Chapter 41: Also in a Good Shape Today


    Several years after its establishment, MCTBH had grown into one of thergestpanies in Japan.


    This was thanks to the abundant funds from foreign investors, the active backing of the local government, and the current trend of the SDGs boom.


    <em>(T/N: Sustainable Development Goods)</em>


    Outsourcing contaminated goods and waste disposal transactions to MCTBH would ensure you the achievement of zero emissions.


    Thats a big step toward the SDGs.


    MCTBH is now the standard bearer for environmental solutions, and therger, more brand-consciouspanies want to do business with MCTBH, which is then mored for by the investors.


    [In fact, its gotten so big]


    Hiroki looked down from the window of the conference room near the top of his building, which was several dozen stories high, at the hole carved into a cone several kilometers in diameter that now looked like a loose crater, and at the surrounding facilities.


    Until just a few years ago, this was nothing but a used house and recycle store that Hiroki had purchased, abandoned farnd, and wastnd.


    It has now be a major center of the logistics, which one might be able to call as a venous system, where thepany upies the lower reaches of the worlds industrial structure.


    Just as all roads lead to Rome, one could say that all wastes lead to MCTBH.


    President, may we proceed with our regr meeting?


    Yeah, please.


    "


    "


    Ishida, thepanys Managing Director, informed Hiroki that he was losing his concentration.


    Even though he was a decorated Owner/President, Hiroki was still expected to behave properly in front of the board members at the management meeting.


    In the bright and spacious conference room with a high ceiling and ss windows on one wall, the board members of MCTBH, which has be a huge corporation, were seated side by side.


    The executives supporting MCTBH, which now handles waste treatment forpanies around the world, is made up of a diverse group of people.


    Thepanys branding as a greenpany has been well-received, and thepany has attracted highly motivated and capable people from all over the world.


    MCTBHs performance in the current quarter has grown 35%pared to the previous year. The main reason for this is that we have developed a distributionwork in the South American market, which has enabled us to link the economic support of the poor, who depend on the exploitation of the rainforest, to the development of the mining industry, which is a secondary industry, and to the waste take-back cycle


    Since thepany has be a global enterprise by gathering human resources from all over the world, management meetings are held in English as a matter of course.


    As expected, even Hiroki was forced to study thenguage, and since he had a good head on his shoulders, he could now speak and understand normally.


    Still, Hirokis attention and gaze couldnt help but be drawn to the ce where the hole is supposed to be.


    While Hirokis mind drifted about, the executives at the management meeting passionately discussed how to save the Earth from the danger of environmental pollution, and each executive was satisfied that theirpetence and diligence had been properly evaluated.


    After a while, as he watched the board members leave the conference room in droves, Hiroki called out to Ishida.


    [Did everyone go home?]


    [Yes.]


    [Well then, lets start with the report.]


    Once the front management meeting was over, it was now time for thepanys secret meeting.


    Hiroki didnt want to create anotherplicated decision-making meeting, but he doesnt trust their newly joined board members, who may be motivated by pure ambition, or may be under the influence of otherpanies or funds, so he had no reason to deny Ishidas strong insistence.


    In theory, it could be said that Ishida was nning to pull Hiroki out of the information of other executives and make him a puppet and in fact, there were some employees who were calling for such a move but Hiroki remained calm, saying Ishida can do as he pleases.


    [First of all, the current governor is asking for support for his campaign fund.


    [Ahh, errr, who is that again? Is he that greasy guy with a barcode for a hairstyle?]


    [Governor Aburai, yes. He has been an environmental advocate since ourpany started funding him.]


    [Hmmm. I dont dislike easy-to-understand people like him. Isnt it alright?]


    [I understand. Ill contact his secretary.]


    After MCTBH announced that it would consider investment from funds, the response from the local political circles clearly changed.


    Its likely that they had received pushback from the businessmunity and the electorate, who felt that it would be unbearable for a promising localpany to be taken over by a foreignpany or relocate out of the country even though they had grown locally.


    In reality, its impossible for thepany to move abroad, but theyre free to use it as a negotiating technique, and theyre also free to have the other party misunderstand them.


    [Were going to need their help with a lot of things.]


    [Youre right. Were going to have them useful to us from now on.]


    The previously stalled procedures for permits andnd acquisition went remarkably smoothly, and harassment from eco-friendly organizations and local yakuza disappeared.


    This is probably because the funding from their supporters ceased.


    They too are professionals, and when money runs out, their connections would disappear.


    Its easy to understand in the sense that they will not do work that wouldnt earn them money.


    At the same time, a certain bouncer in thepany(Hiroki) no longer had a role to y, but it wasnt that bad for him since he could spend more time near the hole.


    The positive economic impact wasnt limited to the localmunity.


    In fact, MCTBH had a more pronounced positive impact on the Japanese economy as a whole.


    Manufacturing and chemical factories returned to Japan.


    Their presence encouraged the so-called Return to Japan.


    With the creation of MCTBH, cheap waste disposal became avable, and the cost of secondary industries that require solid and liquid waste disposal, such as the chemical and manufacturing industries, was greatly reduced.


    As theyre currently epting nuclear fuel waste from nuclear power generation on a temporary basis, the stocks of electric powerpanies have soared with the prospect of liquidating their negative legacy, while electricity prices have stabilized at low levels.


    Fortunately, though they cant exactly say that, a prolonged recession, a cheap currency and lowerbor costs had made Japan a developed country that couldpete with other developing countries in secondary industries.


    [Local tax revenues soared. The surrounding factories have also increased the job opportunities. Well, I suppose thats not something you wouldin about.]


    [Yeah.]


    Standing by the window, Hiroki looked down on the crater-like cluster of facilities with pipes and conveyors heading towards the center.


    [Looks like its also in a good shape today.]


    [Yeah.]


    What Ishida said isnt out of concern for Hirokis physical condition.


    Ishida knows that Hiroki is as healthy as he could possibly be.


    What Ishida was concerned about was that hole, hidden in the central dome, where liquid waste and waste materials continue to be brought in through hundreds of waste pipes and conveyors.


    He was talking about that waste disposal hole, who is now referred to as The Hole.


    The Hole, which has be an integral part of the global economy, continues to expand, unnoticed by others.