Inside the train carriage of the desert arrow, Dorothy stared at the neatly printed text appearing on the table before her, her eyes wide, falling into silence, her mind in turmoil, wanting to curse.
'Rent 10,000 pound, deposit 30,000 pound, why don't you just rob me? This blessed item is not like I'm not returning it to you after renting it, is it necessary to charge so much money? Were you guys all poor in your past lives?'
After hearing the price offered by Beverly, Dorothy cursed inwardly. The rent for this blessed item was 10,000 pound, and the deposit was 30,000 pound, meaning she needed to raise at least 40,000 pound to rent the item. As for her current cash... emmm, after counting her assets, Dorothy found to her sorrow that she didn't even have 2,000 pound.
Her most recent large expense was to get on the special envoy team's train to Adis, spending 700 pound at Kankdar Port to buy a lot of supplies, disguising herself as a merchant to gain eligibility to board the desert arrow. After this, Dorothy's already relatively ample cash suddenly shrunk to only around 1,100 pound, which was too far off from 40,000 pound.
You should know that Dorothy only spent a little over 1,000 pound to buy the Holy Emblem of the Stone Prince. Now, it suddenly soared to tens of thousands of pound, which was really hard for Dorothy to bear for a moment. You should know that this was an era where 500 pound could buy a small villa. A price of tens of thousands of pound already touched the level of small-scale military procurement orders between some countries. This was not a price that any individual could easily afford.
Furthermore, Dorothy strongly suspected that Beverly had temporarily increased the price and then reduced it using the excuse that she had resolved Garib, just like a certain online shopping platform on Double Eleven. This way, Beverly not only repaid the favor of Dorothy helping them get rid of Garib, but also didn't earn a single cent less than what she should have.
Looking at the quote provided by Beverly, Dorothy was silent for a long while. Then, after thinking carefully, she picked up her pen again and wrote on the page.
"This price is still a bit too expensive, so expensive it feels unreal..."
"Expensive? This is no longer expensive, this is a blessed item blessed by a god, how could it be cheap? In the past, the objects renting blessed items were large organizations or nations. When they needed a blessed item, it must have had some special important use, so even the original price was acceptable to them. You should know that blessed items not only have extraordinary abilities themselves, but are also key props for many rituals. If used in the right place, they can produce an influence comparable to a large army. In a sense, we are renting out blessed items as key military equipment, and these tens of thousands of pound are really nothing.
"You haven't seen the really expensive ones yet. For the divine gifts above, the rent alone exceeds the cost of building a main battleship, and the total cost can bring a burden to the national finances of strong nations like Prit Faloro. That's what you call truly expensive.
"If you doubt the price I've given, you can go to the Craftsmen's Guild strongholds in other large cities and ask if the price I've given is already extremely discounted. Of course... the business of renting blessed items needs to be reported directly to the General Assembly. Ordinary customers don't have this qualification yet. You'll probably have to spend another seven or eight thousand pound in transaction value to become a VIP at the local Craftsmen's Guild before this business can be opened to you."
Beverly responded directly to Dorothy, stating, looking at the long string of printed Prit letters rapidly appearing before her eyes, Dorothy couldn't help but be stunned, thinking that with Beverly's personality and status, the other party was unlikely to deceive her. This blessed item should indeed be this price, and she should have really gotten a considerable discount.
According to Beverly's words, Dorothy also roughly understood that the clientele for blessed items were not ordinary individual Extraordinaries at all, but rather nations and large organizations. For key rituals, they could completely afford such a price, after all, they had deep foundations, large organizations, and various means of making money. But when this price fell on her, it was indeed too expensive, even after a large discount, it still seemed expensive.
Looking at Beverly's response before her, Dorothy couldn't help but fall silent. After thinking for a while, she wrote on the page again.
"Alright, I know the price now, but I don't necessarily need this item yet, so I won't rent it for now. When the need arises, I will contact you again."
"Okay, anyway, blessed item rental isn't a particularly hot business. There should be stock whenever you come. Just contact me directly if you want it~"
After saying that, Dorothy and Beverly said goodbye to each other again. Then Dorothy closed the "wen hai hang zhi" before her. After letting out a long sigh, she leaned back on the sofa behind her.
"Phew... 40,000 pound, how can I raise that?"
Rubbing her forehead, Dorothy looked at the scenery flashing past outside the train window, and couldn't help but begin to ponder bitterly in her heart.
All along, Dorothy's main source of income was relying on robbing various cult organizations. Although the income from this was not bad, it was still far from enough compared to the cash Dorothy needed now. She had to think of some other ways to make money.
The first thing Dorothy thought of was making "enlightenment" storage items and selling them on the market. With the current high price of "enlightenment", it wouldn't take many to make the money, but the key was that the manufacturing technology for "enlightenment" storage items had long been lost. She had the Spirituality but couldn't make them. And even if she could make them, selling them on the market at this time also carried some risk, because with the suspected appearance of the Judge of Heaven, it was estimated that a large number of eyes were now staring at the "enlightenment" market, and a sudden appearance of supply could easily be noticed.
"It's difficult..." Sighing, Dorothy scratched her head, and then couldn't help but lament the difficulty of the world.
...
North Africa coast, Kankdar.
At noon, in a beautiful residential area on the outskirts of Kankdar, surrounded by an oasis and shaded by green trees, stood many villas. On the gates of many of these villas, different styles of national flags were planted, and almost all of them were the national flags of Main Continent countries, symbolizing the noble nationality and status of the owners here.
Among this series of villas, a villa of considerable size, with its own courtyard, a fountain, exquisitely trimmed garden sculptures, and a beautiful garden-like courtyard, was the most conspicuous. Like other villas, a flag was planted at the entrance of the villa's courtyard, but it was not the national flag of any country, but a green flag with the outline of Kankdar.
In this large villa, a white man in his fifties, with graying hair and a well-fitting suit, was sitting on the villa's balcony, smoking a cigar in one hand and holding a newspaper in the other, gazing at the news on it, a hint of solemnity in his eyes.
On the newspaper he was looking at, a piece of news was currently published, written in striking large font:
"Adis talks have concluded, and the special envoy team represented by Sister Vanya has set off to return."
Below the large headline, there were also long subheadings and body text, recording more content.
"The outcome of the Adis talks remains unclear to this day, with neither side having made any statement regarding the content or results of the talks, leading to continuous speculation from all parties. Renowned commentator Yogg stated that judging from the grand memorial service immediately held by Shadi, leader of the Adus Revolutionary Army, after the talks, highly commemorating the otherworld members who perished due to the natural disaster, the outcome of the talks may not be satisfactory. Shadi is likely unwilling to abandon his otherworld faith, and the war clouds over Adus may not have been dispersed by the arrival of the peace Sister. The sudden thunder disaster might have been a key variable in this talk..."
While smoking a cigar, the man flipped through the news on the newspaper. On the table in front of him, several newspapers in different languages were laid out, with the upward-facing sections all reporting the same news: the news related to the Adis talks.
These newspapers all reported, without exception, the news that Vanya, the Church's special envoy, had left Adis and was returning to Kankdar. The biggest focus of this news was: what exactly was the outcome of the talks? What did the two sides agree upon? However, because neither side held any press conference after the talks, the outside world was full of curiosity but knew nothing, and could only speculate based on the subsequent actions of both parties.
And because Shadi began to extensively commemorate the otherworld members who died due to the natural thunder disaster after the talks, combined with the phenomenon of the Church delegation quietly leaving, it gave most people the impression that Shadi still favored the otherworld, that the negotiation had broken down, that large-scale warfare between Adus and the Church was inevitable, and that the peace Sister was merely for show...
However, this feeling was only shared by the vast majority of ordinary people who only possessed the most superficial information. For the middle and high-level personnel in many countries and Extraordinary organizations who could grasp deeper information about the event, their feeling was completely opposite. Upon learning that Mukhtar, the supreme leader of the Adus Savior Sect, was among those who died in the thunder disaster, they knew that the Savior Sect in Adus was finished. Shadi's current actions were merely a performance aimed at the domestic Savior Sect participants. Shadi and Vanya did not issue any statement after the talks ended; this was not because they broke down, but because they reached a certain understanding. The decision-making levels of many countries and associations had already foreseen that when the time was right, both Adus and the Church were very likely to simultaneously issue news that would shock the world.
And the man at present was one of those who knew the deeper secrets.
'I really didn't expect it... This negotiation... was actually successfully concluded by that little Sister. The Judge of Heaven... Who would have thought that this old antique, which had been extinct for who knows how many thousands of years, could actually come back to life and jump around a bit, and with no small amount of energy...'
'Hmph... What a lucky little Sister. To stumble upon such a good thing by chance, someone who didn't know would think she was a dependent of the Judge of Heaven...'
Looking at the newspaper in his hand, the man couldn't help but think to himself. Then, after putting down the newspaper, he leaned back in his chair and began to smoke his cigar with a frown, a hint of distress appearing between his brows.
'It's ruined... I didn't expect the situation in Adus to develop into this state. Now, the Holy Mountain and Adus probably won't be able to fight... All the previous plans have gone to waste...'
Puffing out smoke, the man was deep in thought with a frown. Just then, from behind the balcony, the door of the luxurious room was opened and knocked upon. Hearing the knock, the man sitting on the sofa turned his head to look at the door and then spoke.
"Come in."
After the man spoke, the door was opened, and standing behind it was a maid with a striking appearance. She bowed to the man and then spoke.
"Mr. Robert, Prince Maad requests an audience. He is currently waiting in the reception room. Would you like to see him?"
"Ma'ad... It's him again..." Hearing the maid's words, the Mayor of Kankdar City, Robert Brown, pondered for a moment and then spoke.
"Let him come up. I'll see him right here."
Hearing Robert's words, the maid nodded and then turned and walked away. After a short while, the sound of someone going up and down stairs was heard outside the door. Shortly after the sound ended, a figure appeared behind the opened door, in front of Robert.
It was a tall, slender man with a thick beard, wearing a luxurious traditional North Wu noble robe and a thick cloth-wrapped hat with feathers inserted. He appeared to be around the same age as Robert. After he entered the room, the maid behind him closed the door. The man scanned the room with a slightly nervous expression, then focused his gaze on Robert, who was sitting on the balcony chair. He then hurried over to him and bowed deeply, saying.
"Esteemed Mr. Robert, I greet Captain here."
Using not-so-skillful Faloro language, the man named Ma'ad respectfully bowed and spoke to Robert. Listening to Ma'ad's words, Robert took a puff of his cigar and nodded, then motioned with his eyes for Ma'ad to sit down. Seeing this, Ma'ad sat down on a side seat. Then, with a hint of flattery in his eyes, he continued to speak to Robert.
"Mr. Robert, this time I've brought some precious gifts from Adis. A chariot that has been passed down in Baruk for over four hundred years, left behind by our great founding monarch of Baruk, His Majesty Rahman Baruk. It possesses Extraordinary power and is extremely valuable, though it's a bit large and inconvenient to bring up, so I've left it downstairs. Please come down to see it..."
The man named Ma'ad said this to Robert. After listening to Ma'ad's words, Robert's face didn't show any obvious emotional fluctuations. Instead, after glancing at him, he spoke quietly.
"Rahman's chariot? This is truly a grand gift, Your Highness... For the descendants of Baruk, this kind of item is a very important heritage, isn't it? I can't accept this."
"No, no, no... Captain can accept it... absolutely can accept it. Captain is the Master of Kankdar, is Faloro... no, is the agent of many Main Continent great powers in North Wu, Captain certainly deserves this item. In a sense, this item is not a gift, but rather compensation."
Hearing Robert's words, Ma'ad hurriedly responded to him. Listening to Ma'ad's words, Robert raised an eyebrow and then asked with interest.
"Compensation? How so? You haven't caused me any losses, how is this considered compensation?"
Robert asked Ma'ad out of curiosity. Hearing Robert's words, Ma'ad's face broke into a smile, and then he explained.
"Hehe... What are you saying, Captain? Of course we have caused Captain losses. Think about it, we mismanaged Adus and were ineffective in suppressing the rebels, allowing the otherworld and bandits to occupy the country. The various treaties we signed with the great powers in the past... preferential tariffs, priority development rights for railways and mines, organized labor dispatch, land leases... and so on, were all abolished by the bandits in one go. Didn't this cause immense losses to the great powers?
"Although we can no longer control Adus and cannot provide the legitimate interests that should have belonged to the great powers, we can only take out the wealth accumulated in Baruk over hundreds of years to compensate the great powers for their losses. Although these things are insignificant compared to the benefits the great powers should have obtained in Adus, they are our token of sincerity, a token of our continued support for the great powers. Please, Your Excellency, accept it."
Ma'ad said this to Robert with an exaggerated smile. Listening to Ma'ad's words, Robert paused slightly, his cigar held in mid-air. He gazed into the narrowed eyes of the fawning person in front of him, seemingly having already discerned the purpose of the other party's visit.
...