Chapter 398 - Disaster of East Road

"The warm-up auction has concluded, let us move on to the main event of today, the Ghost Grape Wine Auction. Many of you are undoubtedly familiar with this unique magic grape wine, but it still bears repeating today.This magic grape wine has special effects for clerics and those with an excess of yang energy, especially women, but ordinary people must not drink it excessively, as it can lead to unimaginable consequences. Furthermore, when selling, please be sure to remind your customers of this.

The Ghost Grape Wine from the Weizemay Manor carries its own anti-counterfeiting mark from the manor. Please be sure to recognize it, as all the wine has undergone uniform packaging.

There are ten bottles per case, ten cases per group. We will now start the bidding for the first group with a starting bid of ten thousand gold coins, with each bid increasing by no less than one hundred gold coins. Let the bidding begin now."

Regina personally opened a black wooden box beside another half-elf girl and took out a bottle of well-packaged Ghost Grape Wine.

In the light of the rising sun, merchants in the first five or six rows could clearly see a miniature manor image floating and sinking within the bottle, changing its position as the liquid swayed incessantly.

Although most of the merchants had never seen the actual Weizemay Manor, they were one hundred percent certain that it was a miniature representation of the manor.

"Twelve thousand."

"Thirteen thousand."

"Fourteen thousand."

"Fifteen thousand."

After a relatively heated competition, the first group of Ghost Grape Wine settled at eighteen thousand.

The price was slightly higher than the Holy Light Liquor, but only by a limited amount, suggesting this may well become the market price in the future, with fluctuations unlikely to exceed thirty percent.

The merchants present were shrewd, and they had a very accurate estimate of the market. Once the price exceeded their estimation, they no longer bid rashly.

Besides, they didn’t believe this was the only batch of Ghost Grape Wine available; there would be plenty of opportunities to make a move later on.

The subsequent auctions basically revolved around the eighteen thousand mark.

The highest group was just shy of twenty thousand at nineteen thousand five hundred, without ever reaching it.

The lowest group did not fall below sixteen thousand, which involved some accidental bargains.

In total, Weizemay Manor auctioned off exactly one hundred groups of Ghost Grape Wine, amounting to ten thousand bottles, with a total value of one million eight hundred and eighty thousand.

Together with the previous auction of Ghost Eye Blindfolds and Ghost Cloaks, Gaven’s earnings from this Ghost Grape Wine auction approached two million.

Before this staggering figure, all the merchants’ eyes turned red.

Looking towards the Weizemay Manor, looking towards the vineyard, their gaze was noticeably different.

Money moves the heart.

This amount could match the entire income of a Giant Dragon Nest.

For this treasure, countless people would be ready to disregard the terrifying power of ancient dragons and embark on the path to slaying them.

Not to mention a mere small manor.

What they didn’t know was that not all of these Ghost Grape Wines belonged to Gaven personally; there were shares from two other families involved. After deducting the principal and splitting it up, it would be quite impressive if he could keep half for himself.

The methods the merchants used to pay were also varied.

Those who traded using crates of currency were only a minority within a minority.

Most used goods to offset the cost, and these goods were diverse as well.

Grain, being relatively stable in price, was the most commonly traded item. Considering Gaven had previously announced that he intended to buy in a large amount of grain and given that the Valley was known as a prominent grain storehouse in the vicinity.

When boatloads of grain were delivered, Gaven had to face a pleasant dilemma: where to store all this grain?

They surely couldn’t be piled up like a mountain here; the rainy season in Comanso would begin next month, persisting with rain throughout.

By the end of the rainy season, the grain would have all rotted away.

The rest consisted of jewels, metal ingots, weapons, and armor.

Worthy of mention is the fact that one Sambiyan merchant traded using three shiploads of high-quality cotton from Feather Wing Valley.

Another directly traded two surplus cargo ships at a discounted price to Gaven.

Gaven naturally did not refuse any comers, even acquiescing promptly despite the slightly inflated prices requested by these two merchants.

After all, with his wealth and influence, and both types of goods being in short supply for himself, why would he say no?

With these three shiploads of high-quality cotton, he could get his Ghost Textile Workshop up and running. Once operational, it could create even more value.

And the two cargo ships filled the void of having sailors but no vessels, freeing him from sole reliance on the demi-humans for water transport.

The Ghost Grape Wine Auction lasted only one day, but the follow-up transactions took a full five days.

Dealing with the numerous and chaotic accounts forced Gaven to employ Bionic Art, and even Overclocking to enhance his Intelligence for assistance with the accounting.

With no calculators or even abacuses available in Felen, all calculations had to be done by hand and mind.

The lack of skilled personnel in this area was a gap Gaven currently faced; even the half-elf girls led by Regina were not as efficient in this task as the Dog Demons were.

In the end, Gaven had to grab his old friend Bede as a strong man to help with the dealmaking.

An old hand in this arena, Bede not only possessed a strong mental calculation capability, he was familiar with most commodity prices and was skilled in both appraising and bargaining, which was a big help. Otherwise, this alone would have cost Gaven a loss of thirty to fifty thousand.

In the future, if there was a chance, he would improve Felen’s trade methods by any means necessary, to simplify the trade process.

The matter was simple to articulate; it revolved around the issue of financial institutions.

But in practice, it was harder than reaching the heavens. Without sufficient power backing it up, one couldn’t even ponder whether the financial institution would gain public trust, let alone guaranteeing its security.

Do you think those Giant Dragons could resist the temptation of heaps upon heaps of Gold Coins?

Especially the evil Colored Dragons.

Blood Horn.

This abrupt peak rose from the ground, situated in the open space between Thunder Peak and Lake Seber, resembling a gigantic red sharp tooth, with exceedingly treacherous terrain.

This land once belonged to Siren Valley, also known as Death Valley, for it had vanished into the dust of history for a century.

In the year 1232, Siren Valley, under the leadership of the Huang Hun Lord, waged war with Bow Valley for the key entrance and exit point of the East Road trade route, Thunder Rift Valley, but was breached by Bow Valley.

Bow Valley accused the Huang Hun Lord of using dark sorcery to kill or drive away the residents of Siren Valley, and to destroy every building, farmland, and mine in sight.

The worst of it was, after the war, Bow Valley spread copious amounts of salt on all the arable land in Siren Valley, ruining the soil and thereby preventing the refugees of Siren Valley from returning and rebuilding their homes.

Now, this place has become barren and isolated, compounded by the rumor that the Huang Hun Lord, seeking Revenge, has been resurrected as a powerful Ghost, gathering his own army of the dead to take revenge on his century-old enemies from Bow Valley, the Arcan Family in particular.

As a result, aside from a few foolhardy hunters and loggers, few people would visit this land.

Today, this land welcomed a visitor who stood in stark contrast to it.

The visitor arrived, dressed in a crisp tailcoat and a pair of shiny polished shoes, as if he were preparing to attend a gathering of high society ladies.

If Gaven were here, he would instantly recognize the identity of the visitor—Carter, a representative of the Sambiyan Business Council.

Carter’s destination was a stony mountain covered with crimson rocks and devoid of any vegetation.

Known only to a few, Blood Horn was home to a Red Dragon.

And Carter was among these few; he not only knew that this Red Dragon was named Slark Sata, but also that it was the Red Dragon who had plagued East Road for years, known as the scourge of East Road.

The East Road Trade Route started at Yehong and cut across Odulin, spanning the entirety of Sambia, passing through Taser Valley and Bow Valley, crossing Thunder Rift Valley, and then traversing the central region of Komeer. It was one of Sambia’s core trade routes.

That Slark Sata had been able to disrupt this trade route for decades without being tracked and extinguished by the Sambiyan Merchants’ hired mercenaries was not because he was powerful enough, nor because his hideout was particularly hidden.

Instead, he never robbed Sambiyan Merchant caravans; rather, it was the competitors of these Sambiyan Merchants who often suffered. Not only would their entire armies be wiped out, but their goods might also reappear in their business rivals’ hands in the blink of an eye.

Once or twice could be considered coincidental, but if it occurred in the same manner for dozens of years, it was no coincidence.

This indicated that there was a collaborative relationship between this Red Dragon and the Sambiyan Merchants.

When Carter arrived at Blood Horn, he entered as if it were uninhabited, which was the best evidence of this.

It wasn’t that Blood Horn was left unguarded. Ever since Carter came within ten kilometers of Blood Horn, there were secretive figures tracking him from both above and below.

But the aura he exuded prevented those creatures from recklessly approaching.

That was the Dragon Might of the highest Ruler of this place, Slark Sata.

When Carter arrived, Blood Horn’s very top plateau was already occupied by a colossal being. Its crimson Dragon Scales blended with the rocks beneath it. If it weren’t for the thick smoke carried in its breath, one might mistake it for a red rock.

It was none other than the master of this place, Slark Sata, who seemed to have been aware of Carter’s arrival and was waiting here specially for him.

No Giant Dragon would easily allow others into its Dragon’s Nest, not even allies with whom it had a cooperative relationship.

Carter knew he could find Slark Sata at Blood Horn, but he was not certain whether the cunning Red Dragon’s lair was actually placed here or if it was merely a decoy nest.

"Speak, what Merchant Council are you planning to target this time?" Slark Sata yawned lazily, the air thick with sulfur, "I was very dissatisfied with the last payment you gave. So this time, you pay first, act later."

After bowing respectfully, Carter began to explain, "Last time there was an error in the intelligence. The targeted Merchant Council had issues of their own, suffered huge losses, and we barely reaped any wealth. What we offered to Your Greatness was everything we could; we ended up busy for nothing."

"The mistake in intelligence is your problem, not mine. I still want the agreed-upon share, even if you have to pay out of your own pocket." The Red Dragon pinned Carter with its fiery gaze, its eyes filled with dancing flames, and an oppressive terror emanated from it.

As if not feeling this pressure at all, Carter continued, "The loss from last time will be fully compensated this time. No, it will be surpassed by countless times because just a few days ago, they accounted for merchandise worth two million Nuobao in one go. According to the usual share, Your Greatness will net a profit of one and a half million Nuobao!"

"One and a half million Nuobao!" Upon hearing this number, the Red Dragon’s body immediately perked up, its flaming eyes taking on the shape of golden Nuobao.

Even the total contents of its hoard would only be half of that amount.

Seemingly to corroborate his claim, Carter took out a gem, engulfed by a surge of Magic Power.

A holographic image appeared in front of the Red Dragon—an auction house bustling with people, where bids were called out incessantly, not in hundreds or thousands, but in tens of thousands of Nuobao.

Listening to it made Slark Sata’s excitement surge and his heart race.

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