<h4>Chapter 3631 Expensive Real Estate</h4>


    Davute VII was an important to Ves and the Larkinson n. If their current ns yielded results, the Larkinsons would likely set up a presence on the.


    The n not only needed to buy a plot ofnd and build the headquarters for the trade consortium, but also had to set up a branch office to manage its own affairs.


    The n needed to spend a considerable amount of money and go through a lot of annoying bureaucratic procedures to get everything done.


    Thetter turned out to be a greater hassle than Ves expected. The governance of the Davute System wasplicated and demand for territory on Davute VII was high.


    A lot of ambitious pioneers and other enterprising individuals saw great promise in establishing a physical presence on a notable trade and did not mind spending more money to get their wish.


    "Can you repeat that again, Benny?" Ves asked.


    Gavin Neumann took a deep breath. "We just got back word from the real estate agent. The site we have picked out for the headquarters of our trade consortium is not cheap. If we want to have enough certainty to outbid other possible buyers, then we need tomit at least 4000 MTA credits."


    "..."


    4000 MTA credits might not sound much. He could buy around 33 copies of Gloriana''s handbag with that much money.


    However, that was not an indication that the plot ofnd was cheap. It was more of a sign that Gloriana''s new pride and joy was too expensive!


    The amount of money it cost for the Larkinson n to secure a rather modest plot ofnd in a prosperous district was enough to fund the acquisition of a modest capital ship back in the old gxy!


    Ves groaned and pressed his fingers against his forehead. "This is too much. We can purchase many other goodies with that much money."


    "It is actually a reasonable price, all considered." Gavin answered as he used hism to project a map of Kotor City, the capital of Davute VII. "The plot we''ve chosen is located in the periphery of the Financial District, which sits squarely in the center of the metropolis. Even though the Financial District is notpletely built, everyone knows it will be the top destination for the biggestpanies and organizations that are operating in Krakatoa."


    "I know." Ves nodded. "It would have been nice if we could set up a base of operations in Nova Street."


    "Don''t even dream about it, boss. Nova Street is the prime location for all of the big trans-gctic corporations and major pioneering alliances. From the start of its nning, the big yers have already imed their plots ofnd."


    "Even if they only intend to build floating structures?"


    "They don''t want anyone living underneath." Gavin stated. "Besides, if those floating pces and office buildings ever experience any problems thatpromise their ability to remain in the air, they need sufficient space tond in an emergency."


    "What about other threats? It''s not safe on the frontier. What will happen in the event of an alien incursion?"


    "ording to the ns, arge and extensive underground tunnel system will be made underneath the wealthier districts. Many structures, whether onnd or in the air, will be moved underground and be shielded from most attacksing from orbit or on the surface. It''s aplicated and expensive arrangement and partially exins why it is so expensive to build real estate in this district. The tunnel and security systems of the Financial District are the best."


    Ves scoffed. "They can''t allow the elites and the people in charge toe to any harm. I can definitely believe that the security measures of the Financial District are sterpared to the rest of the city. This is also exactly why we need to set up a presence here. Even if our trade consortium can only squeeze in at the edge, it is still better than any other location in Kotor City. The Financial District conveys a lot of prestige to those who are able to secure a ce in it. Our future business dealings with the locals will be much smoother as a result."


    In that sense, the plot ofnd was absolutely more valuable than what was obvious on the surface. The people in charge of selling thend already took all of these elements into ount.


    "Does that mean you are willing to invest in this plot ofnd?" Gavin asked. "It''s not that impressive, to be honest. It''s located in Beckerdale Street which sort of sits in the shadows of many other structures. The plot also only gives us the right to build our headquarters at ground level. There is another plot located above it that is reserved for the construction of a floating building. The price of that air plot is at least twice as expensive, so it is an extremely costly endeavor to buy both."


    Ves grimaced when he heard that. Air plots were more valuable thannd plots. Who wanted to live and work underneath many tons of floating mass that might potentially malfunction and crash on top of their heads one day?


    Even if there were thousands of safeguards and so on, just the symbolism of the matter was not pleasant!


    Fortunately, Ves had no intentions of actually working and living in the new ce. He could just shove all of the concerns to other people. Let them worry about this faint possibility.


    Paying 4000 MTA credits was not uneptable considering all of the intangible benefits that the n would get in return.


    The question now was whether the n should pay for all of this out of its own pocket.


    "We can make the acquisition more bearable if we split the cost between all of the members of the trade consortium." Gavin suggested. "Even if many of the smaller parties cannot draw out 100 or so MTA credits right away, we can give them loans that they will pay back in installments."


    Ves leaned back against his office chair and thought for a moment.


    "That''s a viable solution, but money conveys ownership. If we split the cost evenly, that will subsequently suggest that everyone is an equal partner in the trade consortium. That is not what I have in mind. I don''t want to lose control of it and turn into someone else''s ything."


    "We can''t be too tyrannical about it either, boss. Our trade consortium will not be able to attract many willing members if we are in control of everything. You need to strike a bnce. Minister Shederin has already suggested that we should aim to secure at least 25 percent of the decision-making power of the trade consortium. We can im primacy because we founded it and paid for much of its expenses, but we won''t im absolute control, thereby preventing the other members from feeling they are solely dancing to our tune. If they aren''t content, they can easily apply to leave our trade consortium."


    The Larkinsons couldn''t have it both ways. Absolute control was unattainable while total equality was uneptable. The best solution going forward was to find a middle ground where the Larkinson n gained additional rights but could still be overruled by a majority of members.


    Of course, the power bnce wasn''t so simple on the surface. If Ves truly employed a spiritualwork for his trade consortium, then everyone would know that the support of the Larkinson n was absolutely essential for its continued functioning!


    The rules were rather light and generous because the proposed spiritualwork substituted the missing functions.


    If the Larkinson n left the consortium, that might not be the case any longer.


    This provided enough guarantees to Ves that the trade consortium would not suddenly act against the Larkinson n.


    "Let''s just buy this plot and be done with it." Ves eventually decided. "It won''t be easy toe up with 4000 MTA credits, but we already owe around 90,000 MTA credits anyway. Our debt burden won''t grow that much bigger."


    "Uhm, boss, we owe a little bit more than that. Despite selling a portion of the harvest from the Titania, our expenses are still considerable. Aside from that, we will have to spend additional sums of money to actually construct the headquarters building. We can''t be too frugal. Not only will we run afoul of local ordinances, we''ll also be embarrassing ourselves."


    Ves sighed. "Then go ahead and borrow more money. By the way, what does our ie look like these days? Are we doing better or worse?"


    "It hasrgely remained stagnant as ofte, but there are faint signs of optimism. The LMC''s business operations in the Yeina Star Cluster roughly generate more than 5000 MTA credits a month. Much of ites from selling mechs, though we are also collecting an increasing amount of licensing fees. Our old third-ss mechs such as the Deste Soldier, the Doom Guard and the oldest version of the Ferocious Piranha are still solid cash cows, though that won''tst forever. Their sales are slowly trending downwards. Even the rise of third-party variants can''t stop that from happening."


    The mech market was constantly evolving. Better mechs were being designed and published with each passing day and thepetition certainly wouldn''t allow the LMC to reign forever!


    In the absence of any newmercial releases, the rest of the mech industry stepped in to meet demand. Although it was well-known by now that changing the designs of living mechs often destroyed their living qualities, numerous mech designers found ways to mitigate the damage.


    Ves didn''t particrly care about this development at this point. He no longer valued his third-ss mechs so highly so it was fine if others wanted to mess around with them. Though the LMC received a much smaller share of profits from the sale of third-party variants, at least these enterprising mech designers were still bringing in money from sources that initially weren''t his customers.


    The LMC currently adopted two different approaches towards third-party manufacturers.


    Thepany still favored doing business with authorized manufacturers. These were the ones who signed favorable contracts with the LMC. In exchange for lowering their fees, they had to abide by strict quality standards and other requirements. They also weren''t allowed to modify the designs without permission.


    The LMC couldn''t do much against those who licensed its mech designs from the MTA''s internal library. These third parties were free to do what they wanted with the designs of the Deste Soldier and so on as long as they abided by the terms of the standard contract as well as the relevantws of the MTA.


    It was thetter phenomenon that became increasingly more prevalent in the Yeina Star Cluster. More and more mech designers figured out how to work with them. As long as they didn''t make too many changes, the new variants were still adequate living mechs!


    "Given our financial pressure, we should do something about this ourselves." Ves mused. "We shouldn''t neglect the LMC''s business operations in the old gxy much longer. If everyone start to think that we only care about the Red Ocean now that we have migrated here, we won''t be able to collect 5000 MTA credits a month so easily anymore!"


    "Does that mean…"


    "I can promise you that our Design Department will put its focus onmercial mech design projects in the next design round. Once the Larkinson Army has received a bunch of exclusive mech models, I''m not in a hurry to give them more. We should use this opportunity to refresh and expand ourmercial offerings."


    Gavin looked a lot more hopeful now that Ves was finally willing to pay attention to the business side of the Larkinson n again!


    "Will you put your focus on our business operations in the old gxy or the new frontier?"


    "Both." Ves said. "We have eight Journeyman Mech Designers and hundreds of assistant mech designers. We have enough design resources to direct sufficient attention to both. If our trade consortium also gets off the ground, we can probably solve our current logistical problems as well, which will make it viable for us to produce more mechs in-house. However, let''s not get ahead of ourselves. We still need toplete the current design round which will take at least a month."


    "Understood."