Your Lord Has A Screw Loose?

Chapter 96: Chapter 96: Selling 'Swords' is Not as Good as Selling Services

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"Hahaha, it's been a long time, Lord Demon Blood. Last time I saw you, you were just a Spirit Monster, and now you've become a hero. It's truly a cause for celebration." Molik Copperbeard, the dwarf, had come with a caravan to Qin Muye's territory, and upon seeing Demon Blood patrolling, his tone carried warmth, devoid of any past resentment or impatience.

Yet, Demon Blood just glanced at him and said, "If it isn't Mr. Molik, indeed, it has been a long time."

At this moment, their positions had completely reversed. Whether in terms of strength or status, Demon Blood was far superior to Molik, and he was quite unsatisfied with Molik's previous attitude. However, since Molik had come to deliver resources, it wouldn't be good to show too much displeasure, so he adopted a strictly business-like demeanor.

But Molik was a merchant, his character honed to be extremely smooth, and he didn't care about Demon Blood's attitude. He leaned in closer, pulled a purse from his bosom, and stuffed it into Demon Blood's embrace: "A small token, Lord Demon Blood."

"A small token? What do you mean by that?" Demon Blood rolled his eyes, clearly uninterested.

For them, Spirit Monsters, money, beauty, and food were utterly useless. They were beastly folk, not proper living creatures. Moreover, the territory didn't even have an economic system. If they wanted something, they could just report and take it from the Supplies Warehouse-usually, as long as it didn't involve a Divine Artifact, they could get their hands

on it.

"Just a gesture, a little gesture."

Although Demon Blood pushed it back, Molik once again stuffed it over.

"It's just a small favor, hoping Lord Demon Blood could introduce me to the Lord. After all, we are old acquaintances," Molik said, taking advantage of the moment after the purse was accepted to make his request.

"The master is busy. If you need something, go see Black Hand; he's the housekeeper, not me." Demon Blood accepted the gift but had no intention of doing the work.

If he dared to bring Molik to Qin Muye, there would only be one outcome-he would surely be left with only a breath left by Tian Qi.

Unless Black Hand, the Governor, had important matters to report, otherwise, no one would disturb Qin Muye's experiments.

The internal social relationships among the Spirit Monsters were centered around Qin Muye; they cooperated sincerely towards a common goal, but that didn't mean they were particularly close. If someone dared to step out of line, their punishment wouldn't be any lighter than that for an enemy. At most, they would be left breathing so that Qin Muye could pass judgment.

Beastly folk were not a normal type of Magic Creatures.

"This..." Molik was taken aback. Why accept a gift if you're not going to do the work?

But he didn't dare to say it out loud, as that would reveal his lack of tact.

"So, where is Black Hand?" Seeing the situation, Molik was somewhat helpless. He had come all this way; he couldn't just turn back around.

As a representative of the Dwarf Clan, he naturally wanted the 'sword' known as Crimson Invasion, whose power everyone had witnessed. Without one, anyone would clearly be at a disadvantage compared to others.

Of course, the price would certainly not be cheap, but as long as he could buy one, many problems would be solved.

He had heard about the Silver Star Alliance's attempt to buy the manufacturing method of the Crimson Invasion. Whatever happened in the process, he didn't know, but the two Mages who came to purchase had died, and the Silver Star Alliance headquarters, Silver City, had become a city of red crystals.

Without thinking much, one could guess that the arrogant Noble Mages had perished along with their pride.

The Silver Star Alliance called any Mage not part of their ranks a Wild Mage. Because of this incident, nobles in various Kingdoms were clamoring to destroy Qin Muye, but their clamoring was very soft, the kind that couldn't be put on the table.

"Do you see the Mage Tower? Just go in and say you're looking for Black Hand," Demon Blood muttered before remembering something: "Take this along, and when you're there, give it to any Deacon Spirit Monster to throw it into the Supplies Warehouse for me. It's uncomfortable to have on me during patrol."

With that, Demon Blood handed Molik the purse he had stuffed into his possession.

This action caused Molik to break out into a cold sweat-what was this supposed to mean?

"This... It doesn't seem quite right. Isn't it a bit inconvenient?" Molik's mind was overwhelmed with thoughts, suspecting it was a warning from Demon Blood not to try anything clever.

Otherwise, how could he suggest confiscating the bribe?

"What's inconvenient about it? It's not like it's out of the way." After passing the purse back, Demon Blood continued on his patrol with the Frenzy Blood Spirit Monster.

To Demon Blood, there really was no other meaning. The contents of the purse were of no use to him. The Spirit Monsters were collectively owned, or rather, they were all Qin Muye's private possessions. The bribe to him could be put in the Supplies Warehouse without any issue for Demon Blood.

Blackhand wouldn't care about it, as he would rather collect more; after all, it's not like he provides any actual service.

They understood human relationships and worldliness, but such understanding was predicated on the interest of Qin Muye. If it touched upon Qin Muye's interests, they would accept gifts, but when it came to actual tasks, they would merely consider them.

They were not afraid of being exposed or gaining a bad reputation in the territory, as these things were insignificant to the Spirit Monsters.

The territorial system of Qin Muye was inherently an unreplicable model.

Watching the retreating Demon Blood, Molik Copperbeard's feelings were quite complex for

a moment.

In the end, he had no choice but to head to the Mage Tower. Compared to personal honor and disgrace, the development of his clan was more important.

Nowadays, if someone didn't have a Crimson Invasion as a 'sharp sword,' then they'd

definitely be at a disadvantage.

After arriving at the Mage Tower, he somewhat underestimated Qin Muye, the heaven-gifted Lord. The last time he came, the latter was poor and destitute, but now, the rapid development of his power was beyond Molik's imagination.

Thinking of this, Molik began to regret deeply. If only he had supported him at the start, not to mention other benefits, perhaps the Dwarf Clan could have obtained the manufacturing method for the Crimson Invasion by now.

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs" in life.

Moreover, the attitude he had shown to Qin Muye in the past might now become a negative

impression.

'All heaven-gifted Lords are a bunch of monsters.' Molik couldn't help feeling bitter. Since the emergence of heaven-gifted Lords, the entire Magic Continent had changed.

The True Dragon Emperor is powerful and extremely overbearing, Wang Junzi has eerie abilities and is among the Undead, and the demon-subduing layman has a kind façade but a malicious heart, commanding troops composed of demons and fiends. Besides, the other surviving heaven-gifted Lords are not good people either, like this one who effortlessly erased Silver City from the map.

Who knows what kind of monsters are hiding among the other heaven-gifted Lords, ready to give them—the indigenous people—a fright.

...

"Thank you very much, Lord Blackhand. I hope we can continue to trade next time," Molik finally breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't received any special treatment.

But the price was indeed steep; fortunately, it was still within an acceptable range for the

Dwarf Clan.

"Mr. Molik, you have purchased the Crimson Invasion outright, but as for the follow-up

service, it can only be paid for annually," Blackhand suddenly said.

This caused Molik to be somewhat puzzled, "Service? What service?"

"Of course, it's various services like maintenance, care, and preservation of the Crimson Invasion," Blackhand explained.

"You don't really think it's over once you've bought it and brought it back, do you? This was created from the Red Wind Calamity. Without the corresponding maintenance and care services, any external stimulus could lead to internal instability, and if it explodes, I think Silver City has already demonstrated the consequences for you, Mr. Molik." "Besides, there's also a need for a specialized preservation mechanism to prevent the energy

from leaking out."

"Energy leakage isn't a major issue; the real danger is the slight energy seepage causing lifeforms to contract Crimson Disease. As of now, aside from inside our own territory, no other powers have this specialized technology."

"Furthermore, if you, Mr. Molik, purchase a ten-year service package in one go, for the next decade, we'll offer you a 5% discount on our entire range of Crimson System armaments and even give you a batch of new weapons each year."

"Mr. Molik, you surely don't want the Dwarf Clan to be killed on the battlefield by other people using Crimson armaments."

Molik felt somewhat shaken by Blackhand's words-what kind of a merchant extorts you like this? So it turns out you not only have to buy services, but also future weapons?

What, do you intend to become the biggest arms dealer on the entire Magic Continent? "I'll buy it, ten years' worth. How many resources will that cost?" With gritted teeth, Molik

accepted the situation. The other party had him cornered, no wonder the initial cost of the Crimson Invasion was so low; the real expense was calculated for later.