Chapter 25: Major Procurement

After receiving Sakavi’s letter, Aruzi immediately set out and, after two months of arduous travel, finally arrived at the Red Moon Plane. Looking at the massive cargo ship behind him, Sakavi knew he’d have to bleed badly—but fine, in this world, selling high-value goods never comes without bundled sales.

“My dear brother, do you know? Since you left Manrodo, Old Brother has missed you day and night—finally, I see you!”

As he spoke, the ogre actually squeezed out a few tears, leaving Sakavi utterly embarrassed.

“Cough, cough—Old Brother, it’s been two years. Has Manrodo really deteriorated this much? Without my annual 850,000 gold coins in spending, are you really struggling this badly?”

“Sigh, little brother, you don’t understand! Business is terrible now—raiders are everywhere. Forget making money; without real skill, you’ll lose everything and end up bankrupt! This time, Old Brother nearly lost his life just to deliver your goods.”

“But what kind of man am I? No matter how hard things get, I’d never let my dear brother suffer! I’ve brought thirty human noble maidens—yes, one’s even a princess! Guaranteed authentic, all captured on the road, untouched by anyone else—you’ll be satisfied!”

“I’m satisfied! I’m satisfied! Big Brother, you’re truly a good man!”

“Klausuna, shut up! Do you have the right to speak here? Go play behind! All you ever do is cause trouble!”

“Hahaha, little brother, don’t get worked up. I’ve heard about how you killed that human priest of the Church of Light. Don’t worry—these girls were taken from a minor plane; they don’t worship any major faiths, so there’s no risk. Enjoy them freely!”

He grinned lewdly. Sakavi’s inner thought: “I believe your bullshit? If you ever spoke one honest word, I’d buy the entire ship on the spot.” But he dared not say it aloud.

“I trust Old Brother’s judgment. I’ll take the girl. Let’s hurry and build the mage tower—I need it urgently.”

“Little brother, I’ve seen your tower construction specs—it’s got a major flaw, extremely unsafe. You’ve been fooled, I’m sure.”

“You know what happened last time with Lap—you single-handedly destroyed two guard towers. Granted, they were just outposts, not very strong.”

“Well, it’s cheap, so just build something simple—enough to scare off the local riffraff. Too complex? I can’t afford it, hahaha!”

“How can that be acceptable? Money’s tight, but there’s a smart way to build. Can I let you get cheated? I’ve used every connection I have, fought tooth and nail to get you this deal.”

“Look here—this plan adds four guard towers around the mage tower, forming a defensive system with mutual support and crossfire coverage.”

“This defense pattern is called ‘Mother-Child Towers’—extremely powerful. I’ve already brought all the materials at cost price, no markup, and I won’t even charge you for transport fees.”

“Big Brother, your guard towers are indeed strong—but I simply don’t have the money!”

“Little brother, don’t be modest. Who do you think I am? Your intellect is among the top in the entire new generation. A few million gold coins? That’s pocket change to you.”

“Big Brother, you flatter me too much. To be honest, I’ve had terrible luck these past few years—my people are counting on me to feed them. Since returning to the Red Moon Plane, chaos has never stopped. Nothing sells. My treasury is empty. The money to build this tower? I borrowed it at usurious rates.”

“Little brother, I know your troubles. The Black Dragon’s reputation is ruined—it’s hurt you badly. How about this? My copy of the ‘Complete Compendium of Rune Engraving’? Right now, the most profitable business is arms dealing. Guaranteed quick returns, massive profits.”

“Bought. Name your price.”

“Not expensive—just five hundred gold coins. Little brother, take a look at this—this longsword forged by elves from Blemesost City. You know the quality—high elves never make low-grade goods. And this staff…”

Under Aruzi’s introduction, Sakavi discovered that not a single item on the entire ship was useless to him—some he couldn’t use yet, but when he needed them, he might not find them again. Without even stepping outside, he had acquired everything he needed to develop his territory.

Watching Verna, dressed in a brand-new ceremonial robe, unable to tear herself away from the mirror, and Grap, grinning uncontrollably with his brand-new druidic staff, Sakavi felt the money wasn’t wasted. Even accounting for the inflated prices, every item was genuine and genuinely useful.

Sakavi’s principle has always been: those who work for him must never starve. If you promise a cake, you give the cake—you don’t wait for subordinates to ask for it.

When subordinates get rewards, they work harder. But if they slack off, the consequences are severe—the former Earth Goliath chieftain is proof. He’s still hanging on the wall outside the dwarf town. No one dares collect his body.

This time, Aruzi brought Sakavi an unexpected surprise: a brand-new species—the Batbeast. Why call it new? Because it’s artificial. All natural life was created by the original Creator Gods—no exceptions.

These artificial creatures have no souls, terrible survival skills in the wild, cannot reproduce, and their young cannot survive independently. If they were mere beasts, it wouldn’t matter—but as magical beings, lacking a soul, the plane immediately identifies them as demons or devils.

Juvenile Batbeasts cannot withstand the elemental disturbances caused by plane rejection. They rarely survive to adulthood. Of course, exceptions exist—such as when elemental channels are blocked or the birthplace has no elemental flow.

Creating soulless life is unacceptable not only to the plane, but to the gods themselves. It’s said the demi-god who “performed miracles” still lingers in the Afterlife’s Waiting Zone, and no deity dares claim him. The Death King—who never left the River Styx—personally intervened, annihilating him and his entire plane.

Creating abnormal life isn’t inherently problematic—colorful dragons often get whimsical, experimenting with hybrid creatures on the spot. Winged dragons, earth dragons—there are so many, even metallic dragons refuse to acknowledge them as kin.

Once created, hand them over to the Death King for cleanup. Assigning souls? That’s the concern of the Underworld gods—they’re happy to do it. Afterlife Waiting Zone is packed with souls waiting to reincarnate; a couple of abnormal vessels won’t hurt.

These Batbeasts may look hideous, but their hearts are even more rotten. They do nothing but research invisible poisons and killing methods. Though they have no hands, they love conducting magical experiments. Standing only fifty centimeters tall, they’re obsessed with brawling.

Looking at the ten pairs of juvenile Batbeasts before him, Sakavi doubted they’d survive to adulthood. He’d planned to haggle based on their ugliness—but instead, their quality slashed the price in half.

“Big Brother, these Batbeasts are hideous! Are these the rejects someone else turned down?”

“You @%&#?￠, you dare say I’m ugly?”

Watching the Batbeast jabbing its finger at him, Sakavi felt like slapping it dead. Colorful dragons are raiders—they’re supposed to scare children, right? To mock him to his face? Pure suicide.

“I don’t want them. Never seen such low-class creatures.”

“Dear brother, they’ve been corrupted by others—just teach them properly. How about an 80% discount?”

“So you’ve been slandering me behind my back? I treat you as a brother—what do you treat me as?”

“Misunderstanding! It’s a misunderstanding! How about 70%?”

“70%? Am I your monkey? No more than 50%. No more talk.”

“Deal. Little brother, you’re always so decisive.”

“Big Brother, you just made three million gold coins off me. You’ve got to show some appreciation.”

“Who made more? You run a no-cost business—I can’t compare!”

“If you know that, why dare bring your goods to me?”

“Hahaha, little brother, you’re joking. Forget other things—you want to advance further? Money alone won’t solve it. If you rob us, you’ll never get your hands on the things you can’t openly buy.”

“Big Brother, you’re impressive—even thieves you threaten! Truly formidable!”

“Little brother, just say what’s on your mind.”

“Big Brother, you misunderstand—I just have some local specialties you might help sell.”

“Oh? Let me see.”

“Big Brother, the quality is flawless—I guarantee it.”

“Quality’s fine—but the origin? That’s the problem.”

“So you don’t want them? This place is chaotic now—watch your step when you travel.”

“Little brother, what are you saying? What do you think I do? Wherever the goods come from, I’ll sell them for top price. This is my job!”

Red Moon earns, Red Moon spends—nothing leaves. Aruzi arrived with a full cargo ship and departed with the same. Not a single gold coin had left Sakavi’s hands. Since he refused to play fair, Sakavi would use his own specialty.

After seeing off “cheerful” Aruzi, Sakavi decided to begin construction. He wouldn’t leave his underground lair until the mage tower was complete. He was a wealthy man now—so much gold. If some colorful dragon from the Underworld showed up, all his hard work would be wasted.

Don’t be fooled by the absence of colorful dragons on the surface—they’re all hiding underground, sleeping. When they wake up, they’ll resume raiding.

Under joint pressure from all factions, no dragon dares build a nest on the surface unless it has legal status or overwhelming power. Even a few bold young dragons who try to establish followers above are swiftly crushed or driven off.

Even the notoriously arrogant Sakavi, before gaining his legal title of Duke, had to settle his lair inside the gray dwarf town beneath the earth.