V flashed the red light on the helmet's visor without hesitation, provocatively tilting his chin towards him.
But then, he stood obediently behind Mercer, maintaining a certain distance from Aguilar, standing straight, surveying the surroundings, very much like a thug sidekick during gang negotiations—actually, both sides were pretty much in this stance.
Hans smiled and was the first to speak: "Long time no see, Mercer. Oh, I should call you Mr. Mercer now."
"With the relationship between Mr. Hans and me, calling me A is still fine... Mr. El Ventisma, it's an honor to meet you in person. I'm Mercer, Alex, Mercer, you can call me by my name, or by my codename, A."
Mercer responded to Hans's greeting first, and then respectfully greeted the Cuban man sitting on the sofa, named Diego El Ventisma Mendoza.
The extremely long-named Cuban actually only has the first and last names as formal names, the middle part belongs to a gang-specific 'nickname'
El Ventisma, in Spanish means 'Ghost', people in the underworld generally call him Mr. Ghost to show respect.
Just like Aguilar behind him—this name Aguilar actually doesn't refer to a single person.
In the rumors of the gang world, Aguilar is a pair, one male and one female, both dressed the same, both cold in personality, ruthless in action, and both use the same custom pistol. The name Aguilar represents their identity as legendary Cuban assassins.
Some say that Aguilar is actually a cloned duplicate, explaining why Aguilar could roam the underworld for decades as an assassin, shaking the North American Continent, and still be alive today.
But even a legendary assassin like Aguilar, in front of this Mr. Ghost, is nothing noteworthy.
Because El Ventisma's reputation is simply too vast, many people in New America don't even know the vice president's name, but they all know that Cubans have a powerful 'Mr. Ghost'.
Nowadays, close to sixty percent of smuggling businesses in Dog Town are provided by this Mr. Ghost.
In the Cuba Crime Group, virtually all smuggling and arms businesses are handled by this Mr. Ghost, it could be said that before the establishment of Dog Town, over half of the smuggling routes from the North American Continent to Cuba were monopolized by him.
The founding of Dog Town, and the flourishing of the smuggling business, cannot completely do without the support of this Mr. Ghost.
At this moment, El Ventisma was expressionlessly examining Mercer, sizing him up from top to bottom, then said straightforwardly: "Sit down, my time is precious, there's only one hour left."
Mercer smiled and sat on one side of a booth.
Then, Mr. Ghost looked at Mercer and said in a calm tone: "In your three-year plan, how do you plan to swiftly increase the trade volume in Dog Town?"
This question was somewhat unexpected to Mercer, but he answered fluently: "Previously, Dog Town's business was too rough, either we paid first, people threw goods in, we paid the balance, and then sold the goods.
Or we collected a deposit first, received others' transit goods, and only when the recipient appeared, could we deliver the goods and collect the balance.
If the goods are stuck in hand and not moving out, it would lower the efficiency of capital turnover, and even when finding a buyer, we'd still have to transport the goods there or wait for the other party to pick them up, too inefficient.
But after this, I will modify the stadium and trade method, sellers and buyers can negotiate transactions via network programs, using European banks' online banking services for transit, we'll directly sign a third-party commission agreement with the bank.
This can eliminate lots of bookkeeping and reconciliation hassle.
Meanwhile, we'll organize the entire smuggling market in Dog Town, use our own software to list and sell goods, use our people for express delivery within Night City..."
Mercer briefly explained his commercial process ahead: "Meanwhile, we will also hold some high-end auctions regularly, send some rare items to Gem Cyan for auction.
This way, some good things can be sold at higher prices, and more high-end smuggling items can circulate from Dog Town.
In the past, many times sellers were looking for buyers, while buyers couldn't find sellers, but I think Dog Town can solve this problem.
Also utilizing software, buyers can choose and purchase goods through network orders, once ordered, we'll handle the entire process, deliver to the door, cash on delivery—I guess those wealthy folks will love this feeling.
You know, many wealthy people buy some smuggled goods, contraband, purely because they get impulsive, and online shopping is the easiest way to make people impulsive.
It's very likely they'll scroll through the website and suddenly see some valuable rarity, wanting to buy it for fun.
Of course, we need further to develop more trade routes, solely relying on air drops for incoming and outgoing goods is still too slow, we need a dedicated port for receiving and dispatching goods, and Taiping Prefecture happens to have conditions to develop a port..."
"The idea is enticing, but Dog Town is the limit, the cake is too big for you to handle."
Mr. Ghost did not favor this idea but agreed with some of Mercer's thoughts: "But it seems, you're not a fool either.
Say something crucial—our demand is that the prior cooperation and division remain unchanged, but you must ensure that if we have needs, prioritize working for us."
Mercer gladly nodded: "Of course, that's no problem."
"Besides that..." Mr. Ghost squinted: "We want your armor."
Without waiting for Mercer to reply, Mr. Ghost emphasized: "We want the armor that your ordinary soldiers can use for extended periods, not the one that drives them mad when used, understand?"