When it comes to paper money, Pierre still has a bit of resistance, but when it comes to gold—he really can’t refuse.
But this business is indeed dangerous. If the Allies ever found out, who knows what kind of trouble it would cause.
However... Pierre really wasn’t worried.
At worst, he’d just stash it in his spatial storage and smuggle it himself. Compared to other goods, this tungsten ore, priced at $17,000 per ton, is the real high-value product.
And tungsten ore is heavy!
"Is there really a tenfold profit margin?"
Pierre couldn’t help but be a little skeptical, but just two days later, a telegram from his uncle-in-law dispelled all his doubts.
Although the Allies had raised the price of tungsten, they could still obtain cheap tungsten ore from China. In fact, the tungsten price in London wasn’t the international standard—it was just a high price limited to Europe. Prices elsewhere weren’t nearly as high; compared to before the war, they had only increased several times.
Why didn’t other countries ship tungsten ore to Europe?
Because they simply couldn’t get it there!
For that, they had to thank the German submarines.
After weighing things in his mind, Pierre sent a telegram to his uncle-in-law. The message was simple: to discuss making a fortune together, offering to purchase tungsten ore at the high price of $2,000 per ton. As for transportation, he’d leave that to his uncle-in-law.
Faced with a markup of four or five hundred dollars per ton, no one could resist. In just a day, Pierre received a reply—his uncle-in-law was ready to pay.
It had to be said, when it came to their own interests, corrupt officials worked with an efficiency that far exceeded people’s expectations.
While his uncle-in-law and his subordinates at home were preparing the tungsten ore, Pierre made another trip to Italy.
This time, he went straight to Taranto, to Fiat’s steel company.
"Pierre, this steel plant is yours now!"
Pointing at the steel company with an annual capacity of over a million tons, Mickey said triumphantly.
"It only cost a million dollars! You have no idea—at first, Fiat was dead set on holding out for a higher price. But now? The Allies have landed in Normandy and taken Rome. Soon, they’ll liberate the north. Just a week ago, Fiat reached out to me directly. A million dollars! That was my offer. They thought it over for a whole week, but in the end, they agreed!"
With that, Mickey spread his arms and spun around excitedly, shouting,
The corners of Pierre’s mouth curled up in a broad smile.
Steel is the mother of industry. For any country that wants to develop its industry, developing the steel industry is a must.
With steel, you can have machines, ships, airplanes, and cannons.
Without steel, so-called industrialization is nothing but a pipe dream.
And this steel plant in front of him was enough to help Borneo step through the gates of industrialization.
"Mickey, I’m curious. There are acquisition agents everywhere here, so why is no one interested in this plant?"
Standing in the empty, long-idled steel company grounds, Pierre asked curiously.
"That’s simple, Pierre. Do you know what’s the least valuable thing after the war?"
Mickey, flush with tens of thousands of dollars, said with pride,
"Steel! The world wars caused steel production everywhere to skyrocket. After the war, there’s bound to be massive oversupply. Steel prices will crash, just like after the last war. Steel companies will suffer huge losses. Many small and medium-sized steel companies that expanded during the war will go bankrupt—just like after the last European war, when 30% of small and medium U.S. steel companies went bankrupt within two years, and about half of Europe’s small steel companies went under. In this situation, who would want to buy a steel company doomed to fail?"
Mickey’s words made Pierre pause, and he countered,
"If that’s the case, does that mean I just spent a million dollars on a pile of scrap iron?"
"But that was the last war, sir!"
Mickey put away his smile and pointed to the bombed-out buildings in the distance.
"Last time, no cities were destroyed. But this time, how many cities have been wiped out? Hamburg in Germany was flattened. With the Allied counteroffensive, city after city will be razed, just like Stalingrad in Russia—the whole city destroyed by artillery. Postwar reconstruction will require massive amounts of steel. Even if it’s not as much as during wartime, the steel industry will still be profitable. But almost no one has noticed this."
After proudly pointing this out, Mickey added,
"So nobody’s interested in steel companies. But, Pierre, trust me—investing in steel plants will definitely be profitable, and the returns will be huge..."
How could Pierre not know about the profits?
Not only did postwar Europe complete its reconstruction within a decade, it also embarked on a massive twenty-year infrastructure boom. Such projects needed vast amounts of steel. In the 1950s and 60s, investing in steel companies in Europe would undoubtedly yield a high return.
However, Pierre didn’t really care about that. What he needed was just...
It’s just the equipment in this factory—we need to dismantle everything here and relocate it to Borneo.
Even so, Miki’s assessment of the postwar steel market made Pierre look at him with newfound respect.
"Perhaps, but what I need isn’t this factory itself, but the machines inside..."
Pointing at the empty factory, Pierre stated his purpose directly.
"When the war is over, I’ll ship all the machinery to Asia. I’ll rebuild a steel company there—and not just a steel company, but other factories as well..."
With that, Pierre looked at Miki and said,
"So, what do you think? Interested?"
Miki was taken aback, looking at him in surprise.
"Interested in what?"
Seeing that Miki still didn’t quite understand, Pierre said bluntly,
"I need to buy more factories. If possible, I’d even consider buying the entire Fiat company."
"What? Buy the entire Fiat company?"
Miki’s eyes widened in astonishment.
"My God, do you know how much that would cost? It could be over a hundred million dollars!"
"That’s just pocket change..."
Pierre replied casually, a faint smile on his lips.
"What matters is industry."
Only industry could make his company a future king. With arms crossed, Pierre gazed at the factory...