Marcus raised his brows, his eyes darting between the card and the woman as he silently followed behind Eren.
They were quickly led into a private room, far more luxurious than the main lobby, with soft lighting, comfortable seating, and a quiet atmosphere that isolated them from the outside noise.
Within moments, staff members entered, placing fresh juices and neatly arranged desserts on the table before leaving just as quietly.
Eren casually picked up a piece of cake and took a bite as if this level of treatment was completely normal, while Marcus sat stiffly in his seat, his back straight, his entire body practically frozen as he struggled to process what was happening.
Meanwhile, without Eren needing to repeat himself, the woman turned the laptop screen slightly toward them and began explaining.
"There are currently only two storage facilities available in the central district. Both are high-value properties due to their location."
She adjusted the screen and continued.
"The first one is located near the main trade artery. It has direct access to major roads, making it ideal for transportation and fast distribution. The facility is spacious, equipped with reinforced structures, and already includes a mid-level preservation magic circle."
She tapped the screen lightly before continuing.
"The second one is slightly closer to the merchant district. While it's not as large as the first, it offers better accessibility to high-end buyers and has a more advanced internal layout, allowing efficient storage management. It also includes a higher-grade preservation system. Would you like to see the location?"
Eren, who had been silently listening, slowly turned his head toward Marcus.
"What do you think?"
Marcus gulped, his mind still struggling to keep up.
"I-I have already seen both of these storage facilities before. Just as she said, the first one has easier access and is more suitable for transporting goods to outer regions of the city since it has direct access to major roads."
"But the second one is located very close to our potential customers inside the city. If Mr. Eren wants my opinion, I suggest taking the second one. Even though hunters who collect valuable monster corpses would have a hard time transporting their items to us, we won't have any problem dealing with dungeon drops."
Eren fell into thought for a moment before asking,
"What are their prices?"
The woman answered promptly.
"The larger facility costs two hundred and fifty million, while the smaller one is two hundred and thirty million."
Eren wasn't surprised by the price at all.
Unlike the lifestyle workshops he bought in Tidewatch City, real storage facilities meant for trading were on a completely different level.
Even the smallest ones could store millions of valuable items with ease.
Eren gave a small nod before asking,
"How many other storage facilities are listed for sale, excluding these two?"
The woman immediately checked her laptop.
"There are three more. They're located slightly outside the city core. Two of them are newly established trade centers. The owners have listed them for sale for almost two years now, but no one has come forward to purchase them, even though they are in excellent condition."
"They are priced at one hundred and fifty million and one hundred and sixty million respectively."
"The third one is still operational. It belongs to a small trading company that primarily supplies ores to local blacksmith workshops. The owner is an old man in his eighties. He is willing to sell the facility for one hundred million…"
She paused briefly before adding,
"…but under one condition. The buyer must ensure the livelihoods of his workers and continue supplying materials to his existing clients without terminating any current contracts."
She turned the laptop toward them, showing the contract details submitted by the owner.
Without even glancing at it, Eren casually passed it to Marcus.
"Check it..."
Marcus didn't understand why Eren was asking him, but he still took the time to carefully read through the details.
As he read, his eyes slowly widened.
"This… old man… he's a man of principle…"
Both Eren and the woman looked at him.
"Despite being under constant pressure for almost five years, he never abandoned his workers. He kept every single one of them employed and continued supplying small-scale blacksmiths at reasonable prices."
He looked up, his expression turning serious.
"These sales… it's definitely because of pressure from a third party."
Marcus didn't say who, but he didn't need to as Eren already understood.
Three storage facilities pushed to the brink of selling, and only one power controlling the trading rights of the entire city, there was no need to guess.
Despite knowing that, Eren turned to the woman and said calmly,
"I'll buy all of them."
"…!"
For a second, the woman couldn't process what she had just heard.
Then her expression lit up, barely able to contain her excitement as Eren spoke again,
"Show me if there are any packaging companies listed for sale. They need to be intact and fully usable right away."
The woman didn't waste a second.
She quickly began navigating through her laptop again, pulled up three listings, and turned the screen toward Eren.
"S-Sir, in that case, we also have several packaging companies listed for sale. They are small-scale units that went bankrupt recently, but their facilities are still intact and fully usable."
Eren glanced at them briefly.
"I'll take those as well."
Marcus's heart nearly stopped.
Eren continued as if it was nothing.
"Is there any parking area available for purchase? We'll need space for transport vehicles."
"Mr. Eren, please stop!"
Marcus suddenly raised his voice, a terrified look on his face.
His tone carried clear urgency.
"All the storage facilities and packaging units already have enough space to accommodate multiple heavy trucks. There's no need to spend extra on parking right now."
Eren looked at him for a moment, then shifted his gaze back to the woman.
"What about slaughterhouses and offices for logistics?"
Before the woman could even respond, Marcus cut in immediately.
"No."
His face was practically begging Eren to stop.
"We should hold off on any material processing facilities for now. And there's no need for separate logistics offices, the packaging companies are already more than enough… please don't buy anything else. We can consider these things later, once the business stabilizes and starts generating consistent profit."
Both Eren and the woman gave Marcus a dissatisfied look.
From the woman's perspective, Marcus was blocking multiple high-value transactions that would have significantly increased her commission.
From Eren's perspective, Marcus was stopping him from spending money.
Eren leaned back slightly, his gaze resting on Marcus with quiet intensity.
He had too much money, and right now, he simply wanted to spend it.
But Marcus kept insisting on only spending money on things that were currently necessary, so Eren gave up and proceeded to pay 808 million right away, signing the ownership papers instantly.
Since the procedures from the sellers' side had already been completed long ago, they were only waiting for a buyer.
This time, Eren only received a 96 million discount, as only the two central storage facilities fully belonged to Golden Plains, while the others were listed through third-party commissions.
Another 196 million discount came from the balance already stored in the golden card from previous purchases.
Eren stepped out of the Golden Plain Real Estate building, the evening light casting long shadows across the street.
His expression was calm, almost satisfied, as if he had just completed a routine transaction rather than purchasing multiple high-value properties in one sitting.
Behind him, Marcus followed slowly.
His face had gone completely pale, his lips moving faintly as he muttered to himself, fingers twitching slightly as if he were counting invisible numbers in the air.
"This… this isn't a startup anymore…" he whispered under his breath.
"Storage maintenance… staff salaries… logistics… security… depreciation… transportation costs…"
The more he calculated, the worse his expression became.
"This is insane… the expenses alone…"
Eren glanced at him briefly, then took out his phone and tapped a few times.
A soft notification sound echoed from Marcus's phone.
He slowly took out his device and looked at the screen.
"…Five hundred million…?"
His voice trembled slightly as he read the number again, just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
"U-Um… Mr. Eren…?"
Eren calmly put his phone back and said,
"Register the business immediately and put all properties under a proper license."
Marcus stared at him, completely speechless for a moment.
"…Are you… some kind of angel of wealth or something?…What if I run away with this money?"
Marcus asked weakly, half-joking, half-serious.
"If you run away with five hundred million, then that's all you're worth... To me, that amount is practically nothing, and you know that by now."
Marcus went silent before a weary smile slowly formed on his face.
He let out a small breath, as if something inside him had settled.
"I'll register the company by tomorrow morning. And I'll start recruiting the necessary workforce immediately after."
Even as he said that, his eyes still carried a trace of doubt.
"…Though I'm not sure if this business will even work anymore… The expenses might exceed everything…"
Eren didn't respond to that.
He simply stood there silently, watching Marcus give one last glance at him before stepping inside the taxi.
Soon, the taxi disappeared into the distance, its shape slowly blending into the city lights.
A faint smile appeared on Eren's face.
"The business will definitely fail."