Chapter 2834 - 1343: Cooperation/Threat

The [Fer-de-Lance] Chamber of Commerce is a quite large criminal organization on the Innocent Continent, yes, a bona fide criminal organization. There’s no need to wash its reputation because it’s the kind that can’t be cleansed, black and evil through and through.

Viper truly lives up to its ’Chamber of Commerce’ suffix, with business dealings spanning the entire continent. They mostly engage in money-making activities, though few adhere to the general moral standards; most of them are not legitimate enterprises.

To be honest, in the current climate, if you have people, power, money, and influence, you can still profit handsomely in legal businesses and avoid many unnecessary troubles. But Viper doesn’t seem to think so. Generations of leaders and top executives of this organization have consistently preferred engaging in wrongdoing, scoffing at countless more promising and viable ventures.

This consistent reputation actually made the Viper Chamber of Commerce the leader of the criminal domain, at least on the surface. And please, don’t let the word ’surface’ mislead you into thinking they’re a ragtag group with no substance. In fact, although their way of doing things is widely disliked, the organization is formidable whether in foundation, power, or cohesion.

As mentioned before, since its rise, Viper Chamber of Commerce’s business scope has been ’the entire continent’. In other words, as long as they see opportunities for trade, even the most poverty-stricken places will have their staff present. So, if nothing unexpected happens, the number of their bases is probably terrifyingly high.

In terms of strength, borrowing the well-known ’dark transformation triples power’ theory, under the premise that they mostly aren’t upstanding people, Viper Chamber of Commerce has experts aplenty. The leaders have traditionally been bona fide Legendary Rank strong individuals, and the more than dozen top executives under them are, at worst, Epic Peak level — all formidable figures. Moreover, most who rise to the position of executive, whether third-rate, second-rate, or first-rate, usually have significant skills. Indeed, even common agents within are hidden dragons and crouching tigers, able to fight and endure, ever-ready.

As for wealth accumulation, no need to mention; given that they operate under the chamber of commerce name and engage in lucrative trades, the hundreds of years of accumulation amount to an astronomical figure. This is quite evident; Viper Chamber of Commerce offers ridiculously good benefits. Granted, most members engage in risky businesses, but even so, Viper offers very high treatment for its members – even external members – as if it were an exceedingly generous charity organization.

To give a simple example, take the collaboration of the Violet Empire and the Marshall Family in slave trading. Though just a small-time official, akin to a mere subordinate in the chamber, Zack Frith managed to acquire a large number of properties within a few years and saved seven figures in Gold Coins in a Gold Coin Commerce Association account for his daughter, showing just how much he earned.

It’s not that Zack was adept at amassing wealth; honestly, within Viper Chamber of Commerce, few dare to ’skillfully collect wealth’, as wealth can come and go, but there’s only one life. And angering the organization isn’t merely a matter of losing one life; getting your entire family wiped out isn’t unusual.

Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, the welfare provided by Viper Chamber of Commerce is truly excellent, so there’s really no one tempted to unjustly take extra profits not belonging to them. Viper’s rules are; the most basic staff and executors get at least fifty percent, with the remaining portion divided among leaders, managers, and top-levels barely involved in the work.

To put it simply, if you move about a hundred dollars’ worth of bricks, you can least expect to take fifty for yourself, while the foreman, middlemen, project manager, and upper management share less than fifty.

This may not sound unreasonable since those hundred dollars’ worth of bricks were your effort, but... honestly, it’s quite fair.

Besides, Viper Chamber of Commerce doesn’t literally have people moving bricks; all their dealings are illegal trades. These shady businesses are generally very lucrative, making half of the profits a considerable sum, and that’s just the baseline.

Honestly, such corporate culture might seem very healthy, and not only that; in some sense, Viper Chamber of Commerce is quite protective of its members. Whenever they believe a target warrants revenge, they retaliate against anyone harming their members, regardless even if it was a temporary part-time worker, provided there’s cost-effectiveness in doing so.

For instance, when Viper Chamber of Commerce’s base in Violet Empire was completely destroyed, no one emerged for retaliation because two main reasons: first, Zack Frith, the traitor who caused Viper’s downfall within Violet’s territory was the direct trigger, rather than outsiders; second, the most crucial point, the Violet Regent is not someone you want to mess with over trivial matters.

Or take the instance where two executives were lost in Caselo Prairie, reportedly personally wiped out by the current Diesel Family clan leader, the legitimate strongest Great Lord, Darian Diesel. Naturally, that matter was let go as well.