Along the coast of the Conquest Sea, Rentina, the capital of the Sergo Duchy.
In the vast coastal city of Rentina, hidden among the streets and alleys, within a dim room in a White Stone Craftsmen's Guild outpost, an old man wearing a simple cloak and covering his face with a scarf sat. On the large tea table in front of him, a telegraph machine was buzzing, and with a regular rhythm, a long paper strip was continuously being spat out, marked with a series of dots and lines.
On the table where the telegraph machine was placed, there stood a small monster covered in black fur, with sharp teeth and mouth, large white eyes, broad ears, about twenty to thirty centimeters tall, resembling a monkey but not quite. The small monster, scratching its ears and cheeks, held two illusory chains in its hands, which extended out and connected to two pale Ghosts floating in mid-air. These two Ghosts, who looked refined and seemed to have been clerical workers in their former lives, were now staring at the paper strip from the telegraph machine with expressions of panic, intently gazing at every symbol on it.
As time passed, the buzzing telegraph machine slowly stopped, and the paper strip was fully ejected. Then, the two floating Ghosts seemed to start discussing something, conferring with each other. Seeing this scene, Edward spoke slowly.
"Urge them, quickly."
Hearing Edward's words, the small monster, having received the order, let out a strange cry, then stepped forward two steps and attacked the two Ghosts, slapping each of them. The two Ghosts, attacked, twisted in a scream, then reassembled into shape. After that, they became even more frantically engaged in interpreting the meaning on the paper strip. After fully interpreting it, one of them possessed the small monster. The small monster then picked up paper and pen and wrote furiously on the tea table. In a moment, it handed the written telegraph message to the steadily seated Edward.
After receiving the telegraph message, Edward quickly scanned the information on it. After reading the telegram translated by the Ghosts, an expression of interest appeared on his face.
'Secret transmission of Ebergrass and Placenta? Intelligence on Ebergrass? Interesting... This little thief's asking price is truly interesting...'
After reading the telegraph message in his hand, Edward thought to himself. Then, he picked up the paper and pen on the tea table and wrote a reply on the paper. The small monster, possessed by the soul of the clerical worker, looked at it, then eagerly began pressing the dot key on the telegraph machine, starting to send a message to the distance.
Meanwhile, in the Craftsmen's Guild telegraph room in Adria, Dorothy's Corpse Puppet also saw the telegraph machine on its side start operating again, emitting a buzzing sound and transmitting a message from afar. Dorothy, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately began interpreting it, and the progress was extremely fast. She could understand and translate the content of the telegram in real-time just by listening to the sound of the telegraph machine without looking at the paper strip.
"Little thief, your target is the Sea Abyss Church? As far as I know, there is no major conflict between Black Dream and Ebergrass. You are not the Chasing Moth from that day, who exactly are you?"
Listening to Edward's response, Dorothy in the distance smiled slightly, then immediately had the Corpse Puppet reply.
"Who am I? What is my purpose? These are not important, Captain. It has no impact on our transaction. You do not need to know any information other than this transaction." After replying, Dorothy then began to wait leisurely until her body had eaten two biscuits in the cafe and looked at the scenery for a while before the telegraph machine on the tea table in the telegraph room sounded again.
"You want to use something that Ebergrass originally gave me to help you deal with Ebergrass? This is a bit too ridiculous. Ebergrass doesn't lack that thing now. Do you think I would take the risk of angering Ebergrass and permanently giving up that large portion they have in their hands just to get that small portion you have?" Dorothy listened to the sound of the telegraph machine, translated the relevant content in her mind, and then quickly manipulated the Corpse Puppet to respond.
"Captain, since you are still placing your hope in Ebergrass, why don't you just ask them for another copy of that thing? As far as I know, the representative of Ebergrass was not on your island when the incident occurred, and he is not aware of what exactly happened there? You say your things were stolen, will they believe you? Don't forget, you are a greedy pirate. If you ask Ebergrass for help, they might think you want to extort another fifty gold bricks from them...
"Furthermore... even if they truly believe your things were stolen, what obligation do they have to replenish your stock? They have already obtained what they wanted, and they still have leverage over you. Why should you, a traitor, demand more from them? Even if they show great mercy, something that happens once in a millennium, and continue to bestow something upon you, what price would you have to pay? They only paid fifty gold bricks to force you to leave a leverage that could potentially destroy your century-old foundation. If you go to them again to ask, what terrible things will they force you to do?
"Captain, as a traitor, you will never gain true trust in the eyes of the Sea Abyss Church... even if you humble yourself and flatter them to the extreme in the future, it will be the same. I believe you are well aware of this..."
With a slight smile on her lips, Dorothy had her Corpse Puppet tap the key, responding to the distance. She knew in her heart that Edward's vigilance towards the Sea Abyss Church was even higher than her own. Unless absolutely necessary, he would never actively seek assistance from the Sea Abyss Church.
Sitting on his sofa, Edward held the new telegraph message, looking at the information that had just been translated. His face was ugly, and his brows furrowed with obvious heaviness. It was clear that Dorothy's judgment of him was correct; unless he was forced into a corner, he would not go to Sword Scale again.
If Edward were to ask the Sea Abyss Church for the Fountain of Youth again, who knows what price they would demand? It's even possible they would use extraordinary means to forcefully enslave him. Compared to the potential demands from the Sea Abyss Church, Dorothy's asking price was much easier for Edward to accept. Whether it was intelligence or secret transmission, these were things Edward could easily afford.
"Heh... truly a well-informed thief..."
Looking at the telegraph message in front of him, Edward, whose face had been ugly, relaxed his expression and laughed mockingly. He knew that the other party's grasp of his information was even greater than he had previously imagined. The other party had figured out his weakness and bottom line.
In the process of negotiation and transaction, the parties' understanding of each other's information is particularly important. Information such as transaction expectations, transaction bottom lines, and transaction urgency is crucial for negotiation. Whoever has more information naturally holds an advantage in transaction negotiations. As for the current situation, Edward's understanding of Dorothy was limited to knowing that such a thief existed, and that she was neither from Ebergrass nor Black Dream, but a mysterious third party. Dorothy, on the other hand, knew much more about Edward.
With the advantage in information, Dorothy left Edward little room for bargaining in the negotiation. Soon, Edward directly agreed to Dorothy's request.
"Alright... I agree to your asking price. I will exchange the intelligence on Placenta and Ebergrass for that thing. If the Sea Abyss Church contacts me again and gives me a task, I will inform you immediately. However, before that, you also need to give me five first. I will try my best to find a portion of the secret transmission for you when I return."
Edward's reply activated the telegraph machine and was displayed before Dorothy. Dorothy nodded with satisfaction after hearing it, then had the Corpse Puppet press the dot key to reply.
"Very good, Captain, when you have the item ready, just send it to a designated account at the White Stone Craftsmen's Guild. Similarly, I will also use the White Stone Craftsmen's Guild as an intermediary to give you the goods you need. This time, I hope you will come to pick them up in person on time, and don't give others a chance again..."
Following this, Dorothy and Edward exchanged a few more words regarding the specific transaction details. After both parties had no questions, they ended the communication.
After the transaction items were settled, Edward leaned back on the sofa in the small room, gazing at the pile of telegraph messages on the tea table, lost in deep thought.
'Those little thieves... just as I expected, are a third force outside of Black Dream and Ebergrass. We were all played by them back then... I really don't know what method they used to obtain so much valuable information and plan all of this so silently...'
'Although these bold little thieves deserve to die, what I didn't expect was that they didn't steal my Water of Immortality for their own use, nor to target me. Their main target was actually Placenta and Ebergrass? The purpose of getting the water... was actually to exchange it with me for information and even secret transmissions about Placenta and Ebergrass... This situation is truly unexpected... I wonder where Ebergrass made enemies.'
'Those little thieves need the secret transmissions of Ebergrass and Placenta, likely wanting to conduct more in-depth research on them. Wanting information definitely means they want to continue causing some destruction to Ebergrass... Ebergrass, who knows the situation of that Church Sister, is always a big threat to me. If I can silently use those little thieves to cause trouble for Ebergrass, it would also be in my interest.'
'The Church, the little thieves, Ebergrass... perhaps even Black Dream... I am currently... caught between these parties, and the little thieves and the Church are clearly hostile towards Ebergrass. If I handle things properly later, perhaps I can not only regain the Water of Immortality that originally belonged to me from those little thieves, but also potentially obtain more water from Ebergrass...'
Sitting on the sofa, Edward calculated carefully in his mind. At this moment, he had habitually begun thinking about how to use the relationships between these parties to his advantage. After realizing that the main target of the thieves who stole the Water of Immortality was not himself but Ebergrass, his hatred for the other party wasn't so strong for the time being. If he were truly forced by the Sea Abyss Church to do something dangerous using Vanya as leverage in the future, he might even be able to secretly use those little thieves to scheme against Ebergrass.
After finishing his thoughts, Edward immediately tidied up all the paper tapes and telegrams at the scene, dealt with the traces, then waved at the little monster on the coffee table that was occasionally tormenting a Ghost, and then slowly stood up. Seeing Edward's actions, the little monster immediately opened its mouth and sucked all the Ghosts floating around the scene into its mouth in one go, finally drilling directly under Edward's cloak and walking out of the room with him.
Meanwhile, on the other side in Adria, after Dorothy finished her telegram communication with Edward, she controlled the Corpse Puppet to deal with the scene and then left the White Stone Craftsmen's Guild. When she left, besides paying around one hundred pounds for the communication fee, she left nothing else behind.
'Heh... that guy Edward... is probably guessing that my real targets are Ebergrass and Placenta now. That's fine, it's good to show him my 'real intentions' a little bit. Trading with someone who can somewhat guess the purpose makes him feel a bit more at ease.'
Sitting on a chair in the cafe, Dorothy thought to herself while drinking tea. Her main purpose in trading with Edward was to obtain the secret transmission of the "Cup" to replenish her Spirituality, but when setting the price, she didn't directly say she needed the secret transmission of the "Cup", but rather secret transmissions related to Ebergrass and Placenta. This would give Edward a false impression, making him mistakenly believe that her true target was the Sea Abyss Church, and that stealing his Water of Immortality was merely to coerce him into cooperating with her against Ebergrass.
Of course, Dorothy wasn't completely without ideas regarding Ebergrass and Placenta. Various signs before indicated that Placenta seemed to be planning something, and they had always been fixated on Vanya. It would naturally be better if she could really get some information about Placenta and Ebergrass from Edward.
After settling the business with Edward, Dorothy rested for a while, then took out her "wen hai hang zhi" and placed it on the table. After opening it, she turned to the communication page belonging to a certain clockwork person, and after thinking for a bit, picked up a pen and wrote on it.
"Hello? Are you there? Have you had lunch?"
"Doing experiments, no time. Just changed the clockwork a few days ago. After winding it in the morning, I'm not hungry all day. What's up with you?"
Below the words Dorothy wrote, neat printed text appeared almost instantly in reply. After seeing it, Dorothy continued writing.
"Oh, nothing else really, just the usual question about how your asset valuation is progressing? Are my assets enough for collateral?"
"Oh, that. I've had the people below speed up the progress, and it's almost done now. Calculating everything fully, we've come up with around twenty-seven thousand pounds. You're still short thirteen thousand pounds from the price needed to rent the Sacred Item~" Beverly's reply quickly appeared before Dorothy's eyes. Looking at this result, Dorothy couldn't help but feel a slight chill in her heart, and then quickly wrote.
"Only twenty-seven thousand pounds? You didn't miscalculate, did you? Mazhar is a crown prince of a country, and his total assets are only this much?"
"For an individual Royal Family member, twenty-seven thousand pounds is quite a lot. You have to consider that there are so many people in the Baruch Royal Family. The Royal Family wealth is divided up little by little by that group of princes; in reality, each person doesn't get much. Mazhar, with his identity, is already one of those who gets the larger share among them. What else do you want?"
Beverly wrote her reply directly to Dorothy. Dorothy paused upon seeing it, and after thinking about Adus and his large group of princes and grandchildren, she couldn't help but feel a little relieved. After hesitating for a moment, she continued writing.
"A difference of thirteen thousand pounds... I can't come up with that much money right away... Little Bev, we're old friends, can't you reduce it a bit more for me? It's just a deposit anyway. You've already reduced it so much before, reducing it a bit more won't hurt. I promise to return it in perfect condition after I use it."
With a bargaining tone, Dorothy wrote to Beverly like this. Not long after, the other party's reply appeared on the paper.
"Alright~ Since you've said so, I'll adjust the price for you again~ Before it was ten thousand rent and thirty thousand deposit. Now I'll change it to thirteen thousand rent and seventeen thousand deposit. How about a total of thirty thousand pounds? This deposit is already a symbolic amount I'm charging you. Any lower wouldn't make sense."
Seeing Beverly's latest reply, Dorothy felt a sense of relief. The other party only increased the rent by three thousand and significantly reduced the deposit, which was still acceptable for Dorothy at the moment. Besides Mazhar's assets, she only needed to pay an additional three thousand pounds. This money was for collateral, so she could also directly use some unused extraordinary items as collateral, making it easy to resolve.
"Deal. Please help prepare your Sacred Item now. I might come to pick it up soon." Dorothy wrote on the page like this, and the other party also replied very readily.
"Okay~ Now, as long as you pay the full amount, the item can be immediately delivered to our strongholds in major cities. The rental period is one month. As long as you don't damage it or use it to harm the Craftsmen's Guild, you can use it however you want... Oh right, you can't use it to do things that blaspheme the order construct core either. Of course, that's unless you can afford a fine of tens of millions of pounds."
'So, in your Craftsmen's Guild, even a grave sin like blaspheming a main deity can be exempted by paying a fine? It's just that the amount of this fine... even the national treasury of a major country on the Main Continent couldn't afford it, could it...'
Looking at Beverly's reply, Dorothy complained in her heart like this. Then, after thinking for a bit, she continued writing on the page.
"Oh, right. By the way, do you guys... have the method for making Sacred Items?"
"Huh? Making Sacred Items?"
"Yes, the method of praying for a deity's blessing and creating Sacred Items. Something like a Sacred Item shouldn't be created simply, should it? It should have some kind of... specialized ritual..." Dorothy wrote this on Beverly's communication page. After several failed experiments attempting to create Sacred Items herself, she understood that she was currently lacking some kind of crucial creation ritual.