Starting with One Piece, a Multiverse Simulation

Upon hearing Elsa's words, Subaru Natsuki was stunned for a moment before saying, "Since your assassination organization isn't here to discuss business sincerely, then I'll be leaving now."

As Natsuki Subaru turned to leave, he was actually a little flustered. He didn't really want to leave; he just wanted to use some common negotiation tactics to try and gain more benefits for himself.

Sure enough, as soon as he made a move to leave, Elsa behind him spoke up to stop him.

Seeing that things were developing as he had expected, Natsuki Subaru also showed a confident smile.

In terms of combat prowess, ten of him would probably be no match for Elsa, but when it comes to negotiation and business, this assassin Elsa is clearly a complete novice.

"If you feel the profit sharing is inappropriate, we can discuss it further. Isn't that precisely the purpose of inviting you here to meet?"

Seeing Subaru Natsuki's smug smile, Elsa forced herself to lower her hand from the curved sword strapped to her inner thigh. If it weren't for the fact that this was a mission given by Wood, Elsa would have already made her move.

Giving her 30% is already considered generous, considering she's just a weakling. And she actually dares to try and bargain with the Intestine Hunter!

Seemingly noticing that Elsa's gaze kept lingering on his waist, Natsuki Subaru realized that he had been a little too smug, so he quickly composed himself and said, "I think a 30/70 split is really unreasonable. If it were 40/60, we could barely accept it."

Wood had previously said that he was willing to split the profits 50/50, with a minimum of 30/70 being acceptable. Now that Elsa has managed to negotiate a 60% profit split, it demonstrates her capabilities, and Elsa was originally prepared to agree.

But at this moment, Natsuki Subaru suddenly gasped for breath and continued, saying that the 40% he mentioned referred to their assassination organization taking 40%, while Emilia's camp would take 60%!

"I think you're determined to die! Although you were introduced by Wood, we assassination organization members are not exactly saints either."

Since you're being so ungrateful, then don't blame me for being impolite!

Elsa had already drawn two curved swords and rushed towards Subaru Natsuki with lightning speed, the blades pointing directly at his waist, intending to target his intestines.

Natsuki Subaru, who already knew of Elsa's reputation as the "Intestine Hunter" and knew that she would definitely target his intestines, narrowly avoided the attack by executing a bridge-like maneuver the moment Elsa rushed towards him.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. Just like you said before, we are negotiating now. If the price is not reasonable, we can discuss it slowly. There is no need to resort to violence."

Feeling the chill in his abdomen and looking at the ripped clothes around his waist, Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but feel a sense of lingering fear.

Despite having an "immortal body," only men can truly understand the pain of having their kidneys cut open.

At the same time, he also realized that traditional negotiation methods were useless against the mature woman in front of him. She was an assassin, and if the price was pushed too low, she would really kill him without hesitation.

"Since everyone is dissatisfied with the prices proposed by both sides, how about we compromise and split the profits 50/50 as we agreed before?"

It's important to understand that we also provided initial funding this time, and we need to bear a certain risk of trade failure.

Furthermore, based on my guess, although your assassination organization possesses intelligence and has enough power to organize caravans, its members are all wanted assassins and cannot freely enter major cities. That's why you choose to cooperate with others, right?

The assassination organization has both resources and manpower, and could easily build a team, but they haven't done so, and there are naturally reasons for that.

Wood had long had the idea of ​​forming a caravan, but as Subaru Natsuki said, many members of the assassination organization were wanted and could not freely enter major cities.

Moreover, the most important thing for a businessman is credibility. If a businessman knows that the person he is dealing with is an assassin, would he still do business with him?

"A 40/60 split is our bottom line, and that's only because of Wood."

Even if we can't reach an agreement with you, we have other partners. As for your Emilia faction, it seems you don't have many other options.

Due to the circumstances and the natural shadow the Bowel Hunters cast over Subaru Natsuki, the assassination organization and Emilia's camp ultimately agreed on a 40/60 split of profits.

Emilia's faction received 40% of the profits, while the assassination organization received 60%. Although Subaru Natsuki outwardly expressed some resentment about this outcome, he was actually quite satisfied with it.

Before setting off, Natsuki Subaru had discussed it with Roswaal and Emilia. The assassination organization had provided both manpower and resources, and they were willing to agree to a 50/50 split as Wood had said. Instead, they were worried that the other party might have ulterior motives.

Just like the minimum standard Wood had given Elsa, Subaru Natsuki's initial bottom line was also a 30/70 split, only this time it was 30% for Emilia's camp.

Now that he was able to negotiate a 40% profit margin, Natsuki Subaru was quite satisfied with the result.

If we continue to haggle with the other party, it's not impossible to discuss a 50/50 split. But as the other party said, the assassination organization can wait patiently or even choose other partners.

However, Emilia's faction does not have such an advantage. The "Royal Selection Ceremony" also has a time limit, and they must accumulate a certain amount of wealth as soon as possible.

And now, apart from the infamous assassination organization that is willing to cooperate with the "half-elf of calamity," they really can't find any other partners.

Chapter 363 Operation White Whale Extermination

"I really don't understand what the boss is thinking. Why would he make us protect such a weakling and take orders from him?"

After finalizing the cooperation with Elsa, Natsuki Subaru, not wanting to waste any time, quickly decided to embark on his trade journey and hoped that Elsa would arrange escorts for him as soon as possible.

It was only later that Subaru Natsuki realized that negotiating with Elsa was just one of the difficulties; the problems he was facing now still gave him a headache.

The guards Elsa arranged for him were far more experienced and capable than those of ordinary mercenary groups.

However, compared to regular mercenary groups that do things for money, these assassins who have been through countless battles in the underworld are obviously much more difficult to control.

Not only were they all filled with murderous intent, but they were also extremely arrogant. Despite being the nominal head of the caravan, almost no one was willing to listen to them.

If it weren't for the fact that the so-called "boss" was able to suppress these killers, Natsuki Subaru would have even worried that he would have been killed by them before he could even deliver the goods to the designated location.

"Stop for a moment, something seems wrong. We used to travel this road often, but because it's quite remote, hardly anyone passes by."

But judging from the messy grass and footprints on the ground, it was clear that a large number of people had passed through here not long ago.

The assassination team was led by a former leader of an underground assassination organization, nicknamed "Stinger," who was skilled in making poisons and using poison to kill people.

Given his skill level, he shouldn't have been assigned such a low-level guard job.

However, considering that this was their first collaboration with Subaru and his group, and that Elsa was worried that the weak Subaru wouldn't be able to control these murderous assassins, she asked Sting to keep an eye on things.

As one of the original leaders of the assassination organization, "Stinger" was obviously one of the few people who had seen Wood in action before. He was completely convinced of Wood's powerful strength, so he had no dissatisfaction with the orders given by his "boss".

As a seasoned and experienced assassin, Stinger had remained silent since the beginning, but that did not mean he was taking it lightly.

If it were a task assigned by that bitch Elsa, that would be one thing, but since Elsa said it was assigned by the "boss," he had no choice but to take it more seriously.

Wood, who killed "Mother," swiftly killed Scarface, the second-in-command of the assassination organization, and instantly unified all the underground assassination organizations with his unparalleled strength, was undoubtedly a figure of both power and ruthlessness in the eyes of former leaders like Stinger.

Sting didn't even dare to think about what would happen to him if he failed to complete the task assigned to him!

To avoid any mishaps during the mission, Stinger was extremely vigilant, observing every move around them.

As their caravan passed through this narrow path, Stinger immediately sensed that something was wrong.

Unlike main roads, remote areas are sparsely populated, resulting in a limited flow of people passing through each day.

But just now, Poison Sting discovered that the desolate path in front of them was not only surrounded by messy grass, but also had many earthworm and human footprints.

"There might be something going on ahead. I suggest we choose another route." Although it was still uncertain whether there was danger ahead, Stinger cautiously suggested changing the route, thinking it was better to be safe than sorry.

"According to the location on the map, if we change our route, it will take us three days longer than originally planned."

Most of our goods this time are fresh items; if the delivery time is too long, the price of the goods will be significantly reduced.

Looking at the previously gloomy and taciturn Poison Sting, he directly told Subaru Natsuki that the other party was the most dangerous among this group.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't want to refute these killers, but the situation is special now. If they change course, it will undoubtedly greatly reduce their benefits.

Moreover, Natsuki Subaru had long been dissatisfied with these special "guards" who had always been arrogant and disobedient, so he boldly retorted at this moment.

"Is profit more important or life? If we change course, the worst that can happen is that we'll gain less profit."

But if we insist on going forward, and something happens ahead that results in all the goods being lost, then who will be responsible for that?

You weakling, look closely! The footprints on the ground are clearly from riding boots. People who can wear these kinds of riding boots are usually regular troops or soldiers.

Moreover, judging from the number of footprints left by the earth dragon and the knight, the number of people who passed through here before was definitely not small.

Although I don't know what they're doing in this remote place, I'm certain they're not here for a spring outing!

If it were another caravan, the traces left behind would be more like the wheel tracks of a carriage and the footprints of ordinary leather boots, rather than the uniform style of knight's boots. An experienced Stinger could tell this at a glance.

For Subaru Natsuki, if something goes wrong with the goods this time, he'll at most get a scolding from his master when he gets back.

But Sting was worried that he had messed up his mission, and with that bitch Hunter's embellishments, Boss Wood might just kill him!

So at this moment, Poison Sting changed its previous silent posture, grabbed Natsuki Subaru by the collar, and shouted at Natsuki Subaru in an almost roaring tone.

"Even if it's a Royal Knights or similar force in front of us, as long as they're not magical beasts, they shouldn't do anything to us, right?"

And if the profits you gain don't reach the expected level, aren't you afraid your boss will punish you?

Natsuki Subaru understood what Sting meant at this moment, but as this was his first job, he still wanted to do things perfectly so that he could have more face in front of Emilia. So he insisted with some lack of confidence.

It must be said that Subaru Natsuki is quite clever; under normal circumstances, Sting would probably have killed him long ago.

However, upon hearing that they might be punished by Wood if the profits were insufficient, Sting hesitated again.

So after some deliberation, Sting could only come up with a relatively compromise and said, "We can split the cargo in two. You and some of the brothers who aren't wanted can take the fresher, more perishable cargo and continue on."

We, along with the other goods and some of our wanted brothers, changed course and headed to the next city. That way, even if something happened, we could minimize our losses.

Regardless of what the Knights' troops were doing in the wilderness, it was certain that Sting and his fellow assassins, who were on the list, would start fighting once they made contact with the enemy.

The biggest advantage of splitting the forces into two groups is that it ensures that fresh goods are delivered to the next city on time, maximizing profits, while also preventing total annihilation in case of danger.

Even if, hypothetically, Subaru and his group did encounter an accident, Stinger could still give Wood an explanation by carrying the remaining goods.

All he needs to do is shift the blame to the dead Subaru Natsuki, telling the boss that the weakling Subaru Natsuki wouldn't listen to his advice and insisted on following the original route, causing them to suffer significant losses.

After hearing Sting's suggestion, Subaru Natsuki hesitated for a moment before finally agreeing.

Because he also felt that this was indeed the best solution at the moment. Although his side seemed to be in greater danger, Natsuki Subaru, who had the ability to "return by death," said that he was not afraid at all.

Even if something unexpected happens ahead, I can simply die once, then die again and start over, and then accept Stinger's advice to change course.

Just as Poison Sting and Subaru Natsuki were happily dividing up their teams and preparing to split into two groups, a sudden thick fog rushed towards them at an extremely fast speed and swallowed them up...

The scene shifts back two days...

Anastasia quickly prepared various strategic supplies, and Wilkin and the triplets were also ready to depart at any time.