Although construction had been completed, there was still some time before the city reopened. Now that the Trading Hall had been built, Kanzaki Ren figured he might as well browse the market. Who knew—he might stumble across something useful.
He first opened the Exchange Channel.
The thousand-member newbie lord chat was still lively.
But most of the content was, frankly, junk.
Complaints, venting, cries for help.
Being a rookie lord was no easy task. Every day was spent outwitting adventurers while staying alert against threats from dark races and monsters. The daily "woe-is-me" gatherings in the chat had basically become a routine program.
Kanzaki Ren still had 11 Zombie Soul Essences on hand.
In the Apocalypse Frenzy dungeon, ordinary zombies were plentiful, and the soul essence drop rate was fairly high.
Deploying such monsters cost nothing.
The only expense came when an essence crystallized, which drained 1 point of mental energy from Kanzaki Ren.
One point.
Practically nothing.
Given the expected future output of ordinary zombie essences, and the fact that the territory faced no immediate threats, there was no reason to hoard them like priceless treasures.
After a brief consideration,
Kanzaki Ren listed all 11 ordinary zombie soul essences on the trading market.
"Ordinary Zombie Soul Essence" was a Tier 1 essence, also known as a gray-quality or common-quality essence.
Even within the same tier, soul essences varied significantly in quality and were graded by stars: one-star gray essence, two-star gray essence, three-star gray essence, and so on.
The higher the star rating, the better the quality.
Generally, five stars was the maximum.
Kanzaki Ren's zombie essences were all one-star gray essences. Based on recent market prices he'd observed, essences of this quality typically sold for 7–15 soul crystals.
So what price should he set?
Zombie essences were undeniably the lowest-tier gray essences.
But Kanzaki Ren believed his had two major advantages.
First, ordinary zombie essences came with a wide range of monster templates—dozens of variants, such as riot-control zombies, worker zombies, firefighter zombies, and more.
When creating monsters or mercenaries, one could choose the most suitable form based on actual needs.
Among Tier 1 fodder units, this made them far more practical.
Second, zombie essences were entirely new.
That alone gave them considerable value. Many lords could buy them simply to bait adventurers, which was already worthwhile.
"Then let's go with fifteen crystals."
Kanzaki Ren listed all the zombie essences at 15 soul crystals each.
Whether they sold or not didn't matter much. Consider it market testing and a warm-up for future bulk sales.
Once the listings were up,
he began browsing the trading market.
Even though this was the newbie lord exchange, the variety of goods was impressive—most commonly, various monster soul essences.
[Goblin Soldier Soul Essence], one-star gray, price: 9 soul crystals[Skeleton Archer Soul Essence], one-star gray, price: 12 soul crystals[Kobold Hunter Soul Essence], two-star gray, price: 20 soul crystals[…]
Kanzaki Ren wasn't particularly interested in more soul essences.
He moved on to other goods.
Food, materials, formulas, equipment, blueprints—everything was there.
What caught his attention most were the blueprints.
[Blueprint: Skeleton Barracks], Tier 1 special blueprint, price: 2400 soul crystals[Blueprint: Mercenary Enhancement Camp], Tier 1 special blueprint, price: 2000 soul crystals[Blueprint: Basic Barrier Tower], Tier 1 special building, price: 3200 soul crystals[…]
Expensive.
Painfully expensive.
Even the cheapest Tier 1 special building blueprint cost over a thousand soul crystals. The more practical facilities—especially defensive ones—started at three thousand.
With his current finances, there was no chance of affording any of them.
So for now, Kanzaki Ren could only admire them from afar.
Just as he continued browsing listings and reading other lords' complaints—
[Ding! Lord 0340 has purchased 11 "Zombie Soul Essences." You have obtained 165 Soul Crystals!]
What?
They were all bought out?
For a moment, Kanzaki Ren wondered if he'd priced them too low.
He quickly withdrew the soul crystals from the market.
Soul crystals +162.
Why three less?
That was the market transaction fee.
The lord trading market operated under a strict rule set. To ensure efficient trade and prevent price manipulation, listings were charged 1% of the total price per hour.
Kanzaki Ren's 11 zombie essences had been listed for nearly two hours, so regardless of whether they sold, a 3 soul crystal fee was deducted.
"Even at fifteen crystals they sold instantly? At this rate, I could get rich just selling zombies."
As he was mulling this over,
another private message arrived.
The sender was none other than the lord who had just swept up all the zombie essences.
Lord 0340:"Friend, do you still have more of this zombie soul essence in stock? If you do, I'd like to buy more."
Kanzaki Ren was actually out.
But he didn't say that.
"Zombie essences are plentiful in my territory. I'm just not short on soul crystals right now, so I don't feel like selling."
A feint.
Lord 0340:"I'll be honest. I'm preparing to attack a fire-attribute nonhuman stronghold. I need a large amount of basic combat units with high fire resistance. If you're willing to sell, I'm very sincere—and I'm open to barter."
So that was it.
Among ordinary zombies,
there were several types with exceptionally high fire resistance.
Firefighter zombies. Hazmat zombies.
That explained why the other party was willing to pay a premium.
Kanzaki Ren replied, "Show me what you've got first. Then I'll decide."
Lord 0340 immediately displayed several items—decent materials and equipment. It was clear the man wasn't low-level.
Unfortunately, none of it was useful to Kanzaki Ren right now.
Until—
the last item appeared.
[Adventurer Inn]Tier 1 special buildingConstruction cost: 300 soul crystals, 150 mental energy, 150 Tier 1 material essence
This was good.
Very good.
The Adventurer Inn was a fairly common special building.
Its function was simple: increase territory capacity by 100.
Additionally, it allowed adventurers to stay overnight in the territory and recover stamina normally.
The inn brought at least two major benefits.
For adventurers:
They could stay overnight and no longer had to fight for entry slots every day.
For the dungeon:
Keeping adventurers inside made it easier to recruit them, launch activities, or respond to emergencies.
If the territory faced an external threat, Kanzaki Ren could instantly assemble a mercenary force.
Furthermore, service-oriented buildings like inns improved the adventurer experience and allowed the dungeon to reclaim contribution points, keeping their value stable and meaningful.
Lord 0340 made his offer:
"This blueprint is worth at least 120 zombie soul essences."
At fifteen crystals each,
that was equivalent to 1800 soul crystals.
The valuation was fair.
Kanzaki Ren immediately cut it in half.
"120 is impossible. I can give you 60 at most."
"What? Sixty?!"
"If not, forget it."
Kanzaki Ren knew he needed the inn, but the other party needed zombie essences far more urgently. That gave him leverage.
Lord 0340:"No matter what, this blueprint isn't worth less than a hundred one-star gray essences."
After repeated back-and-forth,
and an extended round of bargaining,
they finally reached an agreement.
Kanzaki Ren would trade 85 zombie soul essences for the inn blueprint.
The transaction would take about two days to complete.
Lord 0340 accepted.
This was a great deal.
The Apocalypse Frenzy beginner dungeon wasn't difficult.
Each successful clear had at least a 50% chance to drop an ordinary zombie essence.
With Miracle City's current scale and growth rate, it could conservatively produce 100 zombie essences per day. Even if only half were recovered, the requirement would be met in less than two days.
Zombie essences were cheap to produce.
There would never be a shortage.
Which meant—
zombie exports were shaping up to be Miracle City's primary trade pillar and core competitive advantage for the foreseeable future.
The thought energized Kanzaki Ren.
He almost wished he could open the city immediately.
Let the adventurers in.
Let those workhorses grind dungeons and pop soul essences for him.
At that moment, the Chaos Tide surged back once more. There were still fifteen minutes until Miracle City reopened.
Who knew how much fun—and profit—today's adventurers would bring?
The next wave of eager cattle, lambs, and freshly sprouted leeks…
was already on its way.