naturally, there are no problems with the merchandise. Of course, I understand that this is something you cannot take our word on. We can have it all delivered straight to your docks for inspection without delay... I am sure that will leave ample time to confirm our claims before tomorrow."

It was quite the gap between the businesslike manner in which she laid out their property, and the rather birdbrained manner of moments before... But as usual, that was a part of her charm.