The Tyrant Billionaire

Chapter 472 Cheaper Than The Price Of Scrap Metal



"If the product tastes good and has some effect, with a daily dose of one bottle in the morning and one in the evening, it will become a habit. This will ensure customer retention, allowing stable sales without constantly chasing new customers."

Samuel was full of admiration for his boss.

No wonder Hardy made so much money.

He had figured everything out.

It seemed Samuel wasn't really cut out for business, no wonder he had stagnated for so many years.

He thought to himself that he was better suited to being a pharmaceutical manager.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Samuel took notes continuously. These were his work goals for the future.

...

Earlier, Huo Qingtong had deployed several hundred people to the Okinawa Islands to gather resources, and now that the collection was complete, they were sailing over to load the goods.

As they were about to reach a small island in Okinawa, they happened to encounter a patrol ship.

"Toot~!"

The patrol ship sounded its whistle and greeted the cargo ship flying the American flag.

"Toot toot toot~!"

The cargo ship responded with a few whistles.

Initially, they thought they would pass by without incident, but unexpectedly, the patrol ship turned and followed the cargo ship, all the way to the island where Huo Qingtong's team was gathering the supplies.

"What's going on?" Huo Qingtong wondered.

As soon as the ship stopped, the other side called out, asking Huo Qingtong to board the patrol ship. Puzzled, Huo Qingtong went aboard the military ship.

It was the same captain he had encountered before.

Seeing Huo Qingtong, the captain smiled and invited him into his office, poured him a cup of coffee, and introduced himself with a grin, "Let me introduce myself, I'm Captain Ivan."

"I wonder, Captain Ivan, what brings you to me?" Huo Qingtong asked.

"You're here collecting supplies, right? We were thinking of doing a bit of business with you. Are you interested?" Captain Ivan said.

"Oh~ what kind of business?" Huo Qingtong asked curiously.

"We've got a batch of cargo ships that we can sell to you at a low price. Would you be interested?" Captain Ivan asked.

"What kind of cargo ships?"

"Japanese cargo ships, big and small. We confiscated them when we invaded Okinawa. Those bastards used these ships to transport supplies, and after the war, we seized them all. There are about twenty or thirty ships; some are usable, while others are already scrap. They're all sitting in a ship graveyard."

Huo Qingtong was taken aback.

"Would selling these ships cause any issues with your superiors?" Huo Qingtong asked.

Ivan laughed heartily, then lowered his voice, "To be honest, after I met you last time, I went back to the base and spoke with my superior, the base commander. When he heard about it, he said, 'Those Japanese ships we seized are just rusting away; we might as well sell them for scrap metal.'"

"So we discussed it among ourselves, and since those ships aren't listed in the military inventory, they're just post-war confiscated items, and nobody cares about them. Later, we can just say they were anchored in the bay and a typhoon blew them out to sea. No one will pay attention to them."

Huo Qingtong was shocked but realized they were right. No one cared about those Japanese ships. Saying a typhoon swept them away was a perfectly reasonable excuse.

The Americans were in charge now, and the Japanese didn't dare ask for anything back from them. They only needed to write a reason on the seized goods records and that's it.

"What types of ships are there?" Huo Qingtong asked.

"I can't say for sure, but I can take you to have a look," Captain Ivan replied.

Huo Qingtong agreed and sent a message back to his ship, telling them to keep working and loading the supplies, while he went with the fleet on other business.

Two hours later, the patrol ship arrived at a relatively secluded bay on Okinawa Island. The area was deserted and served as a ship graveyard where the U.S. military had stored the seized cargo ships.

The entire bay was filled with ships.

Find your next read on empire

Many of them were rusting, clearly untouched for a long time.

The ships varied in size and type, ranging from smaller ones weighing around a thousand tons to larger ones comparable to Liberty ships, likely weighing seven or eight thousand tons.

There were cargo ships as well as troop transport ships.

"What price are you offering?" Huo Qingtong asked tentatively.

"By weight—five dollars per ton," Ivan said.

Huo Qingtong was stunned.

The price of scrap metal was thirty dollars per ton.

Though these ships looked worn, Huo Qingtong knew that some could still be used. If he brought them back, cleaned off the rust, and gave them a new coat of paint, they could probably run for another decade or more.

Even if they were completely scrapped, buying them at five dollars per ton and selling the scrap metal would still be profitable.

"Colonel Ivan, as you know, Hardy Group has always worked for the logistics department and never engaged in private transactions. I'll need to consult with my boss on this matter," Huo Qingtong replied cleverly.

Ivan shrugged. "No problem. I'll wait for your response."

He added, "Regardless of whether this deal goes through, you mustn't let this information get out."

Huo Qingtong nodded, "I understand the rules."

The patrol ship brought Huo Qingtong back to the island where his team was loading supplies. Captain Ivan waved goodbye, and after the loading was complete, Huo Qingtong hurried back to Hong Kong.

He handed over the scrap metal to his subordinates to deal with and went to find Victor. Huo Qingtong explained in detail how they had encountered the U.S. patrol ship and the offer of a business deal.

After hearing the story, Victor wasn't sure if they should proceed, given that it involved both the U.S. military and the Japanese. He immediately called Hardy.


Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.