The Shadow Tycoon
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 25: The Mountain of Patents
A great heap of patents, some he had heard of and some he had not, obviously could not be settled in two or three minutes. William reached a verbal agreement with this law firm: once he had prepared the materials, he would entrust the firm to accompany him to the Department of Social Services to register them.
In truth, he could file patent information without a lawyer accompanying him, but there were some issues he might not really be able to solve himself. For instance, state-level patents, Federation patents, global patents, and the applicability of various related clauses. To avoid giving others room to exploit loopholes later, it was best to have a lawyer come along.
After discussing these matters, he returned to the warehouse. Richard and the other hardworking little bees had come back once during the two-plus hours he had been away.
Box after box of loose change looked especially striking. Even if they were only coins, precisely because they were coins, the glittering shine of those little darlings could directly make people associate them with wealth.
The biggest problem now was still counting the money. Perhaps he could first have someone make the coin sorter while registering the patent at the same time. What he planned to do next was not only Mr. Fox’s business, but the business of all Sabine City. This was a big deal.
William passed the coins under the ultraviolet lamp, washed them once with cleaning agent, then left them to dry while waiting for Mr. Fox’s people to come collect the coins.
Before their people arrived, William would also call Mr. Fox once to make sure the person coming to pick up the goods was indeed one of Mr. Fox’s men.
Two deliveries in one morning had brought in more than sixteen hundred dollars. The speed was much faster than yesterday, especially Richard. His speed and volume were almost equal to the other two men combined, and he was the one working the hardest.
The other two tools were slower at exchanging change. They had also asked Richard why he could always turn all the money in his pocket into change so quickly and so well. Richard always answered with a foolish grin, saying that running around more was enough.
William knew his trick, but did not expose it. Richard was giving up a portion of his own income to turn bills into change, rather than refusing to part with a single cent.
On the surface, his profit seemed to have decreased. In reality, his income had instead far surpassed the others because of the increase in speed and volume.
In a relatively fair environment, a certain gap in income would stimulate competition between people. That was actually a good thing.
The whole day was consumed by this tiny company. In truth, he had no need to stay here the entire time. But for now, Vera was still not completely trustworthy, and there were some things others might not be able to do, so he could only work a little harder himself for the time being.
At the birth of any micro-firm, the first person the factory owner usually oppressed and exploited was himself. In the process, they gradually mastered the proper methods of oppressing and exploiting workers, by practicing on themselves. In the end, they took their firmest and most powerful step toward becoming capitalists.
A little later, after William sent Vera home, he returned to the Warehouse District. After shutting off the power, he made a simple adjustment, creating what looked like a short-circuit point caused by a rodent gnawing through the wiring, then pushed the breaker.
After a brief sound like some kind of sustained, high-frequency vibration, the light that had just come on dimmed again. William walked calmly to the desk and picked up the telephone.
Before long, an electrician from the Warehouse District arrived. He was a man in his thirties who looked very experienced. He first checked the fuse box, removed the blown fuse wire, then reported the situation to William while beginning to search for the short-circuit point.
At the same time, he handed William a clipboard. On it was a stack of forms, the electrical repair forms used throughout Sabine City and even the entire state.
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