Chapter 228: The Merchant's Ways

Seeing Ange is normally just a skeleton; if thrown into the wilderness, he would likely either squat somewhere or wander about, no different from ordinary skeletons. Unless Lord Nai Ge pointed things out, he would probably be too lazy to move.

But as soon as something involving planting crops came up, his initiative became super strong. He immediately asked Big Bone where the relay station was, then led the team running off with a whoosh, leaving behind a bunch of bewildered refugees and Serena holding the big cat.

Then the big cat jumped down from Serena's arms, turned to let out an 'ao-woo' at her, and ran toward Seeing Ange. Its slightly stumbling steps showed its weakness.

Big Bone turned back and let out an 'ao'. The big cat quickly nodded, jumped onto Big Bone's palm, climbed up his arm, swiftly reached the top of Big Bone's head, and lay there. Its flesh and fur drooped down, steadily covering the skull.

Big Bone said somewhat worriedly, "You must be careful; my strength is too great, I might break you."

Lord Nai Ge, who had heard this ahead, pouted and muttered, "If you could break a dimensional beast, then your strength would definitely be greater than that of a Purple-Gold Skeleton."

Relay Tower Three was located one hundred and twenty kilometers from Shengbicheng. According to a coverage range of forty kilometers, a relay tower was set up every forty kilometers to pass down the signal of the communication bone tiles. This was the third one, and its owner was named Clint.

After more than six hundred years of development, a small town had formed near Relay Tower Three, where nearly over a thousand people lived.

Clint had just finished feeding the relay spirit and walked down leisurely. As soon as he reached the base of the tower, the butler came forward: "Master, the elders of the town have just come to visit you."

"Oh? Where are they?"

"They just left," the butler said.

"Did they say anything?" Clint asked.

The butler said, "It's still about the salt. All the salt was consumed a few days ago. Now the people in town are feeling tired more easily; some cannot even do slightly heavy work."

"Sigh, I have already sent out a purchase request, but I don't know when there will be a response. Let everyone hold on a bit longer," Clint said with distress, yet he did not hold out much hope.

Because the main source of salt was humans, and now that humans had been driven away, that source was cut off.

Although the humans who retreated in panic would leave behind many supplies, including salt, sitting and eating until the mountain is empty meant that once the leftover salt was eaten up, with no new supply, the humans he was raising would still die.

Clint now had to consider not only the salt problem but also whether the over a thousand people in town could continue to be supported.

What if they couldn't be supported? Kill them all? Or let them fend for themselves?

Since six hundred years ago, when Clint was sent here to manage Relay Station Three, these humans and their ancestors had relied on him for survival.

Guarding a relay station was a very boring job. One had to stay near the tower at all times, could not go too far away, and could not fall asleep. Unlike other undead creatures who, when bored, would go to sleep and sleep until dizzy before waking up, they could not do that.

They could not; they needed to remain in a state of wakefulness at all times, feeding the relay spirit every day to keep the relay station working continuously. If even one relay tower stopped working, communication could not be transmitted.

Staying awake for one or two years was fine, but over a long period, one would get so bored one wanted to die. Many would develop psychological problems.

Therefore, the welfare of relay towers was very good. As long as you raised the relay spirit well and prevented the relay spirit from going on strike, you could turn the area around the relay tower upside down, and no one would care. It was as if this area was designated as your private territory.

According to a coverage distance of forty kilometers per relay tower, the area within a diameter of forty kilometers became your territory. What a vast expanse that was.

According to Clint's self-consoling words: "The area I rule, if placed on the Main Plane, would at least count as a Count."

Of course, if they could be exchanged, let alone a Count, if the Main Plane gave him a manor, he would be very willing to swap his territory for it.

What to do about being too bored? At the beginning, Clint didn't know what to do either, until one day a farmer brought his wife and children to visit him, asking if they could settle in his territory.

There was a river here, which would flood during the Eternal Night, making it a place very suitable for reclamation and settlement.

Clint, who had been bored for too long, naturally welcomed them, personally helped them dig a well, build shelters, and let them settle down.

Clint's enthusiasm made his reputation spread from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred. Quickly, more and more people came to settle here, and slowly, this place developed into a small town.

As more and more people settled, Clint found he was not as bored as before. In his free time, he could chat with the elders in town, tease the children, even help them repair houses and wells, harvest crops, or even watch the light bands together during the Eternal Night; all were forms of joy.

Moreover, humans had very strong survival abilities. As long as you gave them space, they would plow fields, plant crops, produce grain, bear children, and multiply. Clint actually hadn't given much help; he just marked out a piece of land for them, and that slowly became a small town.

The one thing humans could not do was salt. They couldn't buy salt and needed Clint's help.

Unfortunately, in the current situation, Clint couldn't buy salt either. Moreover, in his foreseeable future, salt would become scarcer and scarcer, and even other daily necessities would become scarcer. At that time, could the Land of Desolation still support so many living creatures?

It was truly a headache. Having lived together for six hundred years, Clint certainly couldn't stand by and watch everyone die. To save everyone, salt was needed, even grain.

With years of cultivation, the grain yield of the farmland in the town had been declining year by year. For the past few decades, he had already had to buy grain from outside to fill the gap. If this continued, the grain shortage would grow larger and larger.

But expanding grain production in the Land of Desolation was not an easy task. What to do?

He couldn't think about it; thinking about it made his soul ache.

The butler suddenly returned, with a strange expression, saying, "Uh, Master, someone has come to visit."

This butler was a descendant of the first farmer family Clint had taken in. He and his ancestors had served as Clint's butler for generations. Having seen all kinds of bizarre undead creatures, why would someone visiting cause such an expression?

Clint asked curiously, "Who is it?"

"A goblin."

A goblin? Of course, there were goblins in the Land of Desolation. Those creatures who worshipped money and engineering followed wherever the scent of gold coins was; wherever gold coins were, there they were.

But here at Relay Tower Three, there was absolutely no scent of gold coins. Clint was as poor as a ghost. Except for some soul crystals accumulated over time, he had nothing valuable to offer. So for six hundred years, not a single goblin had come to visit him.

Of course, they might not be able to come; goblins were mainly concentrated in the human Shengbicheng.

Clint, filled with strong curiosity, met the visiting goblin. The goblin wore a warm smile on his face:

"An impertinent visit. I heard that Your Excellency needs salt? The Silver Merchant Guild is sincerely at your service. However, since the human Shengbicheng has been breached, hard currencies like soul crystals and magic crystals are not very useful. I wonder if Your Excellency would be willing to change the payment method?"

After hearing Silver Coin's words, Clint was completely stunned: "There is such a good thing?"

"Of course. The salt is here. As long as you tell us a feasible method, all of this belongs to you. Because we heard your conversation in the communication bone tile and came looking for you. My boss hopes to own a private territory like yours for planting things," Silver Coin said earnestly and honestly.

As a goblin merchant, Silver Coin had long mastered the ability to speak the undead language to the undead and the 'ao-ao' language to Seeing Ange. The moment he saw Clint, he knew how to deal with such an honest and kind-hearted good man.

"Aren't you afraid I'll rob you?" Seeing Silver Coin so openly put out a bag of salt, Clint was shocked. This goblin didn't look very strong; how could he be so careless, with no guard at all?

Silver Coin laughed: "Of course not afraid. Unless you only need this one bag of salt and want none in the future, otherwise you wouldn't cut off your own supply source. And..."

When saying 'and', Silver Coin closed his eyes and shouted loudly, "Boss, this guy says he wants to rob our salt!"

The moment the words fell, Clint instantly felt the goblin's aura change. A terrifying aura descended upon him. The next moment, Silver Coin opened his eyes, and the gaze in them seemed as if it would freeze Clint's soul.

Not knowing how much time had passed, Clint felt someone waving a hand in front of his eyes. Waving and waving, the hand even slapped his face. After a few slaps, he finally came to his senses and asked blankly, "Why did you hit me?"

Silver Coin said apologetically, "Sorry, sorry, so embarrassed. My boss used too much force and hurt you. My deepest apologies. This soul crystal is compensation; please do not take offense."

While speaking, he took Clint's hand and stuffed a soul crystal into his palm.

Clint held the soul crystal and slowly came to his senses, remembering what had just happened. It seemed this goblin had called his boss, then glared at him...

Clint shivered all over. The soul crystal in his hand felt as if it were burning hot. He quickly tried to push it back. Oh my god, projected over here, and with just one glare he was dazed. What level of existence was this?

Could one possibly accept money from such an existence? Are you trying to lose your life? Clint was terrified. No wonder this goblin casually displayed a bag of salt worth more than gold; apparently, his backing was that solid?

Clint wanted to cry. Why had he been so sharp-tongued to say such things? Oh heavens, he hoped that powerful existence wouldn't hold it against him; he had no ill intentions at all, merely trying to remind this goblin.

Seeing the expression of wanting to cry but having no tears on his face, Silver Coin quickly comforted him: "Don't worry, don't worry. My boss won't take offense. Take this, to make up for it. If you don't take it, it means you look down on me."

Saying this, he forcibly shoved that Soul Crystal into Clint's palm.

Soul Crystals were not only currency but also condensed soul energy; absorbing them could heal soul wounds, which was just right for Clint, who had been "glared at."

If he didn't take it, later he might have to use his own Soul Crystal to heal, and the resulting loss would linger in his mind for a long time, unfavorable for future dealings.

However, compensation could not provide what he needed most, such as salt, because salt still needed to serve as leverage in the next stage of trade; compensating him now would lower the rigid demand.

So, being a merchant actually involves many intricacies.

A few hours later, Silver Coin left the Relay Tower, flipped onto a bone horse, and trotted away. Ten-plus kilometers away, Silver Coin rode the bone horse into a ditch.

At this moment, a pile of things was already squatting in the ditch: humans, dragons, skeletons, zombies, angels, and unicorns.

Seeing Silver Coin return, Lord Nai Ge Li Si immediately asked, "How did it go?"

"Done. Relay Tower Number Four is now ours. We've already reported it up and are waiting for the handover. That guy who cursed Seeing Ange, my lord, is eager to leave the Relay Tower and is urging us to come over for the handover," Silver Coin said excitedly.

Lord Nai Ge Li Si was somewhat skeptical: "Just that simple?"

Silver Coin nodded: "Find the right direction, and it's just that simple. We didn't know the situation, so it felt difficult, but according to Clint, it's not difficult at all. Very few people can stay at a relay station; they change every few decades. Now, just happens to be a guy who doesn't want to do it anymore; just report it and that's it."

Lord Nai Ge Li Si couldn't help but ask curiously, "How did you think to start from Relay Tower Number Three?"

Silver Coin asked in confusion, "Isn't this basic operation? He has a need; start from the need, and it becomes him begging me. If he has no needs at all, we can create needs for him."

"Makes sense. Let's go for the handover and see what kind of guy was cursing wildly."

In the wilderness, two bone horses dragged a carriage at a gallop, then suddenly stopped. A wraith floated out, checked the direction, and returned to the carriage: "We'll reach Relay Tower Number Four very soon."

Inside the carriage, a brazier burned, its flames forming the face of a demon. If Seeing Ange were here, he would surely recognize this demon—the Lord of Terror, who once unleashed an insect plague in the Heishan Duchy.

"Perfect. Our Terror Ghost has just taken form and needs a powerful soul to possess. Nothing is more suitable than a Relay Spirit on a Relay Tower. While this Relay Tower is being handed over, we'll go snatch the Relay Spirit. Even a Great Sage wouldn't discover who snatched the Relay Spirit," the Lord of Terror said.

The wraith hesitated slightly and said, "Are you sure? All Relay Spirits are linked; they are essentially a type of soul, belonging to Harvey's people. If we tamper with the Relay Spirit, won't Harvey discover it? If it projects its will here, I'll die horribly."

The Lord of Terror said, "That's why we must act during the handover. During the handover, there is a brief moment when the Relay Spirit goes dormant; during that time, no one can control it."

"Really? Why do you, a demon, know these things better than I, a wraith?" the wraith asked skeptically.

"As long as you are willing to exchange a soul, I will tell you," the demon said in a very seductive voice.

The wraith gave no definite answer, merely letting out a few chilling laughs.

The carriage set off again, heading toward Relay Tower Number Four.

In another direction, Luther and Shamara stared at each other, looking at the Lightning ahead, which was carrying five things; even the Big Cat was lying on Lightning's head, clutching its horn.

Their direction of advance was also toward Relay Tower Number Four; at this speed, they were very likely to meet the Lord of Terror beneath the tower.