Chapter 1683

Moreover, Li Ruanyu is ultimately a combat-oriented lord, and truly cannot be mentioned in the same breath as a merchant guild.

Even if Zhao Chi later lets Li Ruanyu sell larger quantities of fashion items and other goods on consignment, this is really just shifting the point of conflict onto Li Ruanyu.

Zhao Chi doesn't dare sell fashion items openly, for fear of drawing fire upon himself.

And letting Li Ruanyu sell the fashion items is merely passing these risks onto Li Ruanyu, making her bear them.

Li Ruanyu is much stronger than Zhao Chi, but she is after all only a mid-captain, and only a county-level lord.

There are plenty of people stronger than her.

Selling fashion items and experience fruits to the Emerald Squad on a small scale is certainly no problem, but once it forms a larger scale, her safety must also be considered.

Li Ruanyu is very strong, but she isn't invincible either.

He can't really treat her as a human shield.

And she is after all only one person; she certainly cannot compare to a merchant guild.

So the bulk of the earnings still lies with the Ruby Merchant Guild.

This is the first cooperation, and the contract both parties signed for over 80,000 gold coins is actually quite substantial.

If this cooperation goes smoothly and Shopkeeper Wanyan truly didn't cheat Zhao Chi, then they can further strengthen their cooperation going forward.

But this requires time.

To verify the outcome of the contract, at least a month's time is needed.

However, this timeframe is relatively reliable; in a month, they'll know whether the cooperation with Shopkeeper Wanyan can continue.

Zhao Chi told all this to Gu Qing.

Gu Qing closed her eyes and said softly, "My lord... you should at least let me rest a bit... You just wore me out so much, my head is still a little dazed. Such an important matter, I still need to think it over properly."

Zhao Chi laughed and said, "That's my fault. Then sleep for a while first."

Gu Qing grabbed him: "No need, I won't sleep. Just sit with me for a bit, a few minutes will do."

"Alright."

A few minutes later, Gu Qing was indeed somewhat better.

She analyzed:

"My lord, your analysis is correct. This kind of matter does indeed need to be considered in advance, but I don't think it's a problem.

"Shopkeeper Wanyan's side can be left aside for now; her potential there is enormous, but the first contract really must pass verification.

"And the first contract's amount isn't small — a quota of 80,000 gold coins is enough to give us a reference.

"As for Li Ruanyu's side, I think we can increase our investment.

"Give Li Ruanyu fashion items and grain to sell. Even if she only sells to the Emerald Squad, we can still reap a considerable sum of money.

"After all, the several hundred lords in the squad also have at least 300,000 gold coins in purchasing power.

"Once you get this portion of money, you don't need to hoard it either. Just convert it directly into combat power. Money will never be earned to completion.

"Later, you can also let Li Ruanyu sell a portion through the Exchange."

"Although we feel that these few hundred thousand gold coins are incredible, in the end it's just that our horizons are too narrow.

"For a town-level lord, it is indeed a massive fortune, but what about a county-level lord? Li Ruanyu is a county-level lord. Did you see her hesitate when buying your experience fruits and fashion items?

"She didn't hesitate at all.

"The 120,000 gold coins she owes you, she only needs one to two months to pay off.

"And she's only a county-level lord.

"There are still plenty of state-level and national-level lords out there.

"And our Snow Plains City is only one of the northern human frontier cities, a relatively poor city.

"So being cautious is right, but there's no need to worry too much.

"At least this amount of a few hundred thousand gold coins can be considered safe at Li Ruanyu's level.

"No need to worry about her for now.

"So I think that now, these gold coins of yours should be spent as needed. At most, just set aside the balance to be delivered to Shopkeeper Wanyan's side."

"What do you think?"

Reasonable.

Most of what Gu Qing said actually echoed similar thoughts already in Zhao Chi's mind.

He just hadn't fully strung them together earlier.

He worried about passing the risk onto Li Ruanyu, but for Li Ruanyu, an amount of a few hundred thousand wouldn't attract anyone's attention at all.

Moreover, she is also a master-level tailor, so selling some super fashion items is perfectly reasonable.

At most, it would draw the attention of those wolfmen, but she was already their target to begin with.

Passing the risk onto her would indeed make her situation a bit more dangerous, but it wouldn't affect things too much.

If the time really came when she was threatened, Zhao Chi should have grown quite a bit by then, and at that point he would truly be able to protect Li Ruanyu.

"If that's the case, then I'll go buy more high-level bloodline dissolutions?" Zhao Chi looked at Gu Qing, who was lazily lying down.

"I think that's fine."

"Understood. Then hold onto this balance of over 55,000 gold coins for me — I'm afraid I'll overspend."

"Okay~"

"Then I'll go take a stroll."

"Phew~ Go ahead, my lord. Be careful on the road. I'll just take a nap — so sleepy."

Gu Qing smiled at Zhao Chi, then closed her eyes.

He originally wanted to call Su Qin along, but Su Qin was in a meeting with Wei Li, Lu Yi, and the others, so he let it be.

Zhao Chi directly hailed a spirit-energy vehicle and headed to the Exchange.

The exchange hall in the evening was a hubbub of voices.

Besides the lord, one could see a considerable number of refugees inside.

These refugees were bringing scattered props to sell.

Quite a few had also come to the exchange to look for opportunities, to see if there were any cheap props they could buy and then resell at a markup.

Their transaction amounts and volumes were both very small, yet they occupied every window.

The exchange staff all had their brows knit together.

But they couldn't drive them away.

They could only patiently and inefficiently repeat the work of small-amount transactions.

An odd smell permeated the entire exchange hall, and Zhao Chi frowned slightly.

He picked up the inventory list and queued up at the back of the line, slowly shuffling forward.

In half an hour, the entire line had only moved forward halfway; it looked like it would take another half hour before Zhao Chi's turn.

When did the exchange become like this?

Before, he had only sensed that more and more refugees were entering Horn Cliff Town; today he truly felt the concrete change.

Look at these refugees.

They were all people from other nearby villages and towns, previously oppressed and exploited under the rule of the wolfmen, then harvested again under the rule of the Heavenly King Army.

After great difficulty they had fled to the Broken World Army's side, only to be despised by the local residents.

After all, they really were crowding out all kinds of resources here.

Let them despise if they want; at least it's better than being dead.

These refugees stood in line in silence, their eyes vacant.

Zhao Chi didn't know what to say either.

At this moment, the system delivered a notification.

Li Ruanyu posted a notice:

【Jade Squad Notice】:

【Hello everyone】

【I am Li Ruanyu】

【I said before that I would lead everyone to take back our village; now is the moment I fulfill that promise】

【Starting tomorrow, everyone is to cease all combat and devote full effort to battle preparations; we will sortie at noon the day after tomorrow】

【Our first target of attack is South Valley Village; after taking South Valley Village we will strike directly at Stream Village, then encircle North Stream Village, and take it all in one fell swoop】

【Acting together with us this time are three other squads — namely the South Valley Squad, the Stream Squad, and the North Stream Squad】

【I trust those three squads must be in high spirits, and we too must attack with full force】