Chapter 36: Night Talk

The shattered gate, the chaotic crowd—this slave market had been utterly disgraced.

Seeing the two board the departing carriage, the owner Kveliduf let out a breath.

Just thinking about how to explain this to the bosses behind the scenes made his head ache even more.

But noticing the pointing fingers and murmurs around him, he knew the trouble had only just begun—this slave market had truly been ruined.

“Damn Eugenians! Throw Eugen’s woman and brats into the auction cage! Send his men to his favorite arena!”

So, he casually redirected his fury toward Eugen Fodi—kill a few to set an example.

On the carriage, the “engaged couple” sat facing each other, the atmosphere awkward.

Li En did not ask the stupid question: “Aren’t we already freed from this marriage?”

He guessed she was using this as an excuse to help him—otherwise, outsiders couldn’t interfere.

Yet after everything they’d just endured, both still found it hard to face each other.

At least the woman kept her face flushed and head bowed—nothing like her reputation for smooth social maneuvering.

Perhaps unable to bear the embarrassment, Saliman broke the silence first.

“Why did you demand only that as compensation?”

She truly found this baffling, so she asked.

Li En did not ask for divine weapons, nor wealth or shops—he asked for the one thing a Holy Knight should never request.

“You want to know why I demanded slaves as payment?”

“Yes. Though you prioritized skilled slaves, that’s no hardship for the slave market—skilled artisans are always in high demand and fetch higher prices. But they still can’t compare to your Hero’s Blood. This top-tier evolution material has no market value—it’s priceless. This deal is a massive loss.”

Hero’s Blood, an evolution material with no threshold, has always been priceless and unavailable—if you can’t buy it, no price matters.

With my help, Li En could have demanded far better—divine weapons, rare evolution materials, anything.

Saliman had prepared to force the slave market to bleed heavily—yet he only asked for what she saw as the least valuable: skilled slaves.

That’s why the compensation was settled so quickly—the slave market felt little loss.

“Those slaves, I’ll release directly—though not without cost.”

Since they were now allies, Li En explained some of his thoughts and plans.

“On the condition that these skilled individuals sign a three-year contract to live in the docks district—of course, to fend for themselves.”

Seeing Saliman still puzzled, and knowing he’d likely need her cooperation and help in the future, Li En grew more patient.

“In my view, the greatest harm the docks slave market inflicts on the surrounding area isn’t even the crime it spawns—it’s how it continuously drains resources—human, financial, material—and converts them purely into money.”

The docks district, where the slave market sits, has too few legitimate industries.

Artisans who want to survive must work—and that naturally creates new industries.

A baker, an adult man, needs a family—so one woman no longer has to go to the brothel district.

If he opens a shop, he’ll need two apprentices and helpers—thus solving employment for two boys.

When those apprentices grow up, they’ll open shops of their own—creating new demand and jobs.

In essence, entrepreneurship and employment work this way: skilled people need investment and plans; once their business thrives, it lifts an entire region.

Li En, who once worked in investment recruitment, understood this well—in this era, every skilled artisan could be a quality “project,” especially when the economy is weak, where numerous flexible small-scale artisans become vital.

In his eyes, the slave market’s greatest harm to the docks district isn’t its inherent evil—it’s how it monopolizes all upper-tier ecological niches, twisting every surrounding industry into mere nourishment for itself.

It’s not a normal “human organ”—it’s a greedy “cancer cell.”

It only needs brothels, gambling dens, gangs, and traffickers—turning the docks and its transient population into its business—and it profits immensely.

If Li En wants to do something, he must act at the ecological level—large-scale investment alone won’t suffice.

Releasing these artisans—whether they enter commerce, textiles, or even just open a cake shop—can bring something new to this docks district, now reduced to nothing but vice.

“If possible, you could offer them business loans—even high-interest ones—they’ll gladly accept them.” Li En spoke sincerely—he truly hoped the local nobility would do something decent, even if it was just the unseemly act of usury.

In Li En’s view, since the slave market devoured all resources, it must spit some back—only then can ordinary people in the docks district walk a legitimate path and live like human beings.

Li En had been thinking seriously—he didn’t know if this would yield good results.

But he was more certain that if nothing was done, nothing would change.

Back then, he’d come from investment banquets—he deeply understood the importance of “investors.” Whether technology or capital, both are golden keys to regional development.

Fighting recklessly is satisfying—but that only starts another cycle. What’s the point of another hero coming in a few years to slaughter again?

“Meanwhile, I’ll also request that some young, strong, and non-criminal youths be handed over to Dimon.”

With commerce, you need armed forces to protect it.

Oath Knights aren’t fit for humans—but to many, slaves aren’t even considered human, and even they themselves feel they aren’t.

Dimon will try to recruit them and form a separate armed force outside the gangs, even considering giving them the Oath Knight cultivation method.

After gaining freedom, if someone offers them power, what won’t they do? Compared to being slaves, hard training is nothing.

The best part: once they gain power, they were once slaves of the docks slave market—what they’ll do to their former masters needs no explanation.

“This is just one direction, one possibility—take it step by step.” Li En had no certainty things would improve—he could only try to guide the future within his means.

Li En continued speaking; Saliman remained silent for a long time.

He looked up and saw a face of extraordinary astonishment.

She was surprised? Li En smiled.

Perhaps, in her eyes, all knights were just crude brutes.

“Heh, don’t judge me by appearances—I’ve read books.”

“That’s not it!! Have you even considered yourself? You’ve done all this and gained nothing for yourself!” This was the real point—Saliman, who knew the depths of human evil, couldn’t understand Li En’s choice.

At this moment, Saliman, sent by the Princess to rescue Li En, truly didn’t understand the man before her.

“How could I not? I’m quite happy—no amount of gold could buy my willingness.” Li En’s dark joke didn’t make Saliman laugh—she merely stared coldly at him.

The carriage fell silent again.

“How long until you lose your power completely?” Suddenly, the woman blurted out.

In her view, Li En’s actions reeked of making final arrangements.

“Four or five days,” the man still smiled, as if he didn’t care at all.

Saliman sighed. She didn’t bother Quan again—having read his mind, she knew this man couldn’t be persuaded.

As the Princess had said: preserve his life, help if you can—but perhaps the threshold for intervention might be higher than expected?

“Tell me your plan—do you really believe you can change anything?” This time, Saliman sounded serious.

“Change? I can’t. Only the locals can change this. Oh, in my view, all of this ultimately stems from the royal house—their weakness ceded the original ecological niche, allowing various factions to rise and fill it, forming this twisted free noble faction—they’ve become de facto kings but never fulfilled royal duties.”

“You may see these disasters as random, but the ruling class’s inaction is the greatest crime. The slave market is merely a tumor in the kingdom and Huicheng—but in reality, it’s become the heart of the docks district, the true power behind the throne in the royal house’s absence. Resolving it isn’t simple.”

Even a cancerous heart, if you pull its vessels carelessly, will bleed out and kill.

Li En spoke these treasonous words openly before Wang Quan’s core supporter.

“All the royal house’s fault?!” Soon, the Princess herself laughed bitterly.

(End of Chapter)