However, Lin Li would not be fooled by Vincent’s crocodile tears. The other party was the prince of a nation, and even if he was a wastrel, he could still make a lot of money by relying on his title as a prince for several years. How could he be possibly reduced to the state of having to live on rent? As for helping others stage acts, Vincent would at least get a commission of a few million gold coins if he could sell the Divine Sea Pillar at 43,000,000 gold coins.
Lin Li had long seen through Vincent’s and the catfish-headed owner’s tricks, but he did not expose them directly. Instead, he sneered, and said, “Is that so? But I just heard that you asked the owner to reserve the Divine Sea Pillar for you for three days, and now you’re telling me that you don’t have enough money?”
“Uh…” Vincent was full of regrets at this point, but he had himself to blame for being so unlucky to have run into Lin Li. After hesitating for a long time, he said, “President Felic, I was just joking with Hagi. That thing costs more than 40,000,000 gold coins, even if I buy it, I can’t sell it for a high price.”
“You were joking? I took it seriously, though.” Lin Li then turned around to face the catfish-headed owner Hagi. Seeing that Vincent was wiping his sweat incessantly, he calmly said, “Hagi, huh? Please bring me that Divine Sea Pillar and charge it to Prince Vincent’s account. You two like joking with each other all the time anyway.”
“Ah!” Hagi froze in shock now too. What a joke, charge it to Vincent’s account? I’ll never get my money back then.
“President Felic, this is all his idea, and I’m just helping him. He said that this thing can be sold for a high price, it really has nothing to do with me!” Vincent began to panic because he wasn’t favored by the royal family in the first place, and if he were to get himself in debt now, he would probably really end up with nothing.
“What? Does this mean that you two are colluding to cheat others?! I didn’t expect that there would be such a thing in the Sea Market of the Gilded Kingdom. I really want to question Bradlor and ask him what’s going on in this Sea Market!” Lin Li exclaimed with righteous indignation, as if he had just realized it.
Vincent was frightened and scared out of his wits. If Bradlor were to get involved, the former would probably never get his title back. He frantically pleaded, “President Felic, let’s talk things over calmly! Hagi, what are you waiting for? Bring the Divine Sea Pillar over here. Are you waiting to be kicked out of the Sea Market?”
Hagi was just as terrified and shocked. Although the Divine Sea Pillar wasn’t really worth more than 40,000,000 gold coins, he could at least sell it for 10-20 million gold coins. When the old human came over previously, he had bought one of the Divine Sea Pillars at the price of nearly 20,000,000 gold coins. Yet, Hagi had to give it away now without earning a single cent.
However, Hagi didn’t dare not to give it away. If the matter was really exposed, and the Gilded Kingdom were to find out, he would at most be kicked out of the Sea Market. However, if others found out that he played such dirty tricks in business, no one would one to have any business dealings with him anymore!
“Um… President Felic, how about this? I’ll sell the Divine Sea Pillar to you at the cost price of 20,000,000 gold coins. I won’t earn a single cent of your money. Previously, you spent a magical crystal that was worth a few million gold coins at Calicoli’s store. This should be peanuts to you,” said Hagi, who, of course, couldn’t bear to give the Divine Sea Pillar away just like that. In his opinion, he was sincere enough to have given him a 50% discount.
Hearing Hagi mention the previous incident, Lin Li finally knew why they had deliberately staged such an act. Previously, Harquess of the Octopus Clan had tried to spar with Lin Li in inscription, but in the end, Lin Li didn’t let Calicoli deduct the money for the goods from his card. Instead, he just left behind a few Legendary magical crystals which were worth at least a few million gold coins. It was definitely more than the cost of the goods.
Hearing Hagi’s words, Lin Li did not say anything, but Vincent anxiously hollered, “You’re still thinking of making President Felic pay? Hagi, are you out of your mind!? You got those tens of thousands of gold coins by cheating that person who has poor judgment, and used it to get the Divine Sea Pillars. The cost price doesn’t amount to 20,000,000 gold coins!”
“What? I traveled thousands of kilometers, and went through a lot of hassle to painstakingly bring them here. Are my efforts not worth any money? I’m only selling it to him for over 20,000,000 gold coins, that’s not too much to ask for, is it?! You’re the one who offended him, it has nothing to do with me. Why should I give the Divine Seal Pillar away for nothing?” Hagi immediately lost his temper, and got into a huge tiff with Vincent.
After looking at the two of them argue for a long time, Lin Li interrupted them, and said, “How much the Divine Sea Pillar is worth has nothing to do with me, you two take your time to calculate. Vincent, since you’re so sincere in apologizing, I will accept your sincerity.” After saying that, he waved his hand, and the blue crystal pillar darted out, and landed on his hand.
“Vincent, I’m telling you, I’m going to charge that Divine Sea Pillar at a price of 20,000,000 gold coins, you can put your castle as collateral, but don’t try to deny this and feign ignorance.” Hagi knew that he could not afford to offend Lin Li, and thus had no choice but to make Vincent pay. Anyway, Vincent had already revealed everything, and said that he had lost his title as a duke. There was nothing to be afraid of then.
Vincent was naturally unwilling to show weakness at all. He then pulled Hagi, and exclaimed, “What 20,000,000 gold coins? It clearly costs only tens of thousands of gold coins. Don’t think of getting a single gold coin from me!”
Their argument was getting heated, but Lin Li was no longer interested. He said to his subordinates, “Connoris, Angelano, we’ve already bought what we need, it is time to go.” He then ignored the two who were in an argument, and strode away from the store leisurely.
Seeing this, Connoris and Angelano immediately followed Lin Li out. However, when passing by the two, Angelano still could not help but kick them each for calling him a clown. Of course, although being called a clown was infuriating, he had obtained the Divine Sea Pillar, which meant that he could have one more means of survival on the sea, and it was indeed something that was worth rejoicing over.
On the other hand, Donald and Prince Tory of the Rotterdam Kingdom naturally would not stay here for any longer. They glanced at each other speechlessly, both understanding that they could not afford to offend Lin Li easily.
The incident in the store had caused some delay, but they weren’t there simply to watch the show. They were certain that Prince Vincent would definitely go to the embassy of the Tower of Dusk to look for him. The Catfish Clan was quite powerful, and Vincent had been deposed as a duke. Without the king to support him, it would not be easy for him to pay for the Divine Sea Pillar.
Although Vincent was known to be a wastrel in the Gilded Kingdom, he was still of some use to Lin Li. Bradlor might have stripped him of his title, but Lin Li was certain that it wouldn’t take long for it to be restored. After all, he was Bradlor’s uncle.
With the help of Vincent’s title as the prince, the business of the Tower of Dusk could be expanded into the Gilded Kingdom would be much easier. Using the Gilded Kingdom, the Tower of Dusk could collect all kinds of precious resources from the Endless Ocean with greater ease. It would also provide great motivation for the development of the Tower of Dusk.
Of course, at this juncture, Lin Li wouldn’t talk about those matters with Vincent. Only by pushing this prince to the breaking point and conditioning him into submission could he truly make the latter work for the Tower of Dusk.
Lin Li put the Divine Sea Pillar away into the Ring of Endless Storm, and continued to wander around casually in the Gift of the Sea. When he returned a few days after his previous visit, there were obviously many more Sea Clan members than before in the market. There was also a greater plethora of goods sold in the stores, which were bedazzling.
“Sir, what would you like to see? Take a look at this, it’s molten adamantine that was produced at the bottom of the deep sea volcano. It contains the power of the elements of fire and water, and it’s the best material for creating magical equipment!” Hagi explained, introducing the goods in the store to Lin Li while his saliva splattered everywhere[1].
The Catfish Clan was indeed worthy of being the merchant tribe of the Sea Clan as their stores accounted for almost half of the Gift of the Sea. However, they each had their specific origin, and there were different clans of the Sea Clan, such as the Giant Shark Clan and some other clans from the sea area near the mysterious continent in the east. There was a large variety of goods, and they were almost all the common resources and minerals of the Endless Ocean.
However, those commonly seen things were not Lin Li’s purpose when shopping in the Sea Market. The transformation of the Sky Castle indeed required a large number of materials, but even with the financial strength of the Tower of Dusk, they could not afford to buy everything they needed, not even if they went bankrupt. Hence, the true problem with the Sky Castle was not that they couldn’t get the materials, but rather that they could not afford them all. Even if they went bankrupt, they could only build half of the Sky Castle.
Hence, while things like magic metals and adamantine might not be expensive, Lin Li did not intend to buy them, because he didn’t want to waste money on things he didn’t need. He felt that it would be better to find something that he really needed or something that could take effect quickly, such as the Divine Sea Pillar that was ready to be installed in the Alchemy Colossus.
With the Divine Sea Pillar, Angelano’s Titan-level Alchemy Colossus could travel smoothly on sea, and exert great combat power when facing the strong and powerful enemies at sea. It was another level of enhanced strength. Although Lin Li was rich, there was a limit to how much he should spend. He wouldn’t spend tens of millions of gold coins on a decorative ornament, and would rather spend on what he really needed.
After browsing through a few stores, Lin Li was more or less disappointed. Although the goods in those stores were good, they would be garbage if he didn’t need them. In fact, the store owners might have lots of resources, but they might not have access to good things all the time. Previously, Hagi was lucky enough to have obtained the two Divine Sea Pillars, but not everyone might be that lucky.
Of course, Lin Li’s trip was not fruitless. After just half a day in the market, he had already spent tens of millions of gold coins. For example, he got some deep-sea blue gold that could be used to create magical accessories. A tiny bit of it would greatly improve the quality of magical accessories, but it was very expensive. There were also some Sea Ghoul Weed, Deep Ocean Lantern Weed, and many other rare herbs that were good for the preparation of certain potions.
Those things were not available only in the Sea Market, but they were just quite rare during other times. Lin Li bought these things just because he happened to come across them, and thought that if he bought them now, he would not have to look for them specifically when needed later. Moreover, after the purchase, Lin Li also obtained the contact details of the store owners so that he could purchase goods directly from them in the future.
The items sold in this market were not particularly outstanding, but it was very difficult to bargain for a cheaper price. Previously, Vincent had paid for the Divine Sea Pillar, but Lin Li paid for his subsequent purchases with real money. After all, there were laws in this market, and the prices had to be kept within a relatively fixed range. Selling them at too high or too low of a price would be breaking the rules of the market.
After shopping at the Gift of the Sea, it was already getting late. Lin Li took Connoris and Angelano back to the embassy of the Tower of Dusk. However, as soon as they walked through the embassy’s doors, they saw that there were already guests waiting inside—waiting for Lin Li. They were none other than Donald and Prince Tory of the Rotterdam Kingdom.
Lin Li couldn’t help but be surprised that they were waiting there because they had previously already met at the market, and if there had been anything up, they could have just talked about it there. There was no need to come here at all. Of course, Lin Li could not voice it out loud. He smiled, and said, “Master Donald, Prince Tory, you’ve been waiting for a long time, huh? I didn’t get to chat more with you guys in the day, I’m really very sorry.”
Although Lin Li and the Rotterdam Kingdom had had a conflict when exploring the Sky Castle previously, Donald and Prince Tory had been rather friendly to Lin Li ever since they arrived in the Gilded Kingdom. Hence, Lin Li naturally didn’t have to be hostile to them.
After seeing Lin Li enter, Donald and Prince Tory frantically stood up. They were not as arrogant as the others of Rotterdam Kingdom. Donald took two steps forward with a smile, and said, “President Felic, you’re being too polite. We’ve just arrived a while ago. Actually, we’ve long wanted to visit, but never had the opportunity. We decided to come here to visit you before the news got out because we saw you at the market today. If we’re any later, we might not have a place to sit anymore.”
[1] It seems like they left the shop and came back haha. Either that, or Hagi went after them to another shop he owns too.
