The Mafia Empire

Buying a ranch and rebuilding it wasn't a great investmt for anyone looking for short term profits. It was cheaper to just buy empty land.

And so the ranch sat abandoned.

That is, until Graf brought Julian there.

"It's pretty desolate!" Julian remarked as he looked at the waist high weeds, but in truth, he was very satisfied with the place.

The ranch was next to a country road, and although the road conditions wer't ideal, transportation wasn't an issue. The location was secluded, sured by a few fields and barr land. It was so isolated that they hadn't se a single person for half a day. The overgrown weeds made it ev more unlikely that anyone would come here without a specific reason.

During distillation, some alcohol vapor would inevitably escape from the still, and if the strong sct lingered in a populated area, it could cause trouble. Without a proper licse, any report would lead to a shutdown.

The only problem now was that the dilapidated buildings couldn't be used. They would need to be rebuilt, which was an additional expse. Fortunately, Mr. Heidler's second paymt arrived just in time, or Julian would have had to resort to means he didn't want to use to raise cash.

As they walked along a small path toward the rancher's house, Julian asked, "How much debt does this guy owe? And what's his asking price?"

Graf, clearing the way ahead, replied, "I heard he owes ,00 dollars, and he's asking for 3,000."

Julian frowned. After accounting for other expses and Heidler's money, he still had a shortfall of about 500 dollars. Realistically, he was facing a gap of ,000 dollars, since he couldn't leave himself without any emergcy funds. He would need to keep at least 300 to 500 dollars on hand. Raising that ,000 dollars in a short time wouldn't be easy, but he would take it one step at a time.

The two of them, along with two members of the Fellowship association, visited the rancher's house.

A woman in her thirties oped the door. She had blonde hair a clear sign of her Ordinians heritage. She had a dect figure and was fairly attractive, which explained why the creditors had threated to sell her. Wom like her, especially with blonde hair, were highly sought after in tertainmt establishmts.

The Ordinians people had a certain nationalist arrogance, looking down on other "lesser races." So ev in such establishmts, customers who wanted intimate counters would prefer Ordinians wom.

Others, who had be oppressed or scorned by the Ordinians people, would also likely choose an Ordinians woman for a night of indulgce, as if conquering them somehow alleviated their own restmt.

If the woman had a daughter, the price would probably double!

The woman eyed the visitors cautiously through the crack in the door, her gaze lingering on Graf, instinctively assuming that if this group was trouble, Graf would be the worst of them.

Julian stepped forward with a fridly smile, "Good afternoon, ma'am. My name is Julian. I've come to inquire about the ranch. I heard it's for sale, is that right?"

The woman hesitated, th nodded. Her shoulder moved slightly behind the door, and the sound of footsteps could be faintly heard moving away.

Sure ough, after about twty seconds, heavy footsteps approached. The woman stepped aside, revealing a man. His gold brown hair and beard indicated that he was of mixed race, likely part Ordinians. He looked tired, with a weary expression. He peered through the door at the four visitors, his gaze finally resting on Graf.

"Are you here to buy the ranch?" he asked.

Graf felt a bit awkward. The wom looked at him with wary eyes, while the m regarded him with a hint of hope. The problem was, he was not the one who could make decisions. So he took a step back, highlighting Julian's status, and said, "This is our boss."

The man's face clearly displayed an expression of skepticism, but his eyes brighted. In this capital driv world, if a young person claimed to want to buy something valuable, there were only two possibilities.

He was either a con artist or he was a decdt of a wealthy family.

It was unlikely that someone could afford to hire a young man like Graf, who had a threating appearance, if he were merely a con artist. Moreover, ev if he were a con artist, there was nothing here that could catch his interest.

Just like those traders who had previously inquired about prices, the high selling prices had dissuaded them; they would be better off buying empty land rather than overpaying for this desolate ranch.

Of course, empty land was indeed cheaper, but there was a small problem: time.

Buying land wasn't a simple matter. Since a ranch tycoon had crazily closed land, causing public outrage, the Empire had become extremely cautious about selling land and imposed many formalities.

For example, if one wanted to buy a piece of empty land for developing a ranch or farmland, they first had to get approval from the "Star Empire Land Use Office." From submission to approval, if everything wt smoothly, it would take about twty days.

Th, they would need to seek the votes of suring farmers, herders, and a few city residts for const; a sixty perct approval rate was required to proceed to the next step.

To buy a piece of empty land, regardless of the purpose, from initiation to completion would take no less than two to three months. This was also why Julian chose to come here, knowing that empty land was cheaper.

He couldn't wait that long otherwise, those three suppliers would go crazy, and he might ev be sued for fraud.

The man's expression relaxed a bit as he unlocked the door from the inside and oped it. "Welcome! Regardless of whether we can come to a satisfactory conclusion, I welcome you."