Chapter 184: Chapter 183 – Plan Initiation

“So when are we starting?” Erica asked.

“On the plan?” Yuki replied. “Right now actually. Since we’re all here already, there’s no real need to delay the first part. We can at least start it.”

He scanned the number of screens floating in front of him.

“I asked Uriel to compile a list for me of all of the known high grade elemental jewels in existence,” he continued, still scanning the screens. His eyes alighted on one that seemed to pulse gently. “Ah, here it is. Thank you.”

With a few taps, he duplicated the screens and tossed one to each of the people sitting at the meeting table.

“This is the preliminary list. It’s incomplete due to a lot of factors,” Yuki said as they scanned their screens. “This is based on official registries from a number of different groups. The problem with that though is that many gems are not registered and aren't exactly legal, so there are many that are not on the list. That means that the elemental jewels on that list may not be the largest ones in the world currently. I know for a fact that there is a water jewel that is not listed.”

“How are we going to find the unregistered ones?” Akira asked, sliding her screen back to Yuki. 

“That’s going to take some time,” he replied. “However, Tiar can help us with a lot of that. You said you’re privy to Mason’s plans?”

“I am,” he smiled, his white teeth flashing.

“Perfect. Then I want you to compile a list of everything you know,” Yuki instructed. “Any plans or interests that you’ve discovered. Anything you find in the future I also want you to record. Understood?”

“Got it.”

“Now the difficult part is going to be tracking down the more hidden jewels that exist in the world,” Yuki said. “Quite frankly, they can be anywhere.”

“Black market?” Erica suggested.

“Yeah,” Yuki nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. You can do that right?”

“Yup. I know quite a few people in there,” she said. “I’ll see if I can locate any more jewels. Hopefully not get ripped off.”

“Great. The final place these jewels can be if they’re not registered and have actually been found is going to be in a private collection. That’s something that we can’t really do anything about directly.”

“Wait,” Yuna said, raising a hand. “Private collection like the ones rich folks have? With relics and art?”

“Yes, but it also be poor people with family heirlooms,” Yuki said. “Hopefully it’s rich people though. They are much easier to track and locate.”

“Are there any jewels that we can eliminate to narrow down our search?” Akira asked.

“Actually, yes,” Yuki nodded. “Water is probably one. So we don’t need to look around for another one, but we should still keep an eye out if a high quality one becomes known. Another one we can eliminate is lightning since we know that Mason Inc. already has one. The last one we can get rid of is ice.”

“How do you know that?”

“Some digging brought to my attention the fact that Mason Inc. had recently purchased, and I quote, ‘The Largest Ice Jewel in Existence.’”

“Oh yeah, I think I saw that on the news a few months ago,” Erica commented.

“I think we can safely assume that they don’t need another ice attribute stone. Unless it breaks”

“So all that’s left is earth, wind, fire, and naturae,” Zoe listed quietly. “Only four we’ll need to look into.”

“Correct.”

“I think I can help with one of them,” she said.

“Which one?” Yuki asked.

“The naturae one. It is my main attribute, so anything related to it is something I pay considerable attention to,” she explained. “I can say for certain, however, that the highest quality naturae gem is out of reach for the Shikaku and Mason Inc.”

“How can you say that for sure?” Yuki said, raising an eyebrow.

“I know the person who has it,” Zoe replied. “There is no way Mason Incorporated will be able to contact them. And that’s assuming they know who this person is.”

 “And you’re confident in that.”

“Yes, I am.”

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“Do you perhaps know the location of the next highest grade naturae jewel?”

“I knew the location,” she replied. “But it’s probably been moved around quite a bit since I last checked. So currently, I don’t know.”

“But you knew where it was before.”

“Yes.”

“That means that you can follow the trail and locate it again?”

“Correct.”

“Perfect. How long do you expect that to take?” Yuki asked. “I’ll be looking into the other jewels while you do that.”

“Depending on the situation, it can take anywhere from a few days to a month. I don’t believe it’ll be longer than that.”

“Then I’ll leave that to you. While you look into that, we’ll be searching for the other jewels. We’ll deal with the last part of the plan outline once we’ve located every possible target.”

“Is there anything else?” Yuna asked.

“Not really. Just a few notes that I think you all should know,” Yuki said. “One is that since this is ongoing, you all should expect another call for a meeting in the not so distant future. Probably within a month. Second is that this is not the only thing going right now. I’ve sent Mat out on an investigation quite some time ago. He’s still out there, but he’s notified me that he’ll be returning soon. So we might be dealing with that as well later on.”

“Understood,” she nodded. “What should we prepare for?”

“Prepare? For which thing?”

“Um, whichever comes first?”

“Well, for the thing with Mason Inc., just brush up on your espionage and combat skills,” he shrugged. “Not all of you, however. I’m sure you know who will be going with me on those missions. For the other one, I don’t know what it entails yet, so focus on the Mason problem.”

“Okay. Got it.”

“Are there any questions?” Yuki asked.

“Yeah, I have one,” Damian nodded, frowning a bit. “Do you have a few elemental stones I can use? I want to run some experiments.”

“I can probably get some,” Yuki replied. “One of every type?”

“Yes. That would be optimal.”

“Alright. I’ll do that then. Anything else?” He turned his gaze to the rest of the table.

“I don’t have any, boss,” Tiar said. 

“Me neither,” Erica chimed in.

“I have a small one,” Sarah said, raising her hand.

“Go ahead,” Yuki nodded.

“Will I be participating in the acquisition missions?”

“Most likely,” Yuki said. “It’ll be as your normal role. Watch the area and hold the perimeter.”

“Okay, I understand.”

“Any other questions?” Yuki asked.

No replies.

“Great. Then I’ll see you all here again. Hopefully soon.”