The Pope, sitting nearby, felt his heart hang in suspense. He sat there anxiously, focusing all his energy on how Jeanne would respond to Fyodor.
From the day Jeanne had gifted Holy Water to the Laterano Church, they had immediately foreseen what would happen next and had been plunged into deep anxiety because of it. The quality of that Holy Water was simply too high; if Jeanne began to sell it, the Holy Water from Laterano would likely have to be sold at a discount—or worse, lose its market entirely.
If things truly reached that stage, Laterano—which relied on the exclusive rights to sell Holy Water to provide a prosperous life for the Sankta—would face unprecedented turmoil.
The second purpose of the Pope's visit was to confirm Jeanne's attitude toward this matter. Although he could not demand anything of her, knowing the specific details of her trade would prevent the Church from reacting passively when they inevitably encountered these issues.
"I don't know much about the business of selling Holy Water, so I have already entrusted the Laterano Church to help handle it. If you intend to purchase it, you can discuss it with the Laterano representatives during the meetings over the next few days."
Hearing Jeanne's words, the Pope felt as if he had just drunk a cup of warm water while being chilled to the bone in the dead of winter; a warm current instantly surged through his heart. This was exactly the suggestion he had wanted to make to Jeanne upon his arrival. He hadn't expected the meeting to start before he even had the chance to become familiar enough with her to bring it up.
Jeanne's method was the most considerate one for Laterano. This way, all transactions would still operate within Laterano's system, only with the addition of some high-quality products. For Jeanne, this matter was neither too big nor too small; she was simply going with the flow and placing her business on Laterano's platform.
This was ideal: she only needed to focus on producing enough Holy Water. Everything else—from sales to price negotiations—would be handled entirely by Laterano. Furthermore, Jeanne felt secure leaving this massive business in Laterano's hands. She believed that given the Church's vision, even those who were extremely stubborn and refused to believe she was a Saint would not want to sabotage such a deal.
On the other side, Fyodor paused for a moment upon hearing that Jeanne had entrusted the trade to Laterano. In truth, he had wanted to bypass Laterano and trade directly with Jeanne. Not only would that be more convenient, but he might also have been able to barter, saving a great deal of money.
Take those aging Ursus landships that were nearly ready for retirement—it was a waste for them to sit there waiting to be scrapped. How wonderful it would have been to wholesale them directly to Jeanne and her group! He had heard that the Saint had a poor talent for numbers; plus, Holy Water wasn't precious to her. He might have been able to use that to trade for even more. When trading directly with her, he could have simply repaired and refurbished the old junk and sold it at a high price. Since Reunion currently lacked the ability and the engineers to build them, he could have charged a premium.
But if Laterano took over the business, the value of such trade-ins would be greatly diminished. Such items destined for the scrapyard could only be sold at a price that avoided a loss; making a significant profit would be difficult.
However, Fyodor quickly accepted this reality. It seemed that for the upcoming meetings with Laterano, another item would have to be added to the agenda at the last minute.
"As for the matter of going to Lungmen... I need to know exactly what you want me to find. I need to understand the situation sufficiently before I can promise whether or not I can go."
When Jeanne heard Fyodor ask her to complete a commission in Lungmen, she was curious. Why ask an outsider like her? Wouldn't it be better to send his own people? Moreover, the fact that he mentioned this before the Holy Water purchase meant this mission was very important to them, and Jeanne was a key candidate for the task.
"To find a group of smugglers. They should be disguised as Lungmen gangs or some other forces hidden in the shadows. Our people can't find any clues, so we hope you can provide support."
Looking for smugglers in Lungmen? They were likely looking for the forces assisting the nobles in selling embezzled goods, and they had encountered some kind of obstacle that required her intervention.
"However, those people are very dangerous. Furthermore, it is the land of Yan; my people are at an absolute disadvantage there. Several of my subordinates sent there have already been killed."
Fyodor continued to describe these arrogant individuals, secretly worrying if Jeanne would take the risk. These people definitely had some connection to the nobles; otherwise, how could the agents he sent be eliminated so efficiently? There might even be more than one mole involved. Thus, he needed Jeanne—someone outside the system—to act. Only the few people present heard about this operation, which undoubtedly made the secrecy much stronger. If the news leaked after Jeanne agreed, the scope of suspicion would narrow significantly, leaving only a few people to be ruled out one by one.
"Are these smugglers really that arrogant? To be able to infiltrate Lungmen for so long without being discovered, and with such a developed intelligence network... they aren't ordinary smugglers, are they?"
Upon hearing that the destination was Lungmen, Talulah frowned slightly. Her first thought was that these people were definitely not simple, and the task wouldn't be as easy as just finding someone. knowing Lungmen as she did, she understood that for people to operate to such an extent under the noses of the Rat King and Wei Yenwu, they were certainly no ordinary gang.
Thinking back to the records handed to them, the ones they were looking for were the forces responsible for receiving the goods shipped to Lungmen. Talulah wanted to help Jeanne refuse; she knew exactly what Lungmen was like, and combined with her distrust of Wei Yenwu, she didn't want Jeanne to fall into that quagmire. If Wei Yenwu noticed Jeanne and considered her a potential threat to Lungmen—and if he discovered she was Talulah's friend—there was a high probability he would move against her.
In that scenario, Talulah believed that the one to suffer would definitely not be Jeanne. If the conflict turned truly bitter, Talulah might end up having to visit Wei Yenwu's grave someday.
However, just as Talulah was about to advise Jeanne to abandon the mission, Jeanne made her decision.
"I can agree to this. I will help you find those smugglers in Lungmen. However, I cannot guarantee that everyone will be brought back to Ursus alive. And if I find them, the smuggled goods will belong to us."