Chapter 63: The Fleet Begins
Friday morning arrived with unusually heavy traffic, but Richard was already halfway to Bulacan before most of Metro Manila had fully woken up.
The corporate fleet contract with Villanueva Integrated Holdings officially entered its first operational phase that day. Although the paperwork had been completed earlier in the week, procurement couldn’t begin until the company finalized the exact specifications for each department’s vehicles. Late Thursday evening, Melissa Cruz had sent him the confirmed allocation list, and Richard had spent nearly two hours studying it before finally heading home.
The document was surprisingly detailed.
Villanueva Integrated Holdings wasn’t simply buying twenty-four vehicles because it wanted a larger fleet. Every unit already had an assigned purpose.
Regional executives would receive Lexus LMs and BMW X5s.
Project directors would be issued Land Cruiser ZXs.
Provincial operations managers would receive Toyota Fortuners.
Engineering supervisors would use Hilux pickups.
Even the company pool vehicles had already been assigned to specific divisions.
Richard appreciated that level of planning.
It made his job considerably easier.
His pickup eventually entered the grounds of Pacific Asset Recovery shortly after eight o’clock. Compared to his previous visit, the auction yard looked even busier. Dealers walked between rows of damaged vehicles carrying flashlights, notebooks, diagnostic scanners, and coffee cups. Forklifts transported newly arrived insurance units while employees updated inventory tags attached to windshields.
Dennis spotted him almost immediately.
"You actually came."
Richard smiled.
"I said I would."
Dennis walked over and handed him a visitor’s badge.
"I’ll save you some walking."
"I’m listening."
"The fleet units are parked in Section C."
Richard raised an eyebrow.
"They’re all together?"
"They arrived from the same insurance claim."
Richard nodded appreciatively.
That alone would save him nearly an hour.
The two men walked deeper into the auction yard before turning into a section that looked far less crowded than the rest of the facility.
Richard immediately understood why.
Rows of flood-damaged vehicles sat quietly beneath the morning sun.
Most buyers ignored them entirely.
Mold stained the upholstery of several Fortuners. Hilux pickups still carried dried mud beneath their chassis. One Grandia had watermarks climbing halfway up its doors, while another Hiace looked as though it had spent weeks submerged beneath floodwater.
Dennis folded his arms.
"Nobody likes these."
"I do."
"I know."
He pointed toward the nearest Fortuner.
"That one still starts."
"The next three don’t."
Richard slowly walked through the rows.
To everyone else, the vehicles looked like expensive mistakes.
To him...
They already looked different.
A Fortuner became a BMW X5.
Another became a Land Cruiser.
A battered Grandia transformed into a Lexus LM inside his imagination before his eyes even reached the next vehicle.
The system had permanently changed the way he viewed salvage.
He no longer saw damage.
He saw potential.
Dennis watched him quietly.
"I’ve been doing this for fifteen years."
Richard looked toward him.
"I’ve never seen anyone smile while looking at flood cars."
Richard laughed.
"I probably shouldn’t."
"No."
Dennis shook his head.
"You definitely shouldn’t."
They continued inspecting the vehicles together.
Richard deliberately ignored cosmetic damage.
He didn’t care about scratched paint, torn interiors, broken dashboards, or rust forming beneath the carpets.
None of those things mattered.
The system would erase every trace of them.
Instead, he focused on dimensions.
Wheelbase.
Overall length.
Vehicle weight.
Those were the only limitations that truly mattered now.
Level 3 had expanded those limits dramatically.
Almost everything in front of him qualified.
After nearly forty minutes, Richard finalized his list.
Eight Fortuners.
Five Monteros.
Four Hilux pickups.
Three Grandias.
Two Hiaces.
Three Everests.
Seven Starias.
Thirty-two vehicles.
Exactly the number Dennis mentioned.
The estimated acquisition cost came to just under fifteen million pesos.
Richard reviewed the figure twice.
For anyone else, it looked like a terrible investment.
Fifteen million pesos for thirty-two heavily damaged vehicles.
Most banks wouldn’t even consider financing something like that.
Richard quietly signed the bidding documents.
"I’ll take all of them."
Dennis looked genuinely surprised.
"You’re not bidding individually?"
Richard shook his head.
"I’ll purchase the entire batch."
Dennis laughed.
"You really don’t like making life difficult."
"I already have enough work ahead of me."
The paperwork proceeded surprisingly smoothly.
Because the units originated from a single insurance settlement, ownership transfers could be grouped together rather than processed individually. What normally required dozens of separate transactions became one consolidated purchase.
Richard couldn’t have asked for a better arrangement.
By late morning, the transaction was complete.
Dennis handed over the final folder.
"Congratulations."
Richard accepted it.
"When can you move them?"
"As soon as your transport arrives."
Richard smiled.
"They’re already on the way."
Almost on cue, the first heavy-duty car carrier entered the auction yard through the main gate.
A second followed.
Then a third.
Dennis stared.
"You hired three transporters?"
"I’ll probably need a fourth."
The older man shook his head while laughing.
"I really need to stop underestimating you."
Loading the vehicles took almost three hours.
One by one, forklifts and winches pulled the damaged SUVs, pickups, and vans onto the transport trailers. Some couldn’t roll under their own power anymore and had to be dragged slowly into position using recovery cables.
Richard supervised the entire operation personally.
Not because he distrusted the workers.
Because every damaged vehicle represented future inventory worth several times its current value.
Watching the final trailer leave the auction yard felt strangely satisfying.
Thirty-two pieces of salvage.
Thirty-two future opportunities.
Thirty-two more steps toward Level 4.
Dennis walked beside him as the convoy disappeared through the gate.
"You know..."
Richard glanced toward him.
"If your business ever stops buying flood units..."
Dennis smiled.
"...half this yard will probably celebrate."
Richard laughed.
"I’ll try not to disappoint them."
"You certainly won’t disappoint my accounting department."
They shook hands before Richard climbed back into his pickup.
The drive toward Phoenix Auto Trading gave him plenty of time to think.
The dealership had reached another turning point.
Originally, procurement had always been reactive.
Inventory sold.
He searched for replacements.
Now things were different.
He was purchasing inventory before demand even existed.
Building reserves.
Planning months ahead.
Preparing not only for retail customers but also for corporate contracts.
The business was becoming increasingly predictable.
Stable.
Professional.
Exactly what he wanted.
As he approached the dealership, the first transport truck had already begun reversing into the rear storage area.
Construction workers were long gone now.
The expanded storage section easily accommodated the arriving vehicles.
One by one, the damaged units rolled off the trailers and settled into neat rows beneath the covered structure.
Employees walking through the showroom never noticed.
Customers certainly didn’t.
The luxury showroom in front remained spotless.
Hidden behind it...
Another salvage yard had quietly appeared.
Richard stood near the rear gate after the last transporter departed.
Thirty-two battered vehicles sat silently before him.
Broken headlights.
Flood-stained interiors.
Collapsed suspension.
Cracked windshields.
To everyone else...
It looked like tens of millions of pesos wasted on junk.
Richard smiled to himself.
By tomorrow night...
Not a single one of them would still look like this.
And somewhere inside his mind, he was already deciding which Fortuner would become the next BMW... and which forgotten Grandia would soon leave Phoenix Auto Trading as a brand-new Lexus LM.
Richard remained standing there for several minutes, quietly studying the line of battered vehicles.
The rear storage lot was almost completely silent now that the transport trucks had departed. The only sounds came from a forklift returning to the warehouse and the distant hum of traffic beyond the dealership walls. Under the warehouse lights, every vehicle looked worse than it had at the auction. Thick layers of dried mud clung to the undercarriages, while the smell of damp upholstery still lingered in the air despite the open space.
One of the warehouse employees approached cautiously.
"Sir?"
Richard turned toward him.
It was Carlo, one of the recently hired logistics staff responsible for inventory movement.
"Yes?"
"The transport company already handed over all the documents."
Richard accepted the thick folder.
"Everything accounted for?"
Carlo nodded.
"We counted all thirty-two units twice before signing. The VIN numbers match the transport manifest."
"Good."
"There are also two boxes of recovered keys."
Richard smiled.
"I probably won’t be needing most of them."
Carlo looked slightly confused but simply nodded.
"I’ll place them in the records office."
After the employee left, Richard opened the folder and slowly flipped through each document.
Insurance release certificates.
Auction invoices.
Ownership transfer paperwork.
Tow receipts.
Storage records.
Everything appeared clean.
That was another reason he preferred dealing with established insurance recovery companies. Their paperwork was meticulous, making future registrations much easier. Although the system generated legitimate documentation after reconstruction, having an authentic chain of ownership from the beginning reduced unnecessary complications.
He eventually closed the folder and looked toward the damaged vehicles once more.
The first phase of the Villanueva contract required twenty-four vehicles.
He had just purchased thirty-two.
That meant eight additional units could replenish the showroom after the corporate deliveries were completed.
For the first time since opening Phoenix Auto Trading, Richard felt as though he was finally staying ahead instead of constantly catching up.
His phone vibrated inside his pocket.
Melissa Cruz.
Richard answered immediately.
"Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon, Richard."
"I assume everything went well on your end?"
"It did."
"We’ve just finished assigning vehicle numbers for the fleet."
Richard walked slowly between the parked salvage units while listening.
"I also have another update."
"I’m listening."
"Our operations department held another meeting this morning."
"And?"
Melissa sounded almost apologetic.
"They’ve requested several changes."
Richard stopped walking.
"Changes?"
"Nothing major."
"What kind?"
"They’d like to replace two Fortuners with Land Cruisers for our regional directors."
Richard quickly calculated the difference.
That wasn’t difficult.
Anything below the system’s dimensional limits remained possible.
"I can accommodate that."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Melissa sounded relieved.
"I was worried we’d have to revise the entire contract."
"No need."
"There are also two executives requesting Lexus LM units instead of Alphards."
Richard smiled to himself.
Executives always wanted upgrades.
"That’s manageable as well."
There was a brief pause before Melissa spoke again.
"I have to admit something."
"Go ahead."
"When our procurement team recommended Phoenix Auto Trading, I expected delays every time we requested revisions."
Richard chuckled.
"I try to make things simple."
"You’re succeeding."
After ending the call, Richard glanced back at the rows of flood-damaged vans.
Two Grandias.
Seven Starias.
Three Hiaces.
Finding suitable templates for Lexus LMs would be effortless.
The contract had become even more profitable.
He mentally adjusted tomorrow night’s reconstruction schedule.
The corporate order would now include additional flagship vehicles, increasing both revenue and his progress toward Level 4.
A few minutes later, another vehicle entered through the rear gate.
It was Victor Lim’s Lexus LM.
Richard frowned slightly before recognizing the driver.
Victor stepped out carrying two paper bags from a nearby bakery.
"I figured I’d find you back here."
Richard laughed.
"What are you doing here?"
"I had a meeting nearby."
Victor held up one of the bags.
"And my wife insisted I bring you these."
Richard accepted it.
"You didn’t have to."
"I know."
Victor looked toward the salvage vehicles.
Then he blinked.
"...What exactly am I looking at?"
Richard couldn’t help smiling.
"My future inventory."
Victor slowly walked between two flood-damaged Fortuners before stopping beside a Grandia with shattered windows.
"This?"
"Yes."
Victor looked genuinely horrified.
"I’ve seen cleaner vehicles inside scrapyards."
"I know."
"And you’re buying all of these?"
"I did."
Victor circled the Grandia once before looking back at Richard.
"I’ve stopped questioning your decisions."
"That’s probably wise."
"But..."
He pointed toward the battered vans.
"...even for you, this seems excessive."
Richard simply smiled.
"In a few weeks, you’ll understand."
Victor shook his head while laughing.
"I probably won’t."
The two men stood there for a moment, looking across the sea of damaged vehicles.
One saw nothing but worthless salvage waiting to be dismantled.
The other saw future BMWs, Lexus LMs, Land Cruisers, and Hilux pickups that would soon be delivered to one of the country’s growing corporations.
The difference wasn’t experience.
It wasn’t luck.
It was perspective.
As the afternoon sun dipped lower, its golden light stretched across the rows of broken vehicles, casting long shadows over the storage yard.
To everyone else, it looked like a graveyard of ruined automobiles.
To Richard...
It looked like the foundation of Phoenix Auto Trading’s next stage of growth.
Tomorrow night, after the dealership closed and every employee had gone home, the storage yard would become his workshop once again.
And by sunrise, dozens of forgotten wrecks would begin their transformation into vehicles that even authorized dealerships would struggle to match.
The corporate fleet had officially begun.
So had Richard’s march toward Level 4.