«Negotiation is both an art and a science, one party could go home with losses while the other gains, both parties could lose, and at the same time both parties could reach a compromise, the rules of negotiation are numerous, but three stand out above the rest: Never show your real hand, Trade what you have never give, and Always be ready to walk away if you find the situation unfavourable, Do you understand? Then pay attention.»
"You do know that I could still order Rigg here to pummel you, right?" Lucien's voice resounded in the room, his low tone serious as the smell of incense wafted through his nostrils.
They were in a small soundproofed room away from the booming music of the main club.
By 'them,' Mr. Valen was referring to himself—seated on a sofa, Lucien—opposite him, and Rigg—standing behind Lucien's seat.
Not wanting to stall any longer, Mr. Valen spoke: "I can help you overthrow the Brotherhood."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Rigg responded with a growl, his expression falling.
Lucien also had a negative reaction to Mr. Valen's proposal, his brows furrowed as he said, "It would appear that you have come here to throw your life away-"
"I'm not joking," Mr. Valen interrupted while throwing his phone on the table, his voice trailing, "You seem like a smart man, Lucien, so I'm sure you know this. The Brotherhood is expanding and it's not because they have the means, it's because the Viper Family favours them."
Picking up the phone, Lucien was met with digital records of transaction receipts with Vals in the millions. His eyes narrowed, "What are those?" He asked.
"Exactly what they seem like, transaction records," Mr. Valen began, and went on, his breath not stopping for a moment, "I was able to get these transaction records from online messages between the brotherhood and the Viper family, proof of their business dealings, it appears the Viper Family is paying the brotherhood for something."
Observing those transactions, Lucien's eyes widened for a brief moment as though he had made some kind of mental realization.
It was evident to Mr. Valen, that Lucien had grasped some pieces of the puzzle that he knew nothing of.
But Lucien's surprise lasted only a moment, his expression steadying as he said, "I am not even going to ask how you got your hands on this-"
"You have no idea how easy it is to get into a public wifi network although it was tricky without specialized equipment," Mr. Valen interrupted.
The room was quiet, with Lucien pondering deeply, Rigg, on the other hand, huffed. He knew his boss, and by his reaction, he knew this matter was serious, so he responded in kind.
"How do we trust you?" Rigg asked, his voice tickling the inner walls of Mr. Valen's ears.
Lucien's ears also perked up at this question, his eyes observing Mr. Valen deeply.
All attention was focused on him, but Mr. Valen did not falter, instead he said, "You don't have to trust me, I'm just a businessman, and here are my conditions, I want you to whisper into the right ears, make it known that you're planning something big against the brotherhood, secondly, I want you to purchase some things for me, and lastly, I want one million Val."
"Pfft," Rigg snorted, his brows furrowing as he closed in, "You want one million Val? Boss, he wants one million Val, I could just-"
"Stop Rigg," Lucien suddenly muttered, his tone serious as he continued, "We will do what you need, and we will help you purchase what you need, but we'll only pay you a thousand Val."
"Boss!" Rigg exclaimed, shocked that Lucien would even consider negotiating with Mr. Valen.
Mr. Valen, on the other hand, had a look of faint worry on his face, his brows furrowing as he said, "Then we have no deal."
"Very well then," Lucien said with a faint smile as he got up, "Rigg will see you out-"
"Wait," Mr. Valen exclaimed gritting his teeth, a smug glint in his eyes as he said, "I'll take the deal."
He was backed into a corner, it was too far into the month to go with another plan, so if this plan were to fail, all his effort would be for naught, and with his recent activity, it would not take long for the Viper Family to realize that he had awakened.
Lucien, on the other hand, sat down again, his brows raised as he said, "I can't hear you."
"I'll take the deal," Mr. Valen repeated, letting out a sigh of defeat as he brought out a piece of paper from his pocket.
But then, Lucien asked a question that made him stop in his tracks, "What deal?"
"What are you talking about?" Mr. Valen asked, knowing all too well what Lucien was playing at, his face blank.
Lucien chuckled, leaning closer, "the deal we had before was old news, now, I have changed my mind, we will do what you need but if you want us to purchase anything for you, you will have to pay for it, we won't be giving you a dime, take it or leave it."
Mr. Valen was frozen for a while, but regained his composure rather quickly, dropping the paper on the table.
Picking up the paper, Lucien observed its contents, on it was a list of drugs and mechanical parts some of which he knew the uses, "Isn't Cytoleptin used to weaken the immune system?"
He asked pausing slightly and yet he continued to read, "I don't know what Neuroxin does, but Protoplast accelerates healing. A car battery? An ECG monitor? Duct tape? What the fuck is all this?" He thought in shock wondering how any of this stuff mattered in the grand scheme of things.
Looking towards Mr. Valen, Lucien resolved, for an unknown reason, not to ask questions and said, "That'll be 130,000 Val. The equipment is not a problem, but the drugs are a bit tricky."
"I see," Mr. Valen said before throwing a bundle of cash on the table, which was half the payment, he was a bit surprised that Lucien had not asked any questions.
"Okay then," Mr. Valen began, "when you have the goods please contact me, the location of the exchange is written on the page."
With that, their business was done, so Mr. Valen got up but as soon as he touched the knob, Lucien's voice trailed, "if I don't see results, you know I can easily find you right?"
"Why of course," Mr. Valen smiled, his tone light as he responded while leaving, "expect results by the end of the month.
Upon leaving the room, Mr. Valen quickly made his way through the sex club, meeting up with Phil who greeted him excitedly.
"Holy shit man, are you some kind of martial artist? That move was sick..."
Mr. Valen paid less attention to Phil or none at all, his mind elsewhere, adjusting his plan accordingly.
«So what do you think? Was I the one who walked away with losses?»
«If you think so, then you certainly weren't paying attention. Do you think some junkie could just walk into the den of the Magnetas, propose an absurd plan like that and walk out?»
«Come on, think, I fancied you more intelligent than that, let me give you a hint, no, let me tell you, Lucien knows exactly who I am»
Meanwhile, back in the room, the silence was loud, with Lucien in deep thought and Rigg standing behind him.
Rigg looked bothered, his expression one of worry as he said probingly "so we just let any junkie come in here and walk all over us?"
His voice sank into the silence, ignored completely by Lucien, who had a small frown on his face.
Noting this frown, Rigg changed his tone, "Well, at least we got a good minor business deal out of him."
"No, we didn't," Lucien suddenly spoke a frown on his face as he began, "His name is Valen, he has no known last name since he is an orphan, he works at the local GPV and he lives with his girlfriend not too far from here do you really think I would waste my time on just any kid?"
Rigg raised a brow, "Why-"
"Why do I know all this?" Lucien interrupted as he stood up, "For some reason, that kid is deeply monitored by the Viper Family, every gang in the area was made aware, honestly, I was a bit surprised when I watched him walk in, so I decided to play dumb."
"Wait he's the kid you're keeping an eye on?" Rigg asked in realization.
"Yes, he's the one," Lucien said with a nod. "I think he's attempting to escape the Viper Family's control by using the Brotherhood, his goal was never the equipment, all he really wanted was for us to stir the waters."
The look of realization in Rigg's eyes continued to grow as he exclaimed, "It's no wonder he knows systema, he is entangled with those freaks, so what should we do? Should we report him to the Viper Family-"
"Are you stupid?" Lucien muttered, his eyes twitching as he said, "we don't even know what is going on, besides, no one can escape the Viper Family, we remain passive for now, and watch, once the Viper family starts looking for him, we will be the only ones who know exactly were to find him."
"It will be a bonus if he can indeed take down the Brotherhood in the process," Lucien thought to himself.