The Shadow Tycoon
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 75
William had come to the Warehouse District precisely to deal with the things in these warehouses. And this was not even all of them. Mr. Fox’s other warehouses were likewise packed full of various goods. Sometimes the collateral in a single mortgage agreement was not one item, but many.
He walked in front, while Mr. Fox and his son followed behind him. One ahead, two behind, they moved forward.
“I understand your trouble very clearly now. I can solve these problems...” He slowed his steps slightly, letting Mr. Fox more or less walk beside him. “You can entrust these things to me for sale. I have a company that can handle what you have here...” He casually gestured across the approximate range. “All of it.”
Mr. Fox’s expression froze slightly. He had thought William would have some other method of handling it, perhaps packaging the goods and passing them to someone else. He had not expected William to intend to do it himself. That sobered Mr. Fox a little from the myth of his ever-expanding wealth.
His wealth was doubling at a speed he would once never have dared imagine. And William, in a manner and at a speed even harder for him to imagine, was moving forward, swelling, multiplying.
Mr. Fox had spent half his life running gray businesses, living every day in fear, before he had everything he had now. But look at this young man before him. Half a month ago, he had still been an ordinary unemployed man.
And now, his wealth might already be countless times what it had been before, yet he had taken less than a month to complete that myth of wealth.
More terrifying still, every one of William’s earnings was completely legal, and taxed.
Mr. Fox was swelling. William was too, faster, and more discreetly.
He dazed out for only an instant before returning to himself. Thought moved very quickly, so quickly that before William even realized what Mr. Fox had been thinking, Mr. Fox had already regained control of his body.
“Mm...” After a brief murmur of thought, Mr. Fox asked in a tone tinged with admiration, “Then this time, what do I need to pay?”
William was not entirely sure what had caused Mr. Fox to undergo such a drastic change in such a short time, drastic enough that even part of his bearing had shifted, but it was a good sign. He did not mind.
“That depends on your choice.”
“First option, subtract thirty percent from the collateral price listed in the agreements, and I’ll buy these things outright. Whether they rot in my hands later, or sell for a higher price, it will have nothing to do with you.”
“Profit or loss, all of it will be mine alone.”
“Second option, my company helps you sell these things. You need to give me two prices, the lowest price you can accept, and the price you hope for.”
“I will charge based on the midpoint. Whether the goods sell or not, you must pay me a ten percent fee. I cannot guarantee when they will sell, or what the final transaction price will be.”
As William spoke, he stopped. He looked at father and son, the smile on his face as bright as it had been when they first met.
There was worry on Mr. Fox’s face. He discussed it quietly with his son for a while, and both felt the choice was difficult.
In truth, they both knew very well that the collateral values in the mortgage agreements had already been pressed very low. Something originally worth one hundred dollars was counted at only forty or fifty dollars with them. There would absolutely be people willing to spend forty or fifty dollars, fifty or sixty dollars, or even more to buy such things. They were far cheaper than they had been when displayed in store cabinets.
But at the same time, they hesitated. Over the past two days, they had also tried selling these things, and the results had been unsatisfactory. Not everyone was interested in them. In two days, they had recovered only a little over one thousand dollars.
If they wanted to turn all of it into cash, it would probably not be easy. Nor would it be quick. It would take a long time, and in that process there would be warehouse fees, management fees, labor costs, and possible accidental losses, for instance, if something broke.
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