227: Chapter 227 The Annexation Plan

Early the next morning.

In the oversized luxury living room on the first floor of the villa.

Lin Fan sat in the main seat, holding a cup of steaming spiritual tea in his hand.

Su Qingxue, Chu Yaoyao, and Zhang Hao sat on either side.

Qin Feng stood behind Lin Fan like a dutiful secretary.

The table was covered with thick documents and holographic projection equipment.

This was a pre-war meeting targeting the Kyoto Zhao Family.

It was also the first official gathering of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion's core team in Kyoto.

"This is the current situation."

Lin Fan set down his teacup.

His fingers tapped gently on the tabletop.

"The Zhao Family has been completely scared out of their wits by the death of The Wind and Thunder Duo."

"That old fogey Zhao Haokun has activated the family's grand formation."

"All core members have retreated into the Zhao Family compound."

"They think they can escape disaster this way."

"But they've forgotten that the Zhao Family's foothold in Kyoto relies on their massive commercial empire."

A mocking sneer curled at the corner of Lin Fan's mouth.

"Since they don't dare to come out and fight,"

"then we'll squeeze the life out of them in the business world."

Su Qingxue flipped through the documents in her hand.

Her beautiful brows furrowed slightly.

In her working state, she displayed an extremely professional demeanor.

"The Zhao Family's core industries are low-end pills and basic construction materials."

"Especially in the pill market."

"They monopolize nearly forty percent of the low-level martial artist market share in Kyoto."

"While the profit per unit isn't high, the volume is massive, making it the cash cow that keeps the Zhao Family running."

Su Qingxue looked up, her gaze sharp as she looked at Lin Fan.

"To crush the Zhao Family,"

"we must cut off their pill supply chain."

"As long as their cash flow breaks,"

"we won't even need to lift a finger; those exploited partners and banks will tear them to shreds."

Lin Fan clapped his hands in appreciation.

"As expected of the Su Family's eldest miss."

"Your insight is truly sharp."

"We're thinking exactly the same thing."

Zhang Hao scratched his head and interjected with some distress.

"But Brother Fan,"

"the Zhao Family has been in this business for decades."

"Their procurement channels and sales networks are deeply rooted."

"Even though our Myriad Treasures Pavilion's blind boxes are selling like hotcakes,"

"we're taking the high-end and novelty route."

"How are we going to steal their high-volume, low-profit market?"

Chu Yaoyao nodded in agreement.

"Yeah."

"We can't just sell those top-grade pills at bargain prices."

"That would be a huge loss."

Lin Fan gave a mysterious smile.

He pulled a dusty grey box out of his spatial ring.

He placed it in the center of the table.

"Who said we're selling top-grade pills?"

"Take a look at what this is."

Zhang Hao leaned in curiously.

He opened the grey blind box.

Inside lay a dozen black pills emitting a pungent odor.

"This... what on earth is this?"

Zhang Hao took a sniff and almost gagged.

"Why does it smell so bad?"

Lin Fan gave him a sidelong glance.

"It's called the 'Miracle Strength Pill'."

"I refined it using waste materials mixed with the impure blood I extracted from the Zhao Family's secret guards earlier."

"While the smell is a bit unpleasant,"

"once consumed, it can forcibly increase a martial artist's strength by one stage for an hour."

"The only side effect is three days of diarrhea."

Hearing this.

Everyone present sucked in a breath of cold air.

Qin Feng's eyes widened even further.

"Brother Fan,"

"you call three days of diarrhea 'only'?"

"If someone takes too many, won't they die of dehydration?"

Lin Fan waved his hand dismissively.

"For those low-level martial artists living on the edge,"

"anything that saves their life or allows a counter-kill is good."

"What's a few days of diarrhea?"

"Besides, I have more than just this kind of pill in these blind boxes."

Lin Fan pulled out several more boxes of different colors.

"In here, we have the 'Three-Second Real Man Talisman', 'Low-Quality Berserk Potion', and 'Underweight Hemostatic Powder'."

"They're all synthesized from waste and trash."

"The cost is almost zero."

Lin Fan's eyes gleamed with the characteristic light of a Shrewd Merchant.

"I plan to launch a 'Commoner's Special Edition' blind box series."

"The price will be just one thousand points."

"It's guaranteed to contain at least one healing medicine."

"The lucky ones might even pull one of these powerful explosive items."

"What do you think?"

"Will those poor students and low-level mercenaries who can't afford the Zhao Family's high-priced pills"

"go to the Zhao Family's shops to be ripped off,"

"or come to our Myriad Treasures Pavilion to take a gamble?"

Su Qingxue's eyes instantly lit up.

She immediately understood Lin Fan's tactic.

This was an incredibly ruthless dimensionality reduction strike.

By exploiting the unique addictive nature of blind boxes and the psychology of winning big with a small stake,

it would directly destroy the Zhao Family's pricing system.

"Brilliant,"

Su Qingxue couldn't help but praise.

"The Zhao Family's pills are stable but their prices are rigid."

"Whereas your blind boxes are not only dirt cheap but also full of surprises."

"As long as we open a branch or a distribution point of Myriad Treasures Pavilion opposite every single one of the Zhao Family's shops,"

"within three days,"

"the Zhao Family's shops will be deserted."

Lin Fan snapped his fingers.

"Exactly."

"This is our Annexation Plan."

"Fatty."

Lin Fan looked at Zhang Hao.

"From today on, you will continue as the Kyoto Manager of Myriad Treasures Pavilion."

"You're responsible for coordinating the supply of these special edition blind boxes."

"I want you to spread these blind boxes across every street and alley in Kyoto."

Zhang Hao immediately stood up straight.

He thumped his chest hard.

"Don't worry, Brother Fan."

"I'm an expert at this."

"I guarantee there won't even be a ghost left in the Zhao Family's shops."

Lin Fan then looked at Chu Yaoyao.

"Yaoyao, you're in charge of publicity and promotion."

"You have a wide network among the students and a great talent for gossip."

"I want you to hype up our Myriad Treasures Pavilion's commoner blind boxes like crazy on forums and Tieba."

"Just find a few shills to post every day about how they pulled a life-saving artifact for just one thousand points."

"Hype the popularity up to the sky for me."

Chu Yaoyao rubbed her hands excitedly.

"Leave it to me."

"Manipulating the public narrative is what I'm best at."

Finally.

Lin Fan turned his gaze to Su Qingxue.

"Qing Xue, you're in charge of the core commercial encirclement."

"Take the funds I give you."

"As soon as the Zhao Family's shops start losing money and their cash flow breaks,"

"immediately use third-party agencies to force down the price and acquire their assets."

"Remember, be ruthless."

"Don't give them any room to breathe."

Su Qingxue nodded solemnly.

A long-absent fighting spirit appeared on her cool face.

"Leave it to me."

"I'll show Zhao Haokun the meaning of true despair."

With the conclusion of the meeting,

a massive commercial meat grinder quietly started up in Kyoto.

Over the next few days, the entire low-level martial arts market in Kyoto went completely wild.

Myriad Treasures Pavilion's Commoner's Special Edition blind boxes spread like a virus.

Because the price was so low,

almost all low-level martial artists and poor students bought one with a 'just give it a try' attitude.

The result was,

the thrill of opening the blind boxes,

combined with the occasional ecstasy of pulling a Miracle Strength Pill,

instantly made countless people addicted.

In front of the pill shops under the Zhao Family's name,

the long queues of mercenaries who used to buy supplies had vanished.

In their place,

were crowds frantically waving cash in front of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion distribution points across the street.

The Zhao Family's shopkeepers stood in their empty shops,

watching the bustling scene across the street, jumping with anxiety.

They tried to lower prices for promotions,

but no matter how much they lowered them,

they could never beat the cost of Lin Fan's blind boxes made from waste materials.

In just five short days,

the Zhao Family's thirty-two core pill shops in Kyoto

saw their revenue plummet by ninety percent.

Their cash flow snapped instantly.

The raw material suppliers who used to provide for the Zhao Family, seeing their declining state,

all came knocking to demand payment.

Zhao Haokun, holed up in the family compound,

received emergency reports from various industries every day.

His hair turned white with worry,

yet he didn't dare send anyone out to restore order.

Because he knew that if any of the Zhao Family's experts dared to show their faces,

they would definitely be wiped out by that madman Lin Fan.

In desperation, Zhao Haokun could only order the sell-off of some peripheral assets to fill the holes in the pill shops' finances.

However,

the assets he sold

were all acquired by Su Qingxue at dirt-cheap prices through various secret channels.

A week later,

at the South Suburb Base,

Qin Feng held a freshly prepared financial report

and rushed excitedly into Lin Fan's office.

"Brother Fan!"

"A great victory!"

"The Zhao Family can't hold on anymore!"

"Their twelve shops in Kyoto's southern district and three logistics centers in the western district"

"have all been taken over by Qing Xue for less than thirty percent of the market price!"

Lin Fan reclined in his office chair,

spinning around leisurely.

In his mind, the system's notification sounds were frantically scrolling.

Although the unit price of those commoner blind boxes was low,

the volume was simply too large.

The hundredfold returns triggered had directly filled Lin Fan's system space with all sorts of high-level materials.

"They've only shrunk by half?"

Lin Fan rubbed his chin, seemingly not quite satisfied.

"Tell Qing Xue"

"to maintain the status quo; don't give the Zhao Family any chance to recover."

"I want to slowly carve them up with a dull knife over the next few months."

"Don't push the Zhao Family too hard for now; if they get desperate, they might lash out and cause us some trouble."

"Exhaust them slowly. Right now they're overwhelmed and have no time or energy to cause trouble. By the time they realize what's happening, they'll have lost the power to fight back."

"In less than half a year, the Zhao Family will be erased from Kyoto!"

Qin Feng swallowed hard.

Looking at Lin Fan's calm and composed manner,

his awe for his boss deepened by several degrees.

To kill the person, first destroy their heart.

The Zhao Family this time

was truly going to be toyed with until they died.