Ondori's time in the West Blue had been well spent, but nothing beat the comfort of being back at a place he could call home. Though he wasn't from here, since he had been in the Four Blues he spent a lot of time on Karate Island and had come to establish his company Raider Clan here as well. It was evident that this place was where he could call home due to how easy he found it to relax and stop being so high strung when he was here. Although he was comfortable and not necessarily high strung, Ondori was still alert and very responsive towards any happenings should he find they call for his attention and should they be noticed by any of his senses. He still wasn't foolish and knew all to well not to let his guard down. It was at a time like this that he made an attempt on his first sensei's life, during a night that felt so peaceful that was so very quiet save for the light sounds of casual conversation. Also he was in company of some customers, so him being attentive was very important right now though his attention was split between them and his work. Bato, one of his workers was handling the business matters right now as the front man and Ondori was simply listening in making sure the deal made was approvable and to ensure that his business partners weren't trying to one up him or his company.

Where they were was the headquarters Ondori's company operated out of which was a large traditional styled hotel. Tatami floors, sliding doors, lanterns, wooden walk ways, gardens, all that good stuff. Though Bato was Ondori's only worker in the room doing business with the customer and his tag along, Ondori had his other employees nearby elusively guarding the two entrances (front and back) to the room while looking like hotel guest. His two katanas on his hip, just as the tag along of the customer had his weapon with him, Ondori sat in silence as Bato and the man negotiated. While they were going back and forth establishing rates of the items they wanted to buy and the protection they were seeking out, Ondori was working on a new project that a man in the West Blue had asked for him to make.

A collar that had explosive properties was what he wanted. It reminded Ondori of the collars he had seen slaves wear back in Wano Country. Though the people of Wano weren't big on slavery, Nobles visited occasionally to experience and travel what they saw as an exotic land. With that in mind Ondori tried his best to make something that resembled and operated like those. He wasn't one to directly imitate someone else's invention however, no, he wanted to craft something that'd be better than the typical slave collar. Should he succeed then that would make more people seek him out to purchase his version of the design as opposed to the original, but just how would me make such a thing work? "So you're saying just one of these bombs cost five hundred thousand beli?!" Ondori's attention was summoned as the client was raising his voice. His hawk like eyes shifting over from the mechanical mess that was laid out on a piece of cloth before him to the right where they were handling business. Both the client and Bato's eyes shifted over to meet Ondori's and the client cleared his throat and corrected himself. "It's just that I don't see why this simple bomb would go for so much money. What makes it so different than an explosive I could buy from some guy with a connect to the World Government or some Revolutionaries." Bato sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. "With this explosive here Mr. Hiyotomi, not only do they have a countdown function that you yourself can set, but they have remote control detonation and also they can stick to surfaces. WHile you could go and look for something similar on the market I doubt you'll find something like this product here. The yield of the explosion is much more powerful than any other explosive this size as well. It's a high quality well tested product that is ahead of its time, especially if you are looking to monopolize here in the Four Blues where the technological wave has yet to reach." "What he's saying is no one else in the Four Blues has shit like this and it's not a simple bomb. If you find my products simple then you'll probably end up blowing your face off trying to use i-" Before he could finish Mr. Hiyotomi's plus one began to rise, his katana on his hip being partially drawn as he did so, but Mr. Hiyotomi extended a halting hand and he sat back down and sheathed his weapon.

Ondori began to become very annoyed with the whole situation. First they had come in and didn't purchase what they scheduled their appointment to buy, then he has his products disrespected. "I'm going to assume you bunch are new doing business in the South Blue. You can run around and look for other people selling shit, but you won't find anything like what we sell. So either you buy what you came here for or you can leave without having to be in a bodybag." Bato sighed again. "Sadly for you he's right, we're the only technologically advanced purveyors in the South Blue and even when taking the rest of the Blues into account not many other factions have better products than we do. It's five hundred thousand beli or no deal and leaving empty handed isn't necessarily appreciated around these waters." Bato's glance towards the front door hinted towards the presence of the men outside and Mr. Hiyotomi grumbled in discomfort. "If we purchase in bulk will you cut us a deal?"

Ondori had had enough and couldn't focus with the client's unrelenting idiocy. Standing up in one swift motion Ondori placed his hand back near the butt end of the sheath of Taka as he stepped forward. Jutting this hand that was on the sheath forward before the body guard could completely rise and draw his sword Ondori had pushed his sheathed weapon forward causing the handle to crash into his forehead knocking him unconscious. Mr. Hiyotomi just watched on shocked and frozen unaware of what was coming next. "Bring in the new guy, Rauri. I have a job for him." Ondori shouted loud for those outside the room to hear. Pinning Mr. Hiyotomi down as they fetched the new recruit Ondori spoke rather blandly to his client. "If you yell I'll cut your tongue out your mouth, so keep quiet and this will be over super soon kay." In a few moments the recruit arrived. He was about seventeen or so and while he seemed dedicated, he still had a lot to prove and he'd start here. Mr. Hiyotomi here offered to buy all the bombs we have in stock. So what we're going to do is offer him our special discount. Basically all you have to do is take that dagger on your hip and cut off two of the fingers on his hand right here." Ondori pressed the hand hard against the tatami mat floor and looked up at Rauri who seemed a bit confused. "Any two fingers?" A few noises of interest were heard from the sliding door where two employees were looking at Rauri taking his first steps into the company. "As long as one of them is his thumb, then you're all good." The youth nodded his head and drew his dagger looking at the hand as if it were a math problem that needed solving, but diving in. Two solid thumps when the guard of the dagger hit the tatami mat and a loud muffled yell of pain. With two severed fingers on the mat that belonged to Mr. Hiyotomi shortly after he passed out from pain or shock or hyperventilating, it didn't matter to Ondori. "Empty his pockets and drag him and his oaf out of here please. We owe him ten bombs, so make sure he gets em ok?" Bato handed Ondori a hand towel and he wiped Mr. Hiyotomi's blood off his hands. "S-sure thing." Rauri said running off to carry out the orders.

"You sure have a way of doing things. I've worked for a decent amount of black market brokers, but only about four of them had the same approach to these type of things you do." Ondori sat back down in front of his pile of junk and tossed the hand towel on the ground somewhere. "Oh really? And what happened to them." He began to screw some bits and pieces together, the fuse for the collar created, now all that remained was putting it all together. "Three of them ended up getting snuffed pretty quickly. Two of the times it was by a client after doing something very similar to what you just did and the other was knocked off by competition."

Ondori nodded, thinking of adding a remote control to set his product apart from the rest of the slave collars. Perhaps with a range based trigger so if the slaves strayed too far away they'd be punished. He put a finger to his chin. They weren't really being punished since punishment implied they'd be able to learn from the mistake. "Maybe I should make a shock collar two." He mumbled. "Hm?" Bato hummed as he was wiping up the blood with the hand towel Ondori had discarded. "I said what happened with the other one. You said you worked for four dudes like me right?" Ondori looked over to Bato who nodded. "The other one moved out to Baltigo to become pretty successful there. Not sure if he's still alive, but he made it to the Black Market hub as a purveyor and that's a big accomplishment." Ondori nodded, it truly was a hard thing to accomplish. Being in the industry of selling illegal goods or just weapons was very dangerous and competition wasn't appreciated. Selling these types of things, one could guess hiring an assassin was child's play and not something out of reach. Sellers got killed everyday, but as long as it wasn't him or one of his own getting hit, he'd keep making money. "Maybe I can be number two that makes it if I play my cards right. Apparently it's possible to play the game like I do and win, just not too probable." Bato chuckled. "Yeah it's possible, just know I don't plan on dying with you if your time comes."

Ondori played with a bundle of wires trying to stuff them into the shell of an empty collar to test the shock collar idea. "Ha! Same goes to you." Bato nodded, the floor cleaned up and the last client of the day gone, he had no further need to be here. "Need anything else before I head out? Ondori thought about it for a moment, taking his eyes off his work and looking up at the ceiling in thought. "Tell me what you think about a collar that activates when the captive travels a certain distance away from the remote that controls it. This remote also being able to activate the collar?" Bato juggled the idea in his mind for a bit before replying. "Is there a way to take the collar off, what's it made out of." "The collars are made out of steel, but nah, once the collar is on it's sealed around your neck. Of course if you can break or bend steel then you can get out the collar though." Bato nodded with a finger to his chin. "Maybe if you made it so the collars can come off with some sort of code being input into them you could have the potential to make more money. Say a slave wanted you to free him or and owner wanted you to take the collar off a slave. Rare scenario, but you never know. Things being absolute aren't always a good thing." Ondori agreed and felt that would be a good addition. "I like it, thanks Bato." With that the man left Ondori to his work the other workers still standing guard outside.

Back to work he finished the explosive collar in due time since was already pretty used to crafting his time bombs it was simple. He just needed more time to think about how he'd make the shock collars and how they'd work, but for now he was good.

2183 words
[Exit]