The sun set, the moon rose, and night once again enveloped Tivian. Beneath the new moon, stretches of Light spread towards the horizon.
Somewhere in this vast city, on the balcony of a high-rise building, a young man stood. He wore black trousers and a white shirt, his dark brown short hair neatly combed back, and his face was fair and handsome.
The young man stood on the balcony, admiring the city's night view. A small amount of crimson liquid remained in the goblet he held in his hand, and his gaze upon the city revealed a hint of seriousness.
Behind the young man was a luxuriously decorated, brightly lit living room. On the carpet of the living room, a figure in plain clothes and wearing a mask was currently kneeling on one knee.
"You're back so soon? Have you already finished negotiating with the Craftsmen's Guild? Are they being so straightforward this time?"
Slightly turning sideways, the young man silently asked the masked man kneeling on the floor inside the room behind him. The other party replied with some panic.
"No… there's a huge problem with the Craftsmen's Guild! And it's an absolutely unreasonable problem! Captain Berlit, those merchants have gone mad!"
The masked man said with some excitement. Hearing the man's voice, the man named Berlit furrowed his brow slightly, and then he seriously asked the masked man.
"Explain clearly, what exactly is the problem? Could it be that those cunning merchants saw we were buying a lot and decided to hike up the price?"
"No, it's not hiking up the price, but the price was ridiculously high from the start, Captain Berlit, you don't know. We just asked them for the price, and they immediately quoted 3800 pound for one 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment), and they absolutely won't bargain!"
As soon as the masked man finished speaking, a crisp "crack" sound came from the space. Looking closely, it was the goblet held in Berlit's hand, which had cracked under pressure, and a layer of gloom covered Berlit's face.
"3800 pound… How can the price be this high? According to previous intelligence, the price of the White Stone Craftsmen's Guild's 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) reserves should be very low recently, reportedly less than 2000."
Turning around directly, Berlit said in a deep voice to the masked man who was kneeling on one knee. His expression and tone became serious.
"Did you misunderstand something? Or is there something you're trying to hide from me?" There was a hint of danger in Berlit's tone, and a trace of ruthlessness in his eyes. Clearly, encountering such a strange situation made him suspect whether his subordinates were engaging in any private operations to try and earn money from the organization.
Listening to Berlit's words, the masked man was so frightened that he immediately knelt on both knees, trembling as he spoke to Berlit, with obvious fear in his emotions.
Facing the frightened masked man before him, Berlit glared at him and met the eyes behind the mask for a moment. As a faint light flashed in Berlit's eyes, the masked man's trembling body instantly stopped, and the eyes behind the mask became blank.
"Tell me in detail, what's the deal with this exaggerated price of 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) from the Craftsmen's Guild?"
Facing the masked man who was instantly hypnotized, Berlit spoke directly. The masked man in a hypnotic state was unable to speak with any hint of lies or concealment.
"We aren't very clear either. When we went to talk to them together, they were already at this high price. We asked them for the reason, but they refused to respond to any business information.
"From some other Extraordinary at the scene, the intelligence we received is that the price of the Craftsmen's Guild's 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) reserves suddenly skyrocketed in the evening. In addition, it is said that they also sent people to purchase scattered 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) reserves at Extraordinary gatherings in other parts of the city, causing the 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) reserves circulating on the market in Tivian to gather towards the Craftsmen's Guild, and the price is constantly rising.
"When I left the Golden Contract Bank, the price of the 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) reserves was 3800 pound. By now, the price might have already risen to over 4000, who knows?"
The masked man recounted to Berlit in a blank voice. Listening to the masked man's words, Berlit's brows furrowed deeper and deeper.
'The price suddenly skyrocketed in the evening, it had already started rising before we even came to buy… This is not a normal phenomenon. The White Stone Craftsmen's Guild generally doesn't have such drastic price fluctuations. There must be a reason for this current phenomenon…'
Berlit pondered in his heart. Soon, he thought of the divination battle that his side and an unknown mysterious organization had conducted this afternoon.
'In order to figure out the specific situation of the mysterious organization that killed Claudius and destroyed the Crown University ritual site, we conducted a divination battle against them. But unexpectedly, that mysterious organization is no small fry; their anti-divination resources are surprisingly sufficient… Both sides consumed a large amount of 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) in the divination battle… And the price increase at the White Stone Craftsmen's Guild happened shortly after this. Could it be that…'
While contemplating, Berlit immediately discovered the key point and continued to think.
'Could it be that in order to replenish their depleted anti-divination resources, that organization purchased a large amount of 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) reserves from the White Stone Craftsmen's Guild, thus driving up the price in one go? Their people went to the Craftsmen's Guild to buy things less than half an hour after the divination battle ended? That fast?'
As soon as he thought of this most likely possibility, Berlit was startled. He was surprised by the speed of that mysterious organization.
Berlit and his group decided to go to the White Stone Craftsmen's Guild to replenish their 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) reserves just half an hour after the divination battle. This decision and action speed were already quite fast, but they didn't expect the other party to be even faster, arriving at the Craftsmen's Guild one step ahead of them and placing a large order.
The Eight Point Nest has a stronghold in East Tivian, and it's not far from there to the Golden Contract Bank. They were even preempted here. Could those guys have a stronghold right next to the Golden Contract Bank?!
Berlit thought this. One should know that because the frequency of Extraordinary transactions is much lower than mundane transactions, the White Stone Craftsmen's Guild does not set up quick telegraph order services like some mundane transactions. Everyone who needs to trade must go to the Golden Contract Bank, the stronghold of the Craftsmen's Guild.
If an organization encounters a rare situation where they need to rush to purchase something, and they don't have Extraordinary abilities that can be used in broad daylight to speed things up, then it is naturally better to have a stronghold extraordinarily close to the Golden Contract Bank.
Regarding the current situation, Berlit and his group had considered it initially, but they didn't worry too much, thinking that their decision speed was fast and they had a stronghold relatively close to the Golden Contract Bank. However, what Berlit didn't expect was that they were still preempted by the other party. Now, because the other party placed a large order with the Craftsmen's Guild first to purchase 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment), the price was driven up in advance, and their current situation is not optimistic.
'This is bad, we were a step slow. Now a lot of the 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) on the market has been bought by those guys first, and the price has been directly pushed up to nearly 4000 or more. Now we don't know how much 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) has fallen into their hands. If they counterattack now using the newly purchased 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment), our remaining anti-divination…'
As Berlit was thinking anxiously, a slight stinging sensation suddenly came from his arm. Berlit paused slightly, then pulled back his sleeve, revealing an arm on which a spider with complex patterns all over its body was currently crawling. It was this spider that had just bitten him.
Looking at the spider on his arm, Berlit showed no emotion. He reached out and stroked the spider's back. Subsequently, the complex patterns on the spider's back began to twist, gradually turning into a distorted human face. The eyes on the human face looked towards Berlit, and then it spoke in a sharp voice.
"Berlit, how is the purchase of 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) going on your end? The Spirituality of the main anti-divination array just showed signs of consumption, we were divined! The King Worm Priest has ordered that anti-divination resources must be immediately raised to a safe level!"