Chapter 964 Hand It Over
Because the Frost Ape was at a higher level and its defenses were outstanding, apart from her Frost Breath and some advanced Draconic Spells, Reina’s ordinary ice spells had almost no effect against it. Although she had said nothing, during the chase, Reina’s anger had reached a critical point. She was about to explode after it was snatched by someone.
“Scoundrel, you dare to take Uncle Enderfa’s prey? Die, you’ll all die! Merlin, let’s get rid of them and grab all their True Spirit Magic Tools…”
Enderfa’s three faces distorted. After chasing for a few hours, his prey was suddenly snatched away. He felt that he was going to explode and wanted to rip those people apart.
A fire was ignited within the group. At that time, a man in his thirties walked out from the other side. He was wearing a purple robe that was weaved from the highest quality materials, and some runes and patterns were formed during the weaving process. This added some enchantments and runes to turn the robe into a powerful defensive magic tool.
There were as many as five magic shields enchanted on the robe, as well as a few spells used to flee, all of which were 6th Tier Spells. There were also two Flight Spells enchanted onto it.
Thus, this magic robe would certainly be considered quite magnificent. Moreover, the three rings he wore were emitting formidable mana fluctuations, showing that they were at least Spiritual Magic Tools.
Lin Yun recognized this guy. He was one of the bosses of the Henry Family.
The Henry Family started out as a business, and in order to avoid having too much power in one hand, which might lead to some poor decisions, the family decided to never have a patriarch. Instead, they had at least three top bosses, and all stores had at least two managers. This time, entering the Raging Flame Battlefield was naturally considered a major event, so they sent out two bosses.
The one before them was called Morgan Henry.
Morgan’s face had the bright smile of a businessman. He spoke loudly with a surprised expression and an exaggerated tone while keeping the grace of a nobleman, not at all resembling a nouveau riche that had risen to prominence within the past millennium.
“Eh? Isn’t this Sir Mafa Merlin? Such a coincidence! How come you are here? Were you chasing that Frost Ape? Oh, damn, I was puzzled just now as to why that Frost Ape was covered in scars and was so easily killed, I’m truly sorry.”
There was a trace of annoyance as well as a trace of regret on Morgan Henry’s face. He really seemed sincere.
At this time, even the most bad-tempered Xiuban didn’t know what to say and lowered Carnage. He still glared at Morgan Henry unhappily.
“Sir Morgan Henry, this is quite a coincidence! This Frost Ape was indeed chased by us. We have been fighting that guy for a very long time and chased him for several dozen kilometers,” Lin Yun answered in a nonchalant manner.
Morgan put his hand on his forehead and offered a sincere apology. “I’m really sorry, Sir Mafa Merlin, we really didn’t see you! We only saw an injured Frost Ape rushing over from the distance, and we couldn’t let go of that kind of opportunity, so we acted before thinking.
“Please believe me, our Henry Family absolutely didn’t plan on snatching your Frost Ape. This was just a misunderstanding. Since it’s the prey you have been chasing for a very long time, it should naturally be given to you. We don’t want that Frost Ape’s corpse, so you can take it away.
“Finally, let me apologize for our recklessness on behalf of my Family. I hope that next time we see each other, we can have the opportunity to cooperate.”
There was a warm smile on Morgan’s face, and no one could detect any shortcomings. This was the Henry Family’s rule: Treat any potential customer with enough courtesy, even if they are enemies. As long as they were meeting someone that could become a customer of the Henry Family, they should smile brightly.
Lin Yun had a strange smile at Morgan’s sincere attitude and casually nodded.
Lin Yun’s subordinates also calmed down. Xiuban fiercely raised Carnage and said with a proud expression, “You are tactful. No one dares to snatch Lord Xiuban’s prey…”
Morgan casually chatted with Lin Yun for a few moments, his few sentences regarding buying the materials and promoting the Henry Family’s magic items.
Seeing Lin Yun’s subordinates already starting to process the body of the Frost Ape, Morgan could only regretfully say, “Sir Mafa Merlin, I hope you can carefully consider my proposals. Our Henry Family can get a hold of anything in Noscent. You can look for our Henry Family as long as there is a suitable price.
“We still have to continue exploring, so I won’t disturb you any longer. See you at a later time!”
After saying so, Morgan flew towards the airship, a hint of pride flashing within his eyes as he turned around.
‘A bunch of fools… We’ll be nowhere to be seen by the time you figure out that the mana crystal of the Frost Ape is already gone. Will you still be able to catch up then? Would you dare to falsely frame us then?
‘So lucky, I was unexpectedly able to obtain that kind of mana crystal so easily…’
Morgan had yet to reach the airship when a loud exclamation came from the ground.
“The mana crystal is nowhere to be found? There is no mana crystal!” a mage gathering materials loudly shouted. At that time, Morgan’s expression changed. He hadn’t expected Lin Yun’s subordinates to collect the mana crystal first.
Usually, when collecting materials from a magic beast, one would first collect the fur, skin, or hide before draining the blood of the magic beast. This was especially the case for a Heaven Rank Magic Beast because its blood contained formidable power. The blood of the Frost Ape was a top-grade material that could be used as special ink for arrays or for ice-attributed magic scrolls. Then, it would be the flesh and bones, before finishing with the mana crystal.
That was the best way to maximize the value of the Frost Ape’s corpse. Gathering the mana crystal first definitely wasn’t best, as it would make the value of the corpse decrease by a quarter. Based on the value of a Heaven Rank Magic Beast, a quarter would be a huge loss.
‘Damn, how could these country bumpkins act so recklessly? That processing method can’t produce the best value of that Frost Ape’s corpse. Such a huge loss… It wouldn’t meet the standard of the lowest gatherer of the Henry Family. Country bumpkins are indeed country bumpkins. The people of the Andlusa Kingdom are just a bunch of country bumpkins…’
Morgan inwardly scolded them, but he couldn’t just leave now. If he had stealthily stolen the Frost Ape’s mana crystal and left, he would have been able to deny it the next time they met. But since the missing mana crystal had been discovered already, if they left first, it would be the same as admitting that they stole it.
This wasn’t good for the sake of the Henry Family’s reputation. As a merchant force, their reputation was very important, and would directly affect their wealth.
After hesitating, Morgan didn’t immediately depart. Although that mana crystal was important, it wasn’t as important as the Henry Family’s reputation.
On the ground, the gathering mages immediately spread out and searched several times, but they couldn’t find the Frost Ape’s mana crystal. They then all looked at Morgan.
“No wonder you returned the Frost Ape so generously! Turns out you stole the Frost Ape’s mana crystal. Hand it over!” Xiuban glared as he roared at Morgan.
Morgan seemed to be at a loss, and he then spread out his hands.
“Mana crystal? What mana crystal? Eh, heavens, you don’t think I harvested the mana crystal of the Frost Ape, do you? This must be a huge misunderstanding. How could this be? You should carefully look for it.
“I was discussing with your leader whether we could purchase the Frost Ape’s mana crystal and the heart blood. Don’t tell me that the mana crystal disappeared? This is impossible, absolutely impossible.
“We would welcome it if you were willing to let us purchase it, but saying that we took the Frost Ape’s mana crystal would injure our friendship.”
Morgan looked quite helpless and puzzled. His acting looked quite convincing.
Lin Yun stood behind with a strange smile. This whole time, he hadn’t said a word. The last time they encountered the Crimson Firefox, they had figured that the mana crystal was the strangest part, so when meeting a similar magic beast, the first thing they tried to gather was naturally the mana crystal.
Xiuban swung Carnage twice, baring his fangs as he looked at Morgan.
“Damned scoundrel, I didn’t think you looked like a good person. Your smile is too fake! Turns out you were a thief! Hand over the mana crystal or I’ll make you taste the flavor of Uncle Xiuban’s Carnage. I’m very willing to shatter all your bones,” Xiuban loudly threatened.
Down below, Kurumu, who was in charge of collecting materials, looked perfectly calm.
“Sir Morgan, this kind of joke makes no sense. Besides us, you are the only one here. We just touched the body of the Frost Ape and there are no mana crystals. There is only one possibility, which is that someone already gathered it. Moreover, there are traces of tampering. It clearly had just been gathered.
“During that time, only your people had the opportunity to come into contact with the Frost Ape’s corpse. It’s only a mana crystal, so if you want it, you can discuss it with Sir Merlin, but a despicable action like stealing is really too disgraceful.
“Could it be that the honor of one of the Odin Kingdom’s six forces able to enter the Raging Flame Battlefield is only worth a Level 40 mana crystal?
“Sir Morgan, please hand over the mana crystal and we can act as if this never happened.”
Kurumu remained calm, neither servile nor overbearing as he said those words, but Morgan’s expression suddenly changed. That had a lot more effect than Xiuban’s threat.
As long as Kurumu said anything, it would spread that the Henry Family’s honor was only worth as much as a Level 40 mana crystal. They would definitely become a laughingstock. All those hostile Families would never let that joke disappear.
Xiuban waved Carnage while continuously roaring, “Hand over the mana crystal, I’ll give you ten seconds. Otherwise, Uncle Xiuban will be angry. I’m even afraid of myself when I’m angry. One, two, three, five, seven…”
Enderfa controlled the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel as his three faces roared together, “Hand over the mana crystal or don’t blame us for being rude. Damned b*stard, no wonder you acted so magnanimous and tried to leave that fast! Turns out you wanted to run after stealthily stealing the mana crystal.”
They all knew that the mana crystal appeared to be hiding some secrets and that many people were fighting over it, so it should be even more valuable than the Frost Ape’s corpse.
Under normal circumstances, the most valuable part of the Frost Ape should have been the blood from its heart. Ape-type magic beasts had very rare bloodlines that could be extracted by alchemists and fused with the bloodline power of swordsmen.
