The Gold Slums Movement

"It seems you don't get it yet" Ezra said.

"*Cough* I'm not good with big numbers" Cabrera said embarrassingly.

"Hmm, are you good with the number hundred?" Ezra asked.

"Of course"

"Good, if one hundred people give you five copper each, what is the total amount?"

"Hmm, that is…five hundred copper!" Cabrera said with a slightly proud expression.

It took all Ezra had not to burst into laughter as he saw the man acting like a child, only regaining composure after a few seconds.

"Which is five silver in one day. Now, what if those hundred people keep giving you five silver for a hundred days"

"That's...give me a moment…hmm…it's five hundred silver!"

"Good, and five hundred silver is…?" Ezra asked Cabrera.

"Five…gold coins-"

He looked at me incredulously as he seemed to have realized why I called the slums a gold mine.

"-Whoa!" he suddenly exclaimed.

"How did you think of something like this?" he asked, while looking at me like I was some sort of monster.

Truth be told, it was one of the many ideas I had once I saw the efficiency of the art of "using people to work for you"

Of course, combined with some of the memories from my past life that is.

Nevertheless, I replied.

"It was from a member of our organization" I lied again as Cabrera seemed to have accepted it.

I had raised the value of the non-existent organization, while adding another dose of mysteriousness around myself. A form of deterrence in case he would ever try to betray me.

"The project is termed 'The Gold Slums Movement', and I am handing its immediate execution to you" I said.

"You must be quick yet discreet about it. Not even your gang members should know"

"A merchant guild will be registered as a partner guild to 'Black Jaws' in due time, to help you with money counting and the rest"

"I will send you notes on how to handle it, as well as the members of the organization, in the future. Of course, you can also recommend people you know"

"Also, can you buy the slums?"

"Eh?"

The last question put Cabrera's mind in disarray.

"The land that the slums are situated on, can it be bought?" Ezra clarified.

"Hmm…I doubt it has ever been done before, so there are no references to look at, but according to the land ownership law, it should assumably…be possible"

"Good, be ready to file for its ownership in the coming months"

"Ok"

"Firstly, you will send some men there to clean the entire place up for a decent amount. After that, you will make a guild branch there, which we will use to recruit anyone talented. Then later, buy literate slaves to teach the recruits reading and writing. All these are to be done in a matter of two months as I send more members and more directives" Ezra stated.

"That will be all for now" I said, before I facepalmed myself when I abruptly remembered why I came to the city in the first place.

"Which one of your boys is a regular at a chance store?" I suddenly asked.

"Which one of them is a gambling addict?" Cabrera looked at me with a raised brow.

"Yes, if you would call it that" Ezra said.

"I know just the person, let's step outside" Cabrera said, as the three men stepped back into the wrecked bar after almost three hours of discussion.

The gang members were already cleaning up the place and had thrown away the majority of the broken glass and wood.

"Randy! Get over here" Cabrera shouted and a lanky man ran over, sweat forming on his forehead as he looked at Ezra then Sir Fredrick.

"Y-Yes boss?"

"How many of those chance stores have you been to?"

Randy as well as the members listening in made weird faces at the sudden question.

"Hmm, I know almost every chance store in the city, boss"

"Very good, take them there" the boss said, pointing at the two devils beside him.

"B-But boss, th-these guys are go-"

"They're not going to do anything to you. Right, Sirs?" Cabrera asked while looking at them.

Ezra simply nodded.

"They will not harm you" Cabrera said, which made the gang members mutter.

"Did they do something to the boss?"

"Maybe he's being controlled"

But…

"You brats, you think I can't hear what you're murmuring. I and Mr. Kevin have become allies and have solved the misunderstanding between us"

"From now on, you are to treat Mr. Kevin as you do me. Is that clear?!" he said, his voice reverberating throughout the bar.

The murmurs finally died down. Their boss was still their boss. But how did the one who killed some of their members become an ally? No one knew.

"I'll be heading out, you boys should get ready for action, and tell the world that the Mad Fist is back!"

Shocked words were heard one after another as thoughts went through the gang members' minds.

They immediately understood it. The gang leader that had been inactive for a long time was coming back into action.

Things…were about to become fun.

As they realized this, they felt their blood pumping and their hearts racing.

Gang wars would soon ensue, as all sides fight to protect their territory and interest while sabotaging the others.

Cabrera headed out without saying anything else, leaving the gang members lost in their thoughts. Some embraced what was coming, while others wanted things to stay the way they were.

Meanwhile, Ezra and Fredrick motioned Randy to lead them towards the chance stores.

Ezra left a directive to feed ruby, whose brother was still gathering people, before going out.

-----------------

"We are here Sir" Randy said as a small wooden shop came into view.

"Let's go" Ezra said as he entered a shop filled with different wares that had one thing In common.

They were mostly defective.

Chance shops were shops that did exactly what their name said.

The customer could pick any item for the low price of fifty copper to two silver, with the quality being entirely on luck.

It is mostly filled with defective products, or an item whose functions couldn't be discerned, which should sell for three to four copper.

But you might also find artifacts of gold rank, or even relics of the ancient era.

You were given a 'chance', hence the name.

What Ezra was looking for was exactly that. He told both Randy and Fredrick to wait outside before going in.

'A commoner found a dimensional ring in a chance store in this city, before selling it to a noble for unimaginable wealth'

Ezra thought as he looked around, when a voice called out…

"This isn't a place for kids, go somewhere else to play" a man standing at the counter said with annoyance.

He was abnormally fat with small eyes and a small nose.

Ezra didn't take it to heart as he reached the counter and spoke.

"How much for the stuff?"

The fat man scrutinized Ezra in hopes of intimidating him, but he remained undeterred.

"The average is forty copper, while the highest is two sliver" he said.

"Thank you" Ezra said, before going back to scrutinize each object carefully. The shop worker only gave him a glance before going back to his book.

Ezra noticed this, and…

'Shall I begin in earnest?'

He thought as he activated a skill he acquired recently.

'Mana Vision' Ezra called out inwardly, as mana concentrated in his eyes and the view around him changed.

He could see which way mana was flowing in an object. A broken flow meant it was a defective product, while anything with dark green mana in them was cursed.

'I have fifteen minutes to search everything' Ezra reminded himself as he moved with haste and started separating the items, putting the ones he would buy aside.

After all, he didn't know the specific shop in which the ring had been found, else he wouldn't need Randy to lead him.

Nevertheless, this was an opportunity to clear this place of its best artifacts, and that's exactly what Ezra was doing.

Ezra's hands were moving so fast that the fat man could only see blurs as his equipment was gradually arranged into two neat piles.

By the eleventh minute, Ezra was done picking the items he saw had potential. He deactivated mana vision and counted them, getting surprised that the number was in the double digits.

There were twenty items, ranging from bronze rank up to a damaged platinum rank.

Although he didn't find the ring. It was nevertheless a bountiful haul.

Ezra wiped the non-existent sweat off his face as he cashed everything in for five silver, paid immediately, and had a carriage take it to the broken bar, before taking another carriage to another chance store.

What if the goods were stolen? The man in the carriage would reimburse Ezra for it.

What if the carriage man stole it? Then he must be able to flee the city before the next morning, leaving behind everything he built till now, or else he would be imprisoned and very possibly, executed.

After all, all shops had what was called a Mana Mark. It was akin to a stamp, and the seller placed it on bought goods to indicate they weren't stolen.

---------------

On a moving carriage with three people watching on silently.

The trio had visited three stores so far, with the same sequence of Ezra robbing them of their best items right under their noses and paying almost nothing for it.

At the moment, Ezra was looking at a communication amulet he found in the store they had just 'searched'.

It was a necklace the size of a pendant that had a Mind Stone in it, with three different runes intricately carved on it to allow smooth communication.

The formerly golden chain had all but faded, only to leave a cheap looking pendant in its wake.

Such things didn't matter to Ezra as long as it was completely functional, which it was.

He was planning out multiple scenarios and uses for it.

'What if I could make this in large amounts?' Ezra thought to himself as he looked at the pendant, before a name popped up in his mind.