“Hey, did you guys hear? Master Antonio’s disciple became the Sword Saint’s disciple last night.”
“Hey, your news is outdated. I heard that that youth not only became the Sword Saint’s disciple but also had a fight with the Sword Saint! I don’t know if you guys saw the chaotic phenomenon in the sky last night, but it seemed like there was a huge sword-shaped country colliding with an illusory country hidden in the clouds. That momentum! I was drinking in front of the tavern and nearly wet my pants.”
That was a tavern on the main road of the royal city. A few drunkards in the tavern were bragging about what they saw last night.
“Just keep bragging. When the vision appeared in the sky last night, you were clearly lying on the ground, drunk as a skunk. How could you possibly know what happened outside?”
When the few drunkards were bragging excitedly, suddenly, a fat man walked forward with vigorous steps, holding a plate in front of them. He placed the red wine on the plate in front of everyone, “Here, that is the red wine you asked for. It costs ten gold coins per bottle.”
“Statham, is the shop owner telling the truth? Were you drunk last night? Are you lying to us?”
“Also, is the red wine made of gold, or is the tray made of gold? Why is the wine so expensive? Ten gold coins? Is that tavern robbing us?”
Some of his companions questioned the person who was bragging just now, and some stared at the red wine the boss brought over with puzzled expressions.
The drunkard named Statham’s face immediately flushed red, and he awkwardly changed the topic. “Don’t listen to the boss’ nonsense. I was drunk last night, but I woke up to pee. When I went to the toilet, I saw a strange phenomenon outside! Speaking of which, I got drunk yesterday because of that wine. I’ve drunk the wine from that shop before—it was so expensive, but the taste was mediocre. Today, I don’t know why, but a batch of good wine must have arrived. The taste is not inferior to the ten-year-old wine from the Lafite Winery, and it’s only ten gold coins.”
“Really? Let me have a taste.”
“Oh my god, it’s really delicious.”
The owner of the tavern walked to the counter. At that moment, several waiters bowed respectfully. “Boss Donder.”
It was a bald man in luxurious clothes, and he looked like the owner of the tavern. He also had a flattering smile on his face.
“I wonder if Boss Donder is satisfied with the tavern’s business?”
The man dressed up as the boss was the owner of the Three-legged Cat tavern, Donder. Just last night, Watson had unified the Severed Fingers across the royal city. Because of his contact with Watson, Donder had been the first to cooperate with him. After the meeting, Count Gray appointed him as the vice-commander. He was responsible for the transfer of goods between the various taverns, pricing, and management.
At that moment, Donder came to one of the Severed Fingers Gang’s tavern. The owner was originally just an ordinary member with the Severed Fingers Gang. As per Watson’s new policy, that member did not commit murder and arson, his background was clean, so he replaced the original owner.
“Boss Donder, I have a question. Should I ask it?”
“Go ahead.”
“The red wine that Black Emperor made is not inferior to Lafite Winery’s ten-year-old red wine in terms of quality and texture. Normally, it is very normal for such wine to be sold for around 500 gold coins. Why did you only set a price of ten gold coins? That is equivalent to selling it at the price of raw materials.”
Donder chuckled in response to the question, “I wonder if you’ve heard of the concept of small profits but high sales?
“Even though selling goods at the price of ten gold coins would cause a huge loss of profits, in the long run, that is a good thing. Previously, the goods we severed our fingers obtained through illegal channels. Furthermore, we used to have many substandard goods, which caused many people to be biased against our goods. Since the Black Emperor wants to turn Severed Fingers from an underground force into an above-ground force, it’s necessary to improve his reputation.”
“As long as we have a good reputation, we will have a steady stream of income!
“For example, our wine is the same as wine from the Lafite Winery. Lafite winery sells for 500 gold coins, and we only sell it for 10 gold coins. Which side do you think the noblemen or even the civilian merchants will choose to buy from?”
As Donder spoke, he sat down on the chair at the counter, raised his legs, and placed them high on the counter. He tapped his round belly with his five fingers. “Even if there are still people who suspect that the wine produced by the Severed Fingers Gang is mixed wine, it’s hard to guarantee that they won’t buy our wine when the price difference is fifty times. As long as those people try and know how good we are, we can slowly raise the price, and they’ll be able to accept it! “I’m tired of saying so much. Go, get me a bottle of 20-year-old fusion red wine. Usually, it’s hard to find a bottle of that year’s red wine even if you spend a lot of money. But now, we can drink that wine as we please.”
“Yes, Boss Donder.”
After the waiter went to do his bidding, he quickly took the red wine, poured it into a crystal-like glass, and put a piece of ice in it.
He picked up the glass and took a sip. Donder leaned comfortably on the chair and moaned.
It had been many years since he had experienced such a comfortable feeling. There was no pain in his body, and he did not have to worry about drinking bad wine to death. He also had to send people to deal with it. It had to be said that doing business in the open was much better than doing it in secret.
“Black Emperor has given us all these things.”
In the beginning, he was full of fear toward Watson, but now there was only gratitude and joy in his heart. If not for Watson, he might not have known that he could make a huge profit without relying on illegal means. His life could be so wonderful.
Putting down his glass, Donder looked around the tavern, which was several times fuller than usual.
“Boss, get me a glass of red wine.”
“Boss, two more bottles of red wine. I want to bring them home.”
He could not help but smile; that was just the beginning. In the future, that place would only become better. He firmly believed in Watson’s ability.
After all, it was the first time he had become the disciple of both Antonio and the Sword Saint in the kingdom.
After the meeting last night, even though many high-ranking officials of the Severed Fingers Gang, who had committed crimes, were removed, the other regular members did not cooperate to help sell the blended wine and weapons. After all, Watson’s plan to change the gang’s structure was difficult for them—those people were a little lost and could not see the future. It was not until a little later that they learned that Watson had become the Sword Saint’s disciple.
One might debate about the most respected person in the capital—Antonio or the King. However, everyone would agree that the Sword Saint was the strongest person there. There was no doubt about it.
Watson’s good fortune to become the disciples of those two people simultaneously meant that the Severed Fingers Gang would have their support. That made the ordinary members of the Severed Fingers Gang, who had been slacking off earlier, feel like they were on steroids. With the help of those two important figures, it seemed like they could do any trade they desired.
“Speaking of which, Black Emperor is truly outstanding. Not only does he have outstanding talent in terms of strength, but his intelligence also far surpasses that of an ordinary adult. It’s hard to imagine that he’s a 12 or 13-year-old child. It seems that there really is a genius in that world.”
In the past, Donder did not believe in geniuses. He felt that the difference between people was only due to their learning and hard work. The fact that a person with a crippled leg could become the boss of a three-legged cat pub was the best proof, but he had changed his mind.
“According to the intelligence from my subordinates, the other leaders outside the capital have received the news of our internal shuffle and are on their way back. They are expected to arrive by tomorrow at the latest. I heard that there are a few troublemakers among those leaders. I wonder how Black Emperor will convince those guys by then? However, he is Black Emperor, after all. He must have prepared a complete countermeasure.”
..
“Watson, raise your hand when you swing your sword. Only when the space for your muscles to move is large enough can the power of your swordsmanship be unleashed! At the same time, your heart should move along with the sword. Your heart should follow the sword, but your eyes should not move along with the sword. That will only let your enemies see through your thoughts in advance. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Master. I understand.”
Watson was in the Sword Saint’s courtyard. He was on an empty training ground made of rocks. He was wearing a training suit and holding a wooden sword. Under Reid’s guidance, he swung the sword violently. Drops of sweat slid down Watson’s forehead.
Samuel and eight people in training suits, whom he had met the previous day, stood near him. Two of them were the men who had fought with Watson.
Sword Saint Reid had eight disciples, and Watson was the ninth. At that moment, other than Watson, the others were all waving their wooden swords in unison. Their eyes were filled with envy and hatred as they looked at Watson.
“When Master taught us, he always told us to practice on our own. None of that one-on-one tutoring! Furthermore, Master’s tone when teaching Watson was also different from when he spoke to us. It was too gentle.”
Someone could not help but ridicule the situation.
“Don’t you know that Watson is Master Antonio’s disciple? How could Master not give him the due respect?”
“Oh, so he has a connection.”
“What connection? If you don’t know anything about that, then don’t talk nonsense. That young man came here last night. At that time, Eldest Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother, and Third Senior Brother performed platinum-tier fighting techniques together, but they were not a match for that young man. In the end, Master was the one who defeated him. Master said that that young man is a diamond-tier elite!”
“Is that true?”
“Of course, it’s true. I saw it when I was hiding in my room yesterday. By the way, you guys did not know about the big commotion last night?”
“It’s not like you don’t know how strict Master is. He swings his wooden sword at least 100,000 times a day. It took me at least 20 hours to finish that and other training. I’m so tired every day that I definitely can’t get up, let alone fight. We probably won’t even wake up from an earthquake. However, it’s a pity to miss a diamond-tier battle because of that. If there’s such an opportunity again, you must wake me up.”
“Training time. No small talk. All of you are here to train.”
The disciples were about to continue chatting when Samuel, who was at the head of the group, suddenly turned his head and glared at them fiercely. That caused those people to keep quiet out of fear.
Samuel looked back with a complicated expression. The news of the three of them losing to Watson last night had spread in the Sword Saint courtyard, causing him to lose his dignity, which he was trying his best to regain in front of Watson. In his opinion, it was not impossible.
Watson was very strong, but that was in the field of magic. In terms of swordsmanship, Watson could not be too strong since he wanted to acknowledge Reid as his teacher. If he suppressed his strength before Watson learned too much, he might have a chance to win in a simple sword fight.
Samuel could not help but look in Watson’s direction. He saw Watson displaying a platinum-tier sword technique to Reid.
“Platinum-tier sword technique, Light and Darkness Reincarnation Sword! Master, may I ask if I performed that move correctly?”
Hmm?
A big question mark appeared above Samuel’s head.
Watson had only learned the basic Heart Follows the Sword and the Eye and the Sword techniques from Reid. When did Watson start performing platinum-tier techniques? Did he miss anything when he was daydreaming?
