Chapter 114: The Market Cannot Be Disrupted
This time, Xia Mu met with Sheng Jie again, but unlike the previous two meetings, they already had a basic understanding of each other. Xia Mu didn't beat around the bush and directly stated his purpose.
As the regional manager of the Alliance Store, Sheng Jie had some information unknown to ordinary people, so he guessed that Xia Mu's special visit must be because he had obtained something valuable from Mount Lantern on the Isle of Gathering yesterday and wanted to return it to him.
However, he never expected that Xia Mu would bring thousands of Fire Stones this time.
Evolution Stones are extremely rare evolution items; although lucky people can obtain them in the wild, it's impossible to get so many.
Simply put, the generation of evolution stones generally requires many conditions to be met, and the world's famous mining areas are not open to the public; the source is controlled by the Alliance and various families.
With thousands upon thousands of them, there was no doubt that Xia Mu had discovered a new evolution stone mine.
"Xia Mu, this is no joke! You need to know how valuable an evolution stone mine is!" Sheng Jie was dumbfounded. Even though he was knowledgeable and held a mid-to-high-level position in the League, such a thing happening to him was truly outrageous.
His gaze towards Xia Mu changed.
Xia Mu, knowing his shock, followed up, "I never expected to be so lucky. Yesterday, Mount Lantern erupted, and on a whim, I went to investigate.
Not only did I manage to thwart Team Rocket's plot, but I also saved Moltres. I thought catching Moltres was the biggest gain, but I didn't expect to find so many Fire Stones in the underground cavern of Mount Lantern… I just wonder, with so many, what's the League's buyback price?"
The words had barely left his lips when the probing intent became quite clear. Upon hearing this, Sheng Jie's expression turned serious.
"I can't give you a precise answer on that. After all, the quantity is too large; it needs to be reported to the Alliance headquarters, and the higher-ups will determine the appropriate buyback price.
However, you can rest assured that as long as the buyback criteria are met, the price will definitely exceed 15,000 Alliance Coins.
I remember three months ago, an expedition found over three hundred Water Stones in a deep pool deep within the Viridian Forest; at that time, the buyback price at the Viridian City Friendship Shop was 38,000 Alliance Coins."
Although there wasn't a precise price quote, Xia Mu understood from the examples he mentioned that the buyback price of evolution stones is indeed linked to quantity. If the quantity is small, it won't be valued and won't disrupt the market, so the buyback price is whatever you want to sell.
But if the quantity is large, hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands, and if it's sold illegally on the side, or sold at a low price after obtaining a license through certain means, it will disrupt the economic market.
Imagine, the price of gold is originally 600 yuan per gram, and suddenly a gold shop appears selling it for only 200 yuan per gram. If there's no license, people will definitely doubt its authenticity, but if there is a license, the price of gold will plummet, affecting the entire market. Perhaps your quantity is limited, but the losses to the capital market over a period of time are incalculable.
Therefore, high-price buybacks will occur. Rather than causing an economic collapse, those in power will try to nip any potential problems in the bud.
The reason Xia Mu is unwilling to do this business isn't because the profit margin is too low, but because the constraints are too great, and he'd end up with no control over his own destiny.
He could indeed choose to sell evolution stones at a low price, for example, selling them for 100,000 when others sell them for 200,000 or 300,000!
But you need to incur various costs, plus paying the Alliance's taxes. Selling one for 100,000 Alliance coins might only yield a net profit of 30,000 to 50,000. In the short term, he could indeed make a fortune because the price was low, attracting many buyers.
But in the long run, once the market is disrupted, other suppliers will also lower their prices. This way, not everyone will make money, but the entire evolution stone market will be in trouble.
The Alliance won't allow this to happen, hence the many restrictions. In the future, perhaps due to the influence of the overall environment, the price of evolution stones will gradually decrease, but as things stand now, it's not that simple, and no one can influence the overall situation.
Unless the higher-ups come up with a mutually beneficial plan, Xia Mu doesn't want to be the first to stick his neck out or the villain, becoming the target of everyone's attention.
So, even if he enters this industry, he'll only reach a consensus with other investors, selling at the same price, and occasionally organizing promotional events.
You might think, "Wouldn't that allow him to sell an evolution stone for two or three hundred thousand Alliance Coins?" Indeed! But at that price, how many could he sell in a short time?
To get rich quickly, for him right now, high volume is the only way.
Xia Mu is desperately short of money, which is why he approached Sheng Jie again. Of course, he won't sell directly to the Alliance Store; instead, after learning more, he'll visit his parents' company to learn from their experience.
After all, his business acumen is average. Although he's had some exposure to business in his past and present lives, he knows nothing when it comes to practical application.
While he'll learn from their experience, he's unwilling to accept financial assistance from his parents. This is a complete break from them, avoiding any future repercussions.
...
After chatting with Sheng Jie for a long time, Xia Mu waited for him to contact his superiors and received a definite reply.
Clearly, the Team Rocket raid on Isle of Gathering had already attracted the attention of the League's higher-ups, and now that Xia Mu was involved, even the Commander-in-Chief had been alerted. Undoubtedly, Xia Mu had not only thwarted Team Rocket's plot but also captured the legendary Moltres.
While this wasn't unprecedented in the League's history, it wasn't something just anyone could do.
Furthermore, Xia Mu was a junior member of the Xia family, and this time he was selling tens of thousands of Fire Stones. Such significant news, if not accompanied by a reasonable acquisition plan, would surely lead to enmity.
Xia Mu realized that his name had already been remembered by the Kanto leadership, especially the Commander-in-Chief. Through a phone call, Xia Mu spoke several times with this Commander-in-Chief named Yan Tie(Kurt).
Xia Mu felt that this incredibly enthusiastic old man was trying to get close to him, even inviting him to visit the Indigo Plateau sometime, which made Xia Mu feel somewhat flattered.
Xia Mu could only casually agree, after all, the other party had even brought up Blaine (Xia Bo), implying a very close old friend.
The buyback price of 50,000 Alliance Coins was indeed tempting for Xia Mu.
If he sold tens of thousands at once, that would be a full 500 million Alliance Coins. Moreover, this should already be the highest buyback price the Kanto Alliance could offer.
As for the comet fragments, due to a series of reasons, Yan Tie directly raised the buyback price to 10 million Alliance Coins.
The initial plan was mainly to sell the comet fragments, since the buyback price of Fire Stones was too low, it was really better to sell the comet fragments directly.
Anyway, when asked where they came from, he would just say he found them at Mount Lantern.
This book is finished at
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(End of Chapter)