GAMMT - Chapter 39
Chapter 39: Brewing
The rewards from the Arcane Palace could be set aside for now. Fu Chuan currently had three batches of loot on hand.
First, from the Xie father and son.
Second, from Lin Qing's team, plus what she had robbed from Xie Guangyu.
Third, the loot from the Queen BOSS and five mini-bosses. She had leveled up twice in an instant, reaching level 12, and she estimated she could level up again at the Arcane Palace.
For now, Fu Chuan began by examining the legacy of the father and son. The two were habitual schemers, meticulously calculating their own gains and losses. Fu Chuan now suspected they were the ones who had bribed Captain Adar to murder Xie Keli. Their goal was to eliminate Xie Keli as a candidate, push Xie Guangyu into the vacant spot, and thereby cause Xie An to lose a highly talented son.
From the looks of it, among Xie An's many children, aside from the unassailable position of the eldest legitimate son, Xie Guangyu had the most prestige and benefits; otherwise, he couldn't have afforded so many "geckos."
"But pushing him out and ruining his future would most benefit the other sons. What does it have to do with the branch family, even if this father and son hold a high status within it?"
Therefore, Fu Chuan speculated that it must concern a shared interest between the Xie Clan's main and branch families, such as a precious quota. If Xie Guangyu couldn't secure it, and Xie An's other sons lacked the talent, the branch family could very well fight for it, and it would ultimately fall into Xie Jun's hands.
This was what had driven the pair to attempt to murder Xie Keli twice.
Having figured this out, Fu Chuan had already finished sorting their resources.
"So calculating in life, and the same with their resources. They used everything they could and only saved what they couldn't. The quantity is quite large. Huh, they even carried S1 Gene Keys on them? And a full five of them!"
Putting aside potions and the like, Fu Chuan estimated the value of the scattered resources. Items she didn't need, such as some equipment and raw materials like ores and herbs, could probably fetch seventy to eighty million copper coins if sold. There were also over twenty miscellaneous skill books that didn't suit her. At current market prices, these common skill books were worth a few hundred thousand copper coins each. So in the end, she predicted their sellable legacy was worth over 100 million copper coins. What remained were forty to fifty basic gems of three attributes, and twenty-five skill books that suited her, like Arcane Missile. These were things she could use now, so she would keep them.
Basic gems could normally be socketed immediately, but once equipment was enhanced to a certain level, the failure rate for socketing gems became very high. Most people would exchange level 1 gems for level 2 gems to increase the success rate. So it wasn't strange for people to have basic gems on hand. Someone like Fu Chuan, who had just entered the Arcanist stage with a brand-new body and equipment, had a lot of room for improvement, which allowed for efficient on-the-spot use of resources.
But she hadn't expected the father and son to even keep S1 Gene Keys on their person.
"The level 5 dungeon was probably too deceptive. They didn't know the danger and thought it was fine, so they carried all their wealth on them. But this also shows how little they trusted others—not their wives, mothers, or siblings. They only felt secure keeping it on themselves."
It wasn't strange, just a bit sad.
The five keys were split between them, two or three each. Fu Chuan thought to herself that if even a branch family father and son had so many resources, what about Lin Qing's team, which specialized in preying on others and operated in the wild year-round?
Fu Chuan quickly tallied the assets of the other team members.
Liquidatable assets: 1.5 billion copper coins (including miscellaneous skill books). Usable/selectable green equipment: 16 pieces. Potions (mainly 280 bottles of mental power potions). Three basic gems (259). Usable skill books (82, including Azure Radiance Feather). Special gems: 5 (Eagle Eye Insight, Healing, Invisibility, Acceleration, and Explosion gems). Gene-related resources: 18 S1 Gene Keys, 15 Insect Marrow Crystals.
In fact, excluding the resources she planned to keep for herself, the real big-ticket items were the green equipment.
Fu Chuan sorted through them and found that the effects of their green equipment were 30% better than her current set because they were mostly level 15 green sets, while she was wearing a mix of level 5 and level 10 green sets.
She wanted to wear them, but her level wasn't high enough. She'd see if she needed to switch when she reached level 15. If not, she'd just sell them and make other plans.
"If these people have so many resources, Lin Qing probably has more than any of them individually."
Of course he did. Fu Chuan opened Lin Qing's backpack and laughed out loud.
"Impressive, this guy."
"His personal assets are comparable to the rest of them combined. What a sharp mind."
In terms of combat power, Lin Qing alone certainly couldn't beat his own team. But he was too smart, quietly taking the biggest share of the profits. Over time, his accumulated assets naturally grew.
The types of resources were similar to the others, and the quantities were about the same. What Fu Chuan valued were the skills he possessed.
That final, lethal light blade burst truly made her envious.
"It looks like the single-target One-Inch Light Combination. Its single-target attack power is comparable to one of the strongest single-target metal attacks, Flowing Gold. But the advantage of a light blade attack is that the light element is harder to track and detect than the metal element. It's also faster, and its penetration is stronger than the metal element. After a light blade deals damage, there's usually a continuous burning effect. Anyway, it's stronger and rarer than Flowing Gold. The number of One-Inch Light Combination drops in all of Jingyang City is probably very low. I wonder if killing him would make it drop."
Fu Chuan rummaged through a large pile of skill books but was disappointed to find no One-Inch Light. She did, however, find Flowing Gold.
Since Lin Qing had learned One-Inch Light, he wouldn't have cared for Flowing Gold, so he kept it.
Fu Chuan was a little disappointed but quickly got over it.
Although her luck had been good recently, she couldn't expect to get everything she wanted every time.
"No luck with Lin Qing, but at least I got a large amount of assets. I'll try my luck at the auction house another day. If that doesn't work, the Arcane Palace also sells resources. Although they're a bit more expensive, the quality is high-end."
After sorting all these resources, Fu Chuan turned to the last of her personal assets.
After she crippled Xie Guangyu, he lost the ability to match with arcane resources, and his backpack and equipment had a certain chance of dropping. She didn't know if it was good luck or bad, but his backpack didn't drop, and most of his equipment stayed on his body to save his life. Only a necklace dropped.
It was sparkling with green light.
Fu Chuan had intended to spare his life to change her situation from the start. Now that she had handled a lot of green equipment, she didn't really care about one more piece. She even muttered to herself that the guy had some dog luck. As for the venomous and pained look he gave her afterward, she couldn't care less.
Now, looking at it carefully, Fu Chuan subconsciously glanced at her Feathered Spider Silk Ring.
"The Feathered Spider Silk Ring is a niche top-tier item that relies on defying fate later on. But this guy's necklace is a true top-tier green item. No wonder his disguise was so good."
The necklace was named "Low-Key Breather," green equipment. Stats: +2000 Agility, +1000 Constitution. Permanent skill: Can hide up to 80% of lower-limit stats, adjustable. Can trigger an evasion effect three times a day. After each evasion, gain +30% speed and +30% damage reduction (if the attack is not completely missed, the evasion fails).
"A top-tier green item for the thief profession, a game-breaking existence for killing and looting. No wonder he survived Lin Qing's final fatal attack and still had the strength and speed to attack me."
At the time, Fu Chuan thought the kid's stats had broken twenty thousand, but now she knew it was because of a true top-tier green item.
Was this thing good?
Of course it was good. So Fu Chuan put it on directly, sighing to herself as she did: Why do I feel like I'm going down the path of a thief more and more? My agility and survival flexibility are maxed out, but I used to play a high-attack build.
The previous gains were from the business of killing people. The following were the proper rewards from clearing the dungeon.
This part didn't need sorting, as it was looted directly and already in her backpack. Fu Chuan had sharp eyes and immediately spotted a flash of blue light in the slots belonging to the bosses.
Huh?
Blue?
Fu Chuan was stunned for a moment, thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her. But a closer look confirmed it was blue light, round and smooth. It wasn't a gem, nor equipment, nor any special item, but an oval… egg.
"Mutated Scorpion-Tail Locust Queen Egg. After birth, it was re-swallowed by the mother, producing a gene-reversal effect. However, the effect was forcibly interrupted by an external force, causing the energy to flow back into the egg. It is currently in a special incubation mode. It requires related gene-type resources and supplementary energy for re-incubation. A nascent blue-tier mutated egg, attributes and type unknown. Incubation mode time limit is seven days. If incubation is not successful within seven days, it will die naturally due to lack of maternal nourishment."
Fu Chuan couldn't help but stand up and pace back and forth in the bathroom, like an old man who had just won the lottery and chugged three bottles of baijiu.
She was definitely a little drunk on the feeling.
She was now certain that her biggest gains from this dungeon were not the large number of S1 Gene Keys, nor the massive wealth from green equipment and gems, but the Gene Evolution Equation and this mutated egg.
The surprise that Lin Qing and Xie Guangyu failed to give her, the Queen had delivered.
"Looks like I really have to sell off my assets. This thing won't be easy to cultivate."
But even if it hatched into the trashiest insect race and attribute pet, it would still be blue-tier. One had to know that Arcanists in the early stages could hardly get good pets because young ones were too rare. Only those with powerful backgrounds could obtain them at low levels. But the higher the pet's level, the higher the compatibility requirement. Could a major family not get a blue-tier pet? Even if they could and you wanted one?
It was useless. It had very high requirements for mental power and the three primary stats.
A typical blue-tier pet required its master to have at least 50,000 mental power, and all three primary stats had to be maxed out accordingly (basically, each one had to be over 100,000, or the total had to exceed 300,000). The requirements were too high. Generally, only a mid-level Arcanist around level 40 could be a match for a blue-tier pet. Even though blue-tier was only the second to last rank, with higher tiers above it, the bar was just that high, pickier than any other high-end resources, equipment, or treasures.
"Pets are, after all, one of the strongest and most reliable assets in the Arcane world besides oneself, so the high requirements are understandable. But later on, many people discovered that unawakened, cultivable pet larvae are the real treasures. Because they haven't been born yet, they don't have clear requirements for the master's stats. For example, this one right now, if I bind it, the taming requirement should be equivalent to that of a green-tier pet."
Although Fu Chuan judged it this way, she was still uneasy.
If its requirements were too high and she couldn't meet them, she could only sell it immediately, because the seven-day time limit was right there.
"I hope I can meet the requirements and tame it early. That would be like technically obtaining a blue-tier pet ahead of schedule."
Fu Chuan was a bit unconfident because she was only level 12, and especially her mental power… it wasn't high enough.
Ding!
Fu Chuan chose to tame it, but the prompt said taming failed.
"Taming prompt for this mutated egg: Requires 10,000 Mental Power, and the sum of the three primary stats must exceed 30,000."
It was indeed much, much lower than the standard blue-tier requirement, yet Fu Chuan still couldn't meet it.
"The combined primary stats are fine. I was almost there anyway. After digesting some resources, I'll definitely meet the requirement. It's just this mental power."
"So annoying!"
Fu Chuan even felt a bit irritable.
It was too hard. Mental power was really too hard to increase! Equipment didn't add mental power at all, and basic mental power gems were extremely rare, almost as expensive as S1 Gene Keys. Ah!
Everything costs money, it's all about money!
After her bout of irritation, Fu Chuan quickly calmed down. It was fine. She had a lot of funds on hand now. If she sold most of her resources to liquidate her assets, she could then buy the necessary resources. It should be possible.
"Worst case, I'll just buy all S1 Gene Keys and spam the Gene Tree."
Fu Chuan started checking her other resources, hoping to find something that could directly boost this area.
Green equipment? The six bosses, big and small, basically dropped a complete set of level 10 green gear, which was perfect for her to switch into. The quality of this set was very good; its stat points were not much different from the previous level 15 set, and its advantage was a rare skill.
"Can use the Locust Wings effect once a day? If I can grow locust wings… I think I can go explore some treasure chests in high mountains and dangerous places."
Fu Chuan immediately swapped to this set. Her stats rose by a chunk, bringing her close to the 30,000 combined primary stats target. She immediately started socketing gems, forcefully enhancing the entire level 10 green set to +6.
Even so, she still had more than half of her basic gems left.
The resources were too abundant this time; she didn't mind wasting a little. As for potions? Keep them!
Special gems? Socket them all!
She had accumulated ten Eagle Eye, Healing, Invisibility, and Acceleration gems. Fu Chuan socketed all of them into her Feathered Spider Silk Ring and Low-Key Breather.
S1 Gene Keys? The Queen plus five bosses yielded a total of 15. Keep them!
Actually, it seemed there wasn't much else left.
"Strange, there aren't many skill books. These few Stun and Terror of the BOSS books were dropped by the five mini-bosses. The Queen didn't drop a single skill book?"
Fu Chuan saw there was only one thing left, gray and dusty, showing as unidentified.
Her heart skipped a beat. She casually identified it.
Blue-tier Light-element special energy-storing core skill Light Glory: A light element vortex. Through continuous summoning and consumption of light elements with mental power, it can constantly accumulate light source energy. The longer it accumulates and the more and stronger the light-element arcane arts used, the stronger the explosive effect of Light Glory.
Fu Chuan silently retracted her previous judgment.
The Gene Evolution Equation + the blue-tier incubating pet + Light Glory were her biggest gains this time.
"To be so well-equipped all of a sudden, I need to first see how to plan my future path. The path I originally planned to prepare for at level 30 has been brought forward so much."
When Fu Chuan played the game before, she completed her class planning at level 30. But this time was different. She was performing far better than when she played the game before. Of course, this was also related to the advanced game experience she brought with her.
"Light + Fire, or + Wind… it specifically depends on what type and talent this pet is born with. I'll plan it all together."
Fu Chuan solemnly put away Light Glory. "I have a total of 52 S1 Gene Keys and 32 Insect Marrow Crystals now. The Insect Marrow Crystals could have been used on myself, but with the Gene Evolution Equation, I can evolve my insect gene once, so I don't need them for now. I'll invest them all in this mutated egg. But the prerequisite is that I first have to push my mental power to ten thousand."
Fu Chuan calculated shrewdly. All her plans were connected: use 52 S1 Gene Keys to light up the Gene Tree + Gene Evolution Equation to achieve an amplification, which would then allow her to reach 10,000 mental power to tame and bond with the mutated egg. Then, use the Insect Marrow Crystals to incubate the mutated egg pet. Once the pet awakens, see its talent and the direction of her own gene evolution to judge whether to formulate a preliminary class plan for levels 20-30 with Light Glory as the core. If it's not suitable for the light element, then sell Light Glory and other resources, and focus on exchanging them for a class that complements the pet to maximize her advantage. Sell all resources, convert them to cash, and buy matching resources at the Arcane Palace.
Having cleared her thoughts, Fu Chuan began to act. She worked with both hands, activating the Gene Evolution Equation with one and spamming the Gene Tree with S1 Gene Keys with the other.
It was the same old saying: success or failure hinges on this one move? If it fails, it's fine, I can make a second move, a third… a total of 52 moves!
If that doesn't work, I'll go to the Arcane Palace, sell more resources, buy more S1 Gene Keys, and keep trying!
One after another.
Clank! Clank!
S1 Gene Keys kept failing and shattering. Fu Chuan didn't just mindlessly spam them. Instead, she used her rich experience to observe the fluctuations of light on the Gene Tree. Once it went from gentle to intense, then back to gentle and intense again more than three times, she knew the time was almost right. It was just missing that final push; a small stimulus was no longer enough.
Midway through, Fu Chuan suddenly used five keys at once!
Ding!
The fourth branch, lit up!
Fu Chuan didn't stop. With 31 keys remaining, she continued to spam…
Just a few dozen seconds later, she narrowed her eyes, waited for the right moment again, and seized the fleeting, lightning-fast opportunity, her hands moving swiftly to slam the last 15 keys!
The average S1 Gene Key cost for the fifth branch was 150 keys.
She had only used 31. Could it work?
It could.
Ding!
With the second crisp sound, as the fifth branch lit up, the energy of the Gene Equation's compass was also about to be exhausted. In its continuous rotation, it seized the opportunity of the branch lighting up.
In that instant of the Gene Tree's most active brilliance, Fu Chuan also suddenly felt a point of light in her mind fly out and merge into her thoughts.
Arcane Will.
Her will, the will of the Arcane.
Her understanding of the Arcane, her planning for her class, the clarity and firmness of her will.
Perhaps in that instant, it promoted its brilliance.
Tick-tock. With a crisp sound like a mountain spring, the compass needle and hub perfectly clicked into place. The gene totem lit up, and simultaneously, Fu Chuan felt her Gene Tree burst like a tree of fire and silver flowers. The small locust, originally humble and inconspicuous, merged with this halo and the Gene Tree… grew… evolved.
It changed.
It became a chubby… queen locust.
Fu Chuan: "???"
With two successful branch activations and a direct surge in her stats, she didn't even have time to look at the specific numbers before she was almost driven to roll her eyes in anger by this fat locust.
What was the meaning of this? It was true that evolution wouldn't exceed the species' limits, but couldn't it have evolved into something a bit more advanced, like a sharpened version or a high-speed flying locust? Why a fat queen locust?
This was a portion of Arcane Will!
How many times would she have to get dog-shit lucky to be rewarded with a portion of Arcane Will? This was standard for geniuses!
And this is what you become after being nourished by the Will?
Fu Chuan was initially disgusted, but then she suddenly realized the state of this queen locust… She tried to communicate with it, and in the instant the information was exchanged, Fu Chuan froze.
"Besides strengthening its poison stinger and awakening an ability to amplify the stun effect, its main talent is the ability to increase the digestion efficiency of organic materials by five times within an hour."
Fu Chuan was so experienced. The first thing she thought of wasn't eating, but potions.
She pressed her fingers to her brow, afraid it would throb, but she herself smiled.
Very good. Her disadvantage in mental power could be temporarily compensated for. This gene talent would allow her to quickly consume potions during combat without waiting for the cooldown. Others drink one bottle in ten minutes to recover a hundred points; she could drink five and recover five hundred.
And as her abilities improved and she obtained better potions or rare treasures, this gap would become even more terrifying.
Not enough mental power? Just chug potions to make up for it?
"Arcane Will is truly terrifying. I definitely wouldn't have evolved such a strong talent originally, since it's just the worst insect-type talent. But it was enhanced and activated the locust's most powerful digestive ability." At this moment, Fu Chuan looked at her stats again, which had already undergone a dramatic change.
Level: 12.
Primary Stats.
Mental Power: 12,000 (Initial Mental Power 1+99)
Strength: 19,100 (Initial Strength 1+18)
Constitution: 24,300 (Initial Constitution 3+15)
Agility: 39,280 (Initial Agility 2+25)
Skill Points: Arcane Missile LV12, Flame Blast LV12, Forest Thorns LV12, Azure Radiance Feather LV12, Locust's Stun LV8, Interrupt LV1, Terror of the BOSS LV1.
First Gene Talent Point: Scorpion-Tail Locust Gene Talent formed (Digestion + Stun + Poison Stinger).
Then, Fu Chuan decisively tamed the mutated egg. The taming went smoothly, as she had met the requirements directly, although it also exhausted her precious S1 Gene Keys. Next, she started feeding it Insect Marrow Crystals.
Unfortunately, its appetite was a bit big. It still wasn't satisfied after being fed everything. Fu Chuan didn't want to wait until she got to the Arcane Palace to buy resources because she felt insecure. What if she died on the way with all these resources and wealth unspent?
She looked around and started feeding it medicinal herbs.
There were actually a lot of herbs. According to her plan, they could have been sold for two hundred million copper coins, but she ended up burning through all of them to feed the mutated egg.
Finally, after eating a huge amount of herbs, it… was saturated.
"Incubation has reached 100%. Do you wish to hatch?"
"Yes."
"Entering hatching phase. Will be born in 24 hours. Please absorb it into your body and wait."
"At the same time, the sky curtain time is over. This dungeon has ended. Thank you all for participating. The settlement is as follows: A total of 250 people entered this dungeon, 120 died, 130 survived."
"Thank you for your patronage."
That last line was brilliant, enough to give anyone a heart attack. After all, this dungeon was unusually deceptive and full of traps.
So many people died…
But that has nothing to do with me. It's a game, treat it as a game.
Once the pet is born, I can go to the Arcane Palace for some money-burning shopping!
Fu Chuan breathed a sigh of relief, absorbed the pet into her body, pushed open the door to air out the lingering smell in the bathroom, then bent down to pick up the tissues on the floor… Suddenly, she turned her head to look at the frosted glass door of the bathroom. Through the room, through the wall, she sensed a large object approaching.
Its energy was high because it was starting up at high speed, but it was currently descending.
An airship.
Before Fu Chuan could react, the wall melted.
A person with light wings on their back floated outside the large hole in the melted wall. Behind them was an airship making an emergency landing. And she, dressed in casual clothes, stood in mid-air on the second floor. Through the glass door, did they make eye contact?
No.
She glanced at Fu Chuan first, then her gaze moved down to the suspicious tissues on the floor, and the video device… still on.
Click!
Fu Chuan turned it off with lightning speed, then slammed the bathroom door shut, pressing her brow and silently dissing: What the hell? Why would an elite from the Economic Department like Zhou Linlang come to this small farm!
Zhou Linlang wasn't angered by Fu Chuan's reaction. While floating in mid-air, the faint arcane light from her fingers had already spread throughout the entire farm. Combined with the data detection from her wrist device, her expression was a bit strange.
"Ma'am, what's wrong? Is there a problem?"
"I've left your department. I'm currently on leave, so there's no need for such formalities outside."
"You're too kind, ma'am. The hierarchy must be maintained."
The subordinates were respectful and experienced, but they didn't seem to be from the Economic Department. They looked more like people from the Agriculture Department. They began to take control of the small farm. In the distance, the Xie Clan's airship also arrived. It was unclear what negotiations took place, but they all suppressed their tempers in front of the people from the Agriculture Department.
Someone died? Who cares!
When they saw the person flying down from the airship, they knew they were in trouble.
Jingyang City was about to face a disaster!
"Is that woman the Zhou Linlang who caused the Li Corporation to be heavily fined by the government?" Xie An didn't get off the airship. After having it land on the other side of the farm, he watched the figure of light flying into the farm on his screen and frowned slightly.
"That's her. We knew the Li Corporation was unwilling to accept the fine and had people pull strings behind the scenes. The Economic Department compromised by demoting her to the Agriculture Department. But we didn't know it would be our Jingyang City's Agriculture Department. What a jinx."
At this moment, Xie An, still unaware that his precious son was crippled, was already feeling troubled. With a grim face, he said faintly, "Demoted? Not necessarily."
He was a deep schemer and didn't say everything. He straightened his clothes, led his men down, and walked towards the farm.
At this time, people from various parties were arriving, but the Xie Clan and Teng Family had the largest presence.
Xie An didn't know he was walking towards the news of a death.
Click. The door opened. Fu Chuan revealed a reserved and polite smile and said to Zhou Linlang, "Inspector Zhou, what brings you here?"
"A job transfer. I didn't expect you to be here either."
Zhou Linlang showed no extra emotion. She tapped her device and asked, "May I come in?"
"What a thing to say. You've already broken down my wall. Can I still ask you to leave?"
"Thank you."
She was gentle and kind, flawless. After entering, she had already adjusted her equipment and asked, "The wall damage is a bit severe. Bad luck, the locusts targeted your place. Were you scared?"
"I was scared before. I'm even more scared now."
"…"
Having witnessed the shamelessness of Scum Xie, Inspector Zhou wasn't surprised. She just smiled. "But the blood content in your room seems a bit high. Are you on your period?"
With one sentence, Fu Chuan's expression changed slightly.
Was she seen through?
Maybe this woman surnamed Zhou was bluffing! She had washed away a lot of blood earlier, but there must be some residue left. The other party was high-level, with powerful methods and equipment.
Damn it, why did it have to be her! So troublesome!
Her expression had to change, because Fu Chuan was supposed to be stunned.
"What do you mean? What period… I didn't bring any women here! Inspector Zhou, you can't be so prejudiced against me. Sometimes, prejudice is a form of arrogance. I just cut my finger while moving things and bled a lot. How is that a period?"
Fu Chuan feigned anger. Zhou Linlang did indeed see a wound on her finger. Glancing at the things in the bathroom, she precisely located a bloodstain on the corner of a small metal table.
"I meant I was afraid you had died. After all, the grain property rights are with you. If there's trouble, I'd have to transfer the property rights, which is inconvenient. That's why I was in a hurry and broke through the wall just now. My apologies."
"Besides, I'm just in charge of grain sales now. Young Master Xie has no need to be so wary of me."
Zhou Linlang didn't reveal whether she was probing or if it was simply as she had just said. She was just asking, calm and composed, not dragging things out, and stated her purpose clearly.
She wanted the grain.
Fu Chuan had already connected the dots as to why this person would come to the Agriculture Department.
The Li Corporation was no pushover. But was this person really demoted?
Not necessarily.
It was just a tactic. With the political maneuvering of the higher-ups in the Economic Department, they would first transfer her away from the center of the conflict, then bring up another tough prosecutor to draw fire… After a while, they would quietly transfer her back and promote her.
Laundering her position.
She knew such tactics existed in real-world politics.
"Of course I'll sell the grain, but it also depends on market supply and demand. In this situation…"
Fu Chuan adopted a posture of jacking up the price.
Zhou Linlang smiled. "The situation is that if you don't sell, your father, who is on his way, will use his authority to reclaim this grain. Even if the property rights are in your hands, you can't fight him unless you want to remain an unregistered person forever. You have no choice, so I'm the one setting the price."
Fu Chuan suddenly had an epiphany: the food problem in Jingyang City must be extremely serious. It was very likely that 70-80% of the crops were destroyed, so severe that the grain from her farm had become a critical resource.
Is grain expensive?
Not really.
Is there a lot of it? Not a huge amount, but not a small one either. After all, it was a bumper harvest, and she had practically stripped the land bare.
But once it was acquired by nobles or tycoons like Xie An to manipulate the market, the price of grain would skyrocket pathologically. Even the Economic Department couldn't suppress it, because one of their purposes was to cooperate with the market.
So what to do?
Zhou Linlang's thinking was sharp. She directly targeted a successful plot of land from the dungeon, descended at the fastest speed, and planned to seize it through extraordinary means to ensure the people of Jingyang City wouldn't have to suffer.
But… she didn't expect it to be Xie Keli.
She sat down, propped her chin on her hand, and watched her quietly.
Fu Chuan knew she was right. So she struggled and hesitated, finally saying unwillingly, "I can sell it to you, but I can't take a loss. Double the market price, and you have to help me in the future."
Zhou Linlang looked up at her, her gaze steady. "I don't plan on paying."
Wait, are you robbing me blind?
Fu Chuan was caught off guard, but soon… her heart sank. No way, is this woman that shrewd?
Sure enough, Zhou Linlang said, "Didn't Young Master Xie just say you've turned over a new leaf and become a new person? Now is a great opportunity. You can sell this batch of grain at a fair price in the name of the Xie Farm… The people of Jingyang City will thank you, and I will personally have a plaque made and sent to you."
Fu Chuan: "You might as well send me a memorial tablet, with a matching urn, the same kind my mom has."
Does she think this Xie Keli persona is an idiot?
Sell grain at a fair price? The tycoons who control agriculture in Jingyang City would eat her alive. The Xie Clan would be implicated, and people like Xie An would also eat her alive!
Zhou Linlang: "…"
She smiled and stood up. "So you really don't agree? Just because you're afraid of Xie An?"
Fu Chuan was about to refuse directly, but she suddenly realized that Zhou Linlang had only said she wouldn't pay, not that she wouldn't owe her a favor.
"Fine, I agree. After all, you're a person who values relationships. Business is business, you won't use me for free. And my father has so many sons, I can't necessarily rely on him. I might as well be your person."
Fu Chuan pretended to grit her teeth. Zhou Linlang politely declined her sincerity. "There's no need to be my person."
"There is. If you want the grain, you have to take me under your wing as part of the package."
The posture of latching onto a powerful backer seemed very sincere.
"Then pretend I never said anything. Shall I call Mr. Xie for you?"
"…"
The disdain was crystal clear.
Fu Chuan feigned embarrassment and could only agree. As for the store and sales channels, Zhou Linlang would have someone handle it today. Efficiency was key, to prevent any accidents.
She signed the agreement and was about to send this sharp woman away. She still had to deal with Xie An next.
Suddenly…
As she was about to leave, Zhou Linlang suddenly turned back and said, "Did a very capable girl appear here today?"
Fu Chuan's fingers, holding the doorknob, tightened slightly. "Who? There's one downstairs, named Ah Qi or something. Who else?"
Xie Keli was sleeping, so of course he shouldn't know about this person.
This woman was still probing, truly meticulous.
"Then it must be her. I'll meet her when I have time. I won't disturb you any longer, Young Master Xie."
Zhou Linlang didn't seem to care too much. She left without even interacting with the people from the Xie Clan and Teng Family, heading straight for the airship.
On the airship, she already had a lab report in her hand.
Intelligence had already been precisely relayed via communication to the Arcanists secretly gathering information on the farm. The airship had gone to the river channel earlier and extracted some blood samples from under the soil.
Now, it was the DNA report results.
"Ma'am, why are you looking for this person's identity?"
"Her methods are a bit interesting. It should be a thread-type device or equipment. Climbing, observation, descending, escaping… these methods feel familiar."
If Fu Chuan heard this, she would definitely have a headache. She wasn't surprised that this woman could deduce the existence of spider silk by observing the traces on the farm's weeds and corn stalks from high above. She was surprised that this woman would come here.
What a coincidence.
Zhou Linlang looked at it for a while, then handed another blood sample to the staff.
"Do this one too, and run a match."
"Yes."
After the subordinate left, Zhou Linlang tapped her fingers on the armrest, lost in thought.
If the farm owner wasn't Xie Keli, she definitely wouldn't be so sensitive. But she had checked the farm's property rights before coming, and then she saw the situation in the cornfield and the river channel.
Spider silk.
She had a theory about this.
X5 Garbage Star, Qin Minfeng, Xie Keli, the Xie Clan, the farm, spider silk, the mysterious girl…
Was she overthinking it?
Anyway, she was bored. If her theory was correct, then this situation would be very interesting. This Xie Keli would give her a big surprise.
After a while, the comparison results came out.
"Ma'am, please take a look."
Zhou Linlang took the report. The results showed one male and one female, genes not matching.
Alright then. Zhou Linlang touched her brow and sighed, "I must have been too tired lately, always seeing suspicion in everything… Am I getting old?"
Comments
Post a Comment