Chapter 474: Collaborated Transformation

Chapter 474: Collaborated Transformation

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Li Du sorted out the armor while Hans went to handle the hunting knives from the Hopi tribe.

The most valuable of out of them was a knife that was molded from antlers. Li Du saw Hans's joy, so he gave this to him as a gift. This was to make up for the loss Hans had suffered when Li Du took the jeweled dagger. Even though Hans did not mind, he still felt guilty.

It was not only the jeweled dagger Li Du had kept for himself, but also the Patek Philippe watch. He needed to treat Hans more like his equal to prevent future conflicts with him.

Hans posted the sale of 25 daggers and 49 hunting knives online. Li Du let him keep five daggers and nine hunting knives, and the rest were to be sold. These items were popular, as the intricately-manufactured homemade daggers provided the best company to travel enthusiasts. Hence, when these were posted online, they sold out in moments.

Every dagger was sold at 800 dollars while hunting knives were sold at 200 dollars each. In total, they would earn 24,000 dollars. Even though this wasn't much, it was better than nothing and contributed to the provisions for the cabin.

Hans wanted to split the profits with him. Li Du waved his hand to signify there was no need to hurry and said, "Big Fox, I have something I want to discuss with you."

"What's up?"

Li Du said, "I feel like recently, we haven't gained much from the auctions we've participated in. I want to increase our income by setting up a small company."

"Set up a small company?" Hans replied. "I feel like that's fine. Does that mean we have to alter our partnership?"

Yes, that was the reason Li Du wanted to have a discussion with him. Hans was wise and understood the hidden reason for asking him to set up a company.

Li Du had long wanted to change the nature of their collaboration. It wasn't that he was trying to get rid of Hans after gaining a steady footing in this industry. In fact, he liked working with Hans, and wanted to continue doing so.

However, there were some matters which led him to understand that this method of partnership wouldn't last.

The little bug had a great ability, which helped him discover things that he wouldn't have normally been able to find. With the increased frequency of discovery, Hans would eventually suspect him.

Take for example the Patek Philippe watch, the jeweled dagger, and the Arabic copper hand—these couldn't have all been discovered by any ordinary treasure hunter. They were too rare and valuable, Li Du abided by the agreement and split the rewards equally with Hans. However, these items weren't meant to appear on the market.

Not only Hans would suspect him, but those who had their attention on him would suspect him as well.

Ma Zhi-an didn't even really known Li Du and had already discovered that he had a unique treasure-hunting ability. If he had been another treasure hunter or someone in a related field, wouldn't he have been more suspicious?

He needed to keep some things after they were discovered but this would result in conflicts with Hans, who preferred to convert everything to cash.

If he hid items from Hans, this would prevent any conflict between them. He could do this, but he didn't want to, as it would greatly clash with his principles.

With this series of rationale, he decided to change the nature of his partnership with Hans. "If we set up a company, we'd both be stakeholders," Li Du said, "but I would control the company. I'd be responsible for hunting, you'd be in charge of sales. The profit would still be split equally in half."

Hans felt this sudden idea was weird. "Why would you do this? What's the difference between this and the present?"

"The difference is quite big," Li Du replied. "The biggest difference is that whatever you sell would be provided by me. If some of the things couldn't be conveniently sold for the time being, then I wouldn't take them out for you to sell."

That was his purpose: to have the ownership of these items. With this new format, he had control over the items and Hans had control over the sales.

Hans understood their relationship and immediately nodded his head to reply. "Okay, I accept our new way of collaborating."

Li Du heaved a sigh of relief and grinned. "Good—you don't think I'm going overboard, right?"

Hans patted him on the shoulder. "Of course not. If I had your ability, but still had to carry Hans Fox as a burden, I wouldn't have been willing to do so—I would have thrown him away long ago!"

"No, Big Fox," Li Du replied. "I never once thought that." He had indeed never thought of removing Hans—he only wanted control so that some things only he himself would know.

Hans said, "I understand, Li, you did everything you could as a partner, and you're a great partner to have."

With the agreement between both parties, they could begin with the registration for the company. Hans would be the frontman while Li Du had the control.

Another change was the split in profits from the items that were put on sale after being obtained from auctions. Li Du would obtain 50 percent of the profits, Hans would obtain 40 percent of the profits, while the other 10 percent would be distributed to the staff as their salaries and rewards.

They decided to name the company "Li-Fox Alliance Company," utilizing both their surnames. It was a concise and clear name.

Besides the four people now, Lu Guan was recruited to join as well. There were now five people in the company.

Five people weren't many, but everyone had their own job:

Godzilla and Big Quinn used their force as a deterrent against any rival treasure hunters, and for manual work; Hans was mainly in charge of sales, but he and Lu Guan would also look for storage spaces.

Li Du was the boss, in charge of inspecting the supplies and giving instructions during the auctions.

In September, they hadn't had much profit. Since it was the inception of the company. Li Du held their first meeting.

With only a few people, there wasn't a need for a meeting room—the cabin didn't even have one to begin with. So, Li Du asked Big Quinn to set up a campfire and barbecue for them to have the meeting at.

Lu Guan spoke non stop wherever he was. "Is this a meeting? This is definitely a unique way of having a meeting, but I like it. I'm here to earn money—we'll earn money right? I have long heard about Big Li's fame…"

Godzilla was shocked. "You speak so fast."

"What's that? Well, no effort is needed—you simply use the energy needed to carry weights to speak. For me, I just slightly vibrate my tongue, words will come out..."

Once he saw Lu Guan begin trying to teach tongue twisters to Godzilla, Li Du clapped his hands. "All keep quiet—if your mouths can't stop moving, go eat something. From here on, none of you need to talk, just listen to me."

"You are the boss, you speak," Hans said in approval.

Li Du said, "We are earning too little now. There's supplies in Arizona for us to choose from. All of you must be in better spirits—don't just blindly pick, but listen for information as well!"

"Insider information?" Lu Guan took the opportunity to speak.

Li Du rolled his eyes. "Yes, insider information. If you are not there for that, what are you listening for?"

Once he completed speaking, he fanned the fire.

The four of them waited for a while before Hans spoke, "Partner, what else do you want to say?"

Li Du replied, "Oh, I am done."

The four of them stared at him in silence.