I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France

Less than half an hour after the bombing, Dejoka appeared once again in Schneider's VIP room.

"Mr. James," Dejoka asked, "have you made a decision? About selling the steel factory!"

James replied expressionlessly, "Do I have any other options?"

Dejoka smiled and shook his head lightly.

If he didn't sell, it would be bombed, and what would be left would only be a pile of scrap iron. If he sold, he could still get some money.

So for James, there was no choice between "selling" and "not selling," only whether to sell it for money.

James asked, "How much do you plan to spend to buy it?"

"Ten million francs," Dejoka offered a price.

"But the Cammond Steel Factory is worth at least thirty million francs," James protested.

The key point was that it was priceless and a cash cow, and it also represented power.

Dejoka calmly replied, "I believe no one else but me will make such an offer."

James bit his lip; of course, no one else would bid. Everyone knew that buying it would mean it getting bombed, unless it was sold to Shire.

"A clever move, Mr. Dejoka," James nodded slightly, "I'm growing more and more impressed by Shire."

"This has nothing to do with Shire, Mr. James," Dejoka responded, "this is a business between you and me."

James laughed.

It indeed had nothing to do with Shire; Dejoka handled the business while Shire busied himself with saving France. There was no direct correlation, although everyone knew what was going on.

"What if I'm willing to lose ten million francs?" James pulled out a cigar and lit it, not offering one to Dejoka, with a faint smell of gunpowder filling the air.

It might be a good choice, James thought. He could afford to lose ten million francs, even though it was not a small amount.

But if it could delay Shire's development, it would be worth it.

However, Dejoka shrugged indifferently, "You can choose that, Mr. James. But I believe Mr. Wentier wouldn't think that way."

The cigar that James was about to put into his mouth stopped mid-air.

For Schneider, not selling only meant losing ten million francs.

But the Wentier family had a dozen or so steel factories there, even if bought at the low price of ten million francs, their value exceeded hundreds of millions of francs.

Would Wentier be willing to throw such money away?

Moreover, Wentier wasn't directly involved in the military industry, so their competition with Shire wasn't intense. For Wentier, it didn't matter who controlled the military industry as long as they bought his steel.

Schneider suddenly realized he was just a pawn in Shire's hands.

Shire killed this chicken to frighten the monkey; what he really wanted was Wentier's steel factories.

So, even if James insisted on not selling, he couldn't achieve the purpose of delaying Shire's development.

Dejoka's gaze at James also seemed to indicate this, as if saying: ten million francs are in front of you; just say whether you want it or not!

After thinking for a while, James finally sighed in defeat, "You win, Mr. Dejoka!"

...

At the Riverfront Villa, Wells was pondering as usual in the river breeze, rocking chair, and sunlight.

Progress on the torpedo had been very smooth. Initial tests had shown its farthest range reaching four kilometers, though the last few hundred meters were barely managed on inertia after running out of fuel.

But this was already a qualitative leap. Wells believed Shire would come up with better plans to further extend its range in the future.

On the other hand, the research on wire-guided torpedoes had also seen some initial success; they had already equipped the four-kilometer torpedo with a 3MM wire.

"Initial" meant that the torpedo could only travel at low speeds when equipped with the wire; otherwise, the wire would break.

The next step was to try to further reduce the wire's diameter and enhance its toughness, problems that were just a matter of time.

(Note: Modern wire-guided torpedo wires typically have a diameter of less than 1.2 mm and can reach ranges up to 46 kilometers)

However, Wells wasn't happy at all.

If things continued like this, would Shire still listen to him?

What if Shire chose to abandon Wells and his shipyard completely; what then?

The wire-guided torpedoes, as well as those landing ships, landing boats, and the Deep Water Bombs for blasting submarines, all these industrial properties were in Shire's hands.

Losing all of this would mean the shipyard would once again plunge into darkness.

This was torture for Wells.

If Wells had always been in darkness, he wouldn't be so tormented.

But now that he had seen the light, asking him to retreat back to that dark, damp, life-devoid corner would be worse than death.

Yet Wells had no choice but to do so.

Because choosing Shire would really mean his end!

In a daze, Tijani pushed the door open, carrying a bouquet of flowers that Wells liked, tulips, and walked up to replace the ones on Wells' desk.

"What's the matter?" Wells asked without turning his head, "Another day off? Seems like you're quite free recently!"

"No, I just came by to see you," Tijani replied.

Wells snorted, casting his gaze out the window. He'd sooner believe the river would flow backward than believe Tijani came just to see him.

Tijani seemed unfazed by Wells' coldness, having seemingly grown accustomed to it.

Tijani threw the nearly wilted flowers into the trash and clapped his hands before standing in front of Wells, as if mentioning a trivial matter, "Did you hear? We bombed the steel factory."

Wells responded with a hum. He had only learned about it from the newspaper that morning.

What a waste, turning two steel factories to ashes!

After waiting for a while without a follow-up, Wells turned his head, puzzled, and looked at Tijani, "Did you come just to tell me that?"

"Something like that," Tijani replied, "You should know it was Shire's doing."

"So what?" Wells chuckled, "Are you trying to say Shire holds the power of life and death over those steel factories?"

It was meant as a joke, but to his surprise, Tijani nodded lightly, "You guessed right!"

Wells was taken aback, then cast a half-believing look at Tijani, "You mean, Shire forced James to compromise by doing this?"

Tijani stopped playing games with Wells, "Shire just bought the Cammond Steel Factory, or rather, Dejoka did."

Wells looked at Tijani in astonishment; this was good news, even though the factory was in the German-occupied zone.

But as long as the French Army achieved victory, he could have both "survival" and "future!"

Smiling, Tijani continued, "Negotiations are also underway for two of Wentier's steel factories. Dejoka doesn't plan to buy more to avoid major competition with Wentier."