After the one-sided negotiations with the chefs, Castelle was left extremely happy with the result. She was practically glowing, skipping as she did the paperwork on her desk.
All in all, Michael was extremely pleased with the outcome. First of all, they had allied themselves with a 200th ranked company. Second, they were able to extract more resources out of them to fuel their evergrowing expansion. And third and most important of all, Castelle had gained back her confidence as a CEO.
She had proven to him and herself that she could handle these high-stakes negotiations even better than him.
Now, Michael was sure that Castelle would become another unstoppable force in the Reborn company that would help him tackle the Queens region as they expanded further north.
"It will be a pleasure to work with you," said Chef Gustaeu, shaking hands with Michael.
"I think so too," he replied. "Since you are a friend of Reborn, consider our headquarters your own home. You can stay here while we build your new residence in Angora City."
That was also included in their benefits. Reborn would have to help them create their restaurants and their homes here in the Southern Tip of the Queens region. They would have to pay for the whole thing, of course.
"I think it's better if we visit the Truck Stop first. It will be good to be acquainted with Chef Tony and his restaurant."
Michael nodded, agreeing with the man's humbleness in defeat.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I'll have to console my chefs," Gustaeu said, walking towards the three other chefs who looked quite downtrodden after the negotiations.
They didn't know how they're going to explain to their own companies how they let Castelle take so many benefits from the negotiation. This left them quite depressed despite the conclusion of the negotiation.
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Michael's meeting with Chef Gustaeu caused quite a stir within the companies in Angora City as well as the other territories.
It became apparent that an agreement had been made between the two of them when they saw Chef Gustaeu and the other chefs getting escorted by Rebornians and staying in Rebornian territoires.
It made the news again. Somehow, the 450th ranked company was able to strike a deal with a 200th ranked company!
After a little more digging, many people found out about the nature of this deal: it was a spot in the Truck Stop!
Many people had been quite aware of McTony's success at this point, and they were all interested in becoming a part of it. However, once they found out that even the famous Pyramidic Cuisine was interesting, the frenzy increased to massive levels.
Castelle was bombarded with more requests for a spot in the Truck Stop.
However, there were only about 20 slots in the Truck Stop, and about 50 were all vying for one.
As expected of Castelle, she was able to leverage this demand to squeeze more benefits from those who want a spot. She was able to include a 'resources' clause within the agreement which required all parties to fund building construction with their own materials and a little bit extra for Reborn.
All in all, Michael found himself having enough resources to fund all of his projects and more for the future.
This was extremely good news!
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Meanwhile, in the depths of the forest East of Angora City, the hideout of the Bastard Bandits was getting lit aflame by a very angry woman because of some bad news she had just discovered.
"WHAT?!?! How is this possible?!" she screamed, fire almost manifesting behind her. "They were able to snatch Chef Gustaeu from right under our noses! We even offered them this whole forest! What did Reborn offer them?"
The Bastard Bandits were silent. They knew nothing. They were unable to spy on the Reborn company despite all their efforts. The only reason they were able to find out about this news was because it was written in the newspapers of Angora City.
Wano waited for a few seconds and delivered her another blow.
"Some of our bandits found out that Reborn has started their construction of the Golden Road in the forest."
Blazelle turned to him with a glare. "That is it!" she roared. "I am declaring an all-out war against Reborn. Use all our forces to destroy any progress they have with their Golden Road."
Wano scratched the stump on his missing hand. "Almost half of us are already missing."
Those bandits who tried to attack Reborn had all gone missing, never to return. And it was all thanks to Blazelle and her idiotic move of fighting outside the forest.
"I don't care. Do it or else I'll burn all of you myself," she warned.
Wano pursed his lips and walked out of her room. Regrettably, he would have to send more of his men out there fighting a losing battle.
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Meanwhile, Michael felt extremely pleased and immediately teleported himself back to the Nation of Reborn.
He was welcomed by Lolo, who reported to him about all the Fairies' shenanigans while he was gone.
As expected, they had gone on an eating spree and consumed any emotion they could sense. Locals and tourists alike found themselves being victims of pranks, mostly harmless, to induce emotions within them. They would report seeing strange lights hovering above them, whispering and egging them on to do things even late at night.
"Sigh…Where's Vivi?" he asked Lolo.
The Yellow HobMankey senior led Michael to the baseball arena, where a game was currently ongoing.
It was already night, and the stadium lights were on full blasts as two teams battled it out. It was the Kingsbridge Drivers versus the fan-favorite Engineers.
The Kingsbridge Drivers were considered to be the lesser of the two since their team had just recently formed. Compared to the Engineers who had been practicing since baseball started, their skill level was definitely lacking.
However, when Michael looked at the large scoreboard, he was surprised to see the Drivers leading 7 to 4 in the ninth inning.
There were crying and shouts of disappointment as the fan-favorite star player from the Engineers missed another ball. It was quite strange for him to perform this badly.
And sure enough, Michael saw the culprit fo this whole ordeal.
Unbeknownst to the disappointed crowd and the players, there were these small spots of light wandering around the baseball field.
Whenever a ball would be pitched, one of those lights would alter the trajectory at the last second, forcing the batter to miss the hit, or the outfielder to catch the ball.
The Fairies were making the Engineers lose!
Now, it was pretty obvious why they were doing this. Even when he was not a Fairy himself, he could sense the massive disappointment and sadness within the crowd. It was a feast for the Fairies.
Thankfully, this was just an exhibition game and the standings didn't matter. But still, the Fairies had crossed a line.
Immediately, he entered the dugout of the Engineers. Everyone was surprised to see him and bowed to his presence.
He kept walking until he was face to face with the star player of the team. Then, he reached for the guy's cap and pinched it, revealing a sneaky little Fairy hiding beneath it.
It was Vivi.