Two Ford Econolines attached themselves to the front and rear of the Rolls-Royce Henry was riding in like shadows. A convoy of three vehicles cut through the heavy air, heading toward Manhattan. The 1979 New York was, quite literally, a "city of crime." In July, a mafia boss was murdered in broad daylight, and recently, a corpse that had been cruelly tortured in Hell's Kitchen had been discovered as well. On every street, the spectacle of protesters, homeless people, and drug offenders tangled together was truly the worst.
"Please connect me to [Debenjeo Shield]."
Henry picked up the car phone receiver of the Rolls-Royce, which had only just finished being customized. Noise incomparable to a smartphone from 2026 scratched his eardrums with a *chh— chh—* sound. Henry clicked his tongue at the hassle of having to go through the operator himself for every single call without a secretary.
*What romance is this? It's just communication hell. I'm not even hoping for LTE or 5G, so please, at least 2G… or at least some noise cancellation would be nice. Sigh… It really requires too much human effort.*
Only after going through the operator and revealing his identity did Joshua's voice finally come through.
"Boss, what is it?"
"Haha, nothing in particular. Now that I have a car phone, I was curious about the performance, and it feels like quite a while since I last heard your voice, so I called. How have you been lately?"
"With New York's public safety hitting rock bottom, clients seeking [Debenjeo Shield] have exploded. Even though we're increasing personnel, we're short-handed and are in a situation where we have no choice but to refuse lower-grade requests."
"You're doing well. But if you're so short on people, isn't it a bit of a waste to keep ten men attached to me alone?"
"A waste? The center of the Debenjeo family is you, Boss. If you hadn't refused, I would have attached twenty more."
"That's really excessive. During the last protest, eight cars alone followed us. Even presidential security isn't at that level."
Henry replied in a joking tone and asked after Joshua's well-being. Joshua said that being stuck in the office instead of running the field didn't suit him at all, that his body was growing rusty, and suggested recruiting a professional manager, but Henry firmly refused.
"No, it's because I can only rest easy if you keep that position. Joshua, you know how important your role is."
Having ended the call, Henry placed the heavy receiver down and nodded. Fortunately, it seemed that even these days, Joshua was staying put in the office. Since he hadn't yet been able to create a new alter ego, Joshua was truly his last bastion. Even if this body died, it was absolutely unacceptable for Joshua to die along with him.
That was also why Henry had elevated Joshua to CEO during the [Debenjeo Shield] restructuring. Furthermore, in a secret will known to no one but Henry, he had already designated Joshua as the sole proxy of the illegitimate child until the illegitimate child succeeded the family.
"Jay, no matter how much they stuffed a special encryption module inside and finished it with premium walnut veneer to match the interior, thirty thousand dollars crosses the line. Those [Motorona] bastards, this is outright extortion. Spending the price of a whole car on a single receiver."
At Henry's grumbling, Jay in the driver's seat laughed awkwardly and threw a glance in the rearview mirror.
"It's certainly expensive as you say, Boss, but being able to talk to the other side of the earth from inside a moving car is a magical thing, isn't it? These days, among the upper class, installing this car phone antenna is said to be a symbol of wealth. They're apparently at the point where they can't sell them because there's no stock. And CEO Joshua seems uneasy about the very fact that Boss is going to Manhattan. You have no idea how much pressure he put on me and Jeston beside me to take good care of you."
"Hahaha, that friend Joshua, really. Yes, the businesses have all gotten on track lately. But September is coming soon. Sigh, just thinking about it makes me want to stop setting foot in Manhattan, but…"
*September is the peak of that tedious social season. To think that as the so-called head of the family, I have to spend all night in a stiff suit, passing around champagne glasses with boring old men I have nothing in common with… This isn't even about work-life balance, it's forced labor. Utter disgust.*
"If Lord Bartholomew finds out, he might tie you up with a rope like when you were young and drag you around. Haha."
"Ugh, don't even mention it."
Inside the car heading toward the One Times Square Building, Henry threw light jokes and chattered at Jay and the taciturn Jeston, then soon leaned his body deep into the back seat.
Outside the window, Westchester's tranquil scenery was rapidly pushed back, and gradually, the grayish skyscrapers and the air of Manhattan, filled with turbid heat, began to seep in. Into the heart of chaos—1979 New York, he went.
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Having enjoyed a few rounds on a test unit with improved afterimages and LCD display at the [Enjoy] office, and having finished a brief briefing with the investment team, Henry buried himself deep into the sofa of his office that had become his own private hideout. His upcoming visit to Japan filled his mind.
"No matter how much I think about it, it's too much of a waste to just visit Japan as a tourist and come back like this…"
It was simply a schedule to tour an OEM factory, but while thinking about sightseeing in Japan afterward, a thought suddenly sprang up. Because knowing the future where Japan would burn bright and become an overwhelming bubble period, giving up on investment seemed like a waste.
Just the certain future Henry knew—the yen's surge due to the Plaza Accord, and the bubble society that created the Lost Three Decades. From Henry's perspective, present-day Japan was truly like tender, chewy, delicious boneless chicken made from chicken thigh meat, if only one could peel away the wrapping paper (the government, regulations).
On top of that,
*Isn't there any way? The satellite flew away because it couldn't be used as collateral for a trust asset loan. I have to enter right now, acquire a manga publisher and preempt Akira Toriyama… Then Dragon Ball is mine. If I even acquire [Sunrise], which is currently rumored to have produced a flop, and just snatch the toy rights from [Bandai], it's game over.*
Utilizing the major he had studied during his school days when he was quite devoted to animation, if he preempted the future greats and vertically integrated even the animation broadcasters, they would become golden-egg-laying geese on their own.
*Enter Japan in January next year with the brands I've listed up, gobble up real estate too, and if I just exit well around '89, I'll have money that would make Bill Gates during the internet bubble era look like pocket change. This is the regressor's return on investment.*
Just riding the flow where the yen's value was forcibly pumped up by the Plaza Accord, he could aim for at least 40 to 100 billion dollars. It was a certain profit on a completely different dimension from now, when he invested in silver futures and worried anxiously. Moreover, what was even more astounding was the external image. These days, with America suffering from trade deficits, a savior who gathered dollars from Japan and poured them into New York, which was on the verge of bankruptcy. If he adjusted [The Time]'s editorial tone and pretended to help Japan's cultural exports, the island nation would clearly call him a "pro-Japanese(?)" and roll out the red carpet.
*I really don't like the term pro-Japanese, but if I get tagged with this label, my business in Japan will really take wing. Enter now and vertically integrate the manga, animation, and broadcasters whose golden age is beginning! While paying off debts appropriately with the yen earned there, then buy brands for entering Japan in January and ride the bubble to the finish! The scenario is truly perfect, but…*
Henry got up from his seat and gazed at Times Square outside the window with sharp eyes.
"I can't let this go. I have to think of some way. Now that both [Enjoy] and the investment company are on a normal track, the busy period is over."
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Monday, July 30, 1979
"Henry… inviting the Japanese Ambassador to the United States to the mansion, what are you scheming this time?"
While skimming through the proposal for the "Japan Culture Testbed and 24-Hour Animation Channel" prepared for Ambassador Togo Fumihiko, who would arrive soon, Bart asked with a worried expression. Henry smiled leisurely and pushed the proposal toward Bart.
"It's not such a big deal that you need to worry so much. Please take a light look."
In the future, terms like IP and content would be treated as more precious than gold, but presently, animation was merely a "money-losing business only kids watched." Thanks to that, related companies in Japan and America were practically worthless in Henry's eyes.
"Hmm? A 24-hour animation broadcaster? Are you thinking of acquiring a Japanese animation company? Even if you go that far, the probability of making money seems low."
"A broadcaster within the United States is only the final goal. First, I plan to acquire a small regional broadcaster in Japan itself and gauge market reactions. The broadcaster listed there wouldn't cost even thirty million dollars to acquire. Even if I sweep up all the manga publishers, it might or might not reach one hundred million dollars. That capital can be borrowed at low interest from Japanese banks, so as long as Japanese government approval falls into place, there's no problem."
But Bart's experienced eyes were sharp. He pointed at the financial terms at the bottom of the proposal and shook his head.
"But Henry, insisting on borrowing dollar-denominated loans from Japanese banks and executing them in yen is too disadvantageous. As you know, the weak yen is accelerating now. If the yen's value falls further later, the principal you have to repay increases exponentially. Why are you trying to make such a risky gamble?"
Bart's concerns were extremely valid. Currently at around 210 yen per dollar. Since the yen was scheduled to crash to 280 yen soon, to someone who didn't know the future, it looked like throwing money away at the bank. But Henry inwardly cheered.
*This is exactly the regressor-exclusive reverse bet. If I borrow one hundred million dollars at the current standard of 210 yen, over 21 billion yen comes in. But if the Plaza Accord hits and the exchange rate locks at 120 yen? A magic where the value I have to repay drops to around 12 billion yen unfolds. Even if the corporate value doesn't rise at all, I earn double just sitting there on exchange rates alone, how can I resist? Besides, throwing this bait at some trivial animation makes it questionable whether it's even possible… Should I take out the broadcaster? No, let's leave it in for now. If they reject it, I can remove it then…*
In other words, if he bought Japanese companies with a loan denominated in dollars but executed in yen, even if their corporate value didn't rise by even one yen, their value in dollars would automatically be forcibly doubled. That is, if he bought them now and sold them later, he could earn one hundred million dollars just from the exchange rate! However, for the several years until the Plaza Accord, he would take bookkeeping losses due to the weak yen, but if he stretched it out with a fifteen-year long-term loan until '89, the peak of the bubble, this would be a truly sweet deal that would go down in history. But there was no way he could prophesy the Plaza Accord right now.
But borrowing in yen? This creates a huge debt in yen, and if the Plaza Accord is realized, a reverse magic unfolds where the debt doubles in dollar terms.
Nowadays the trend was a weak yen with the yen's value consistently falling, and since it had been consistently weak for nearly a year, unless he poured out prophecies, his excuses would be threadbare. But Henry had already prepared his excuses as well.
"This way, Japanese banks can be lured into offering us loans more cheaply. Anyway, please prepare. He should be arriving soon."