Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The hamster and the fish’s discussion was so passionate, it shocked Zheng Dao who was passing by.
‘Since when did Dragon Carp made friends with the hamster, didn’t it used to taunt the hamster about being useless?
‘I really shouldn’t judge a fish by its gills.
‘After all, it came from the Dragon Clan, its heart must be bigger than the ocean.’
In rare moments like this when he did not need to mediate between his colleagues, he was content.
Ever since the people of the Azure Mountain pulled out of the cultivation item trade market, the lunar disaster was approaching, and so the dragon-made pills, artifacts, and formations’ popularity skyrocketed.
Zheng Dao was an understanding and righteous man.
Even though the webshop dominated the top-tier market, Zheng Dao still kept the prices of items in a reasonable range.
Seeing Zheng Dao, Dragon Carp leaped out of the water and greeted him by wagging its tail, “Mister Butler, what are you busy with right now?”
Just as Zheng Dao was getting ready to answer, Vigilante A ambled in, so he greeted him instead.
Fang Ning asked him not to be too formal. He had never been too fond of formalities. Fortunately, most of his followers were animals, so they were not used to it as well.
Dragon Carp was the only exception. It would wag its tail and spout bubbles every time it saw him…
As soon as he appeared, he already noticed the koi spouting bubbles and wagging its tail again…
Zheng Dao said, “Venerable One, I have a report to make.”
Fang Ning sat on his lilac leather couch and finally sighed a sigh of relief.
After flying around for a few days trying to inspect the environment around the Yin Energy arcane realm, he was exhausted.
The air was so terrible there, no humans should even approach it. Even though it could not harm him, he was uncomfortable in the place.
Ever since the System had taken over his body, he had not performed worked for so long continuously…
He motioned Zheng Dao to sit without noticing Dragon Carp’s burning gaze from the marble table.
Zheng Dao did not bother with the formalities. After a whole year of following Vigilante A, he was familiar with the Venerable One’s behavior.
Zheng Dao sat beside Vigilante A and immediately began. “Venerable One, our recent sales were really good, all the items we sell are selling out as soon as they were put on the rack. Many people also asked me for private commissions. Do you think it’s possible to produce more of those?”
Zheng Dao knew how busy Vigilante A was, but the demand was so high, he could not handle them on his own.
Even someone traditional like Ding Xiang would ask him for help occasionally.
Due to the severity of the matter and Vigilante A’s involvement, he had to ask Vigilante A for his instruction.
Fang Ning nodded, indicating his understanding. As the moon was doomed to crash onto Earth, even the Almighty Dragon God had to appear to appease the public.
As chaos neared, military supplies were in high demands.
In the new era, artifacts, herbal pills, and formations all count as military supplies.
The System said in surprise, “This is easy, I know what to do.”
Fang Ning said, unimpressed, “What stupid idea are you thinking about?”
The System retorted, “Why is it my stupid idea? The idea is a human creation, I’m only an imitator. It’s so simple, as soon as we set the price tenfold, we will no longer have the low-supply-high-demand situation…”
Fang Ning have no comeback to that, as that actually happened a lot among human business owners…
However, in the face of danger, can a hero do this?
He explained, “Don’t look at me. This would make you lose business. You’re a heroic system, could you bear the infamy of an opportunistic profiteer? I’m guessing your heroic fame would drop through the earth.”
The System said bitterly, “Hmm, that’s true. What a shame. Wouldn’t it be nice if I was born from one of your business simulation games? You only played a martial-art-based idle game and I was born when it was running…”
Fang Ning was startled hearing that. ‘This was the first time the idiot mentioned its background. Looks like it must have trusted me a lot more than I expected. It never said anything before.
‘As expected, it’s like what I thought, it was born from my martial arts idle game.’
“This is fate… I have played all sorts of games, but I can’t play all of them for a whole day except for the idle game, so of course there’s a higher chance of it being chosen. Sir, just give up.”
After comforting it for a bit, Fang Ning suggested, “I remember you can upgrade your smithy and alchemical cauldron and all those. Your production efficiency could be heightened after upgrading them.”
The System quipped, “Sure, but I don’t have the experience points. Do you want to invest?”
Fang Ning was stunned. “Wow, you no longer talk about borrowing money and had moved on to investing… You’re just trying to con me!”
Fang Ning was not dumb. Things that require a lot of investment without return was no stranger to him. Furthermore, most of the time it was taken from him without any chance for him to protest.
On the other hand, if he lent the money to the System, he might not have regained every cent he lent out, but at least he had an excuse to ask for it.
The System said confidently, “I learned it from you. You did the same thing when you stole my herbal pills.”
Fang Ning could not retaliate. He had been sneaking those pills for himself, and could only accept his defeat as the System held a convincing argument.
He said with his jaw clenched, “How much do you need? Let me make something clear. After my investment, I will have a share in those things. In the future, if I want the pills, I will have them free anytime I want.
“Additionally, you’ll need to listen to your investor and develop some new flavors. I’m bored with your honey flavor ones, come out with some sour ones or salty ones.”
Fang Ning did not like being in an unfavorable position. If he had lost out on something, he would have to regain some benefits from another source. At the end of the day, it was because he could not restrain the System.
The System was not part of him. On the contrary, he was controlled by the System most of the time.
If the System could jump for joy, it would have. “As long as you are willing to invest, I’ll develop whatever flavor you want. I can see that your game book had earned quite a bit of experience recently, and it even saved up forty million experience points.
“You should recall it. Forty million experience points could enable me to upgrade the two places to Intermediate-level, and they could have fifty percent more productivity.”
Fifty percent extra productivity definitely could not satisfy the actual demand, but so what?
The Dragon Clan Honey-flavored Pills were top class consumables, so they were only meant for a few people.
Not only did he not raise the price, he even produced more, that was already pandering to the public.
After all, Fang Ning was never a saint. His true motives were never to serve the public mass…
He only wanted to keep the System from straying from the heroic path, just so he could keep procrastinating.
After stopping the discussion with the System, Fang Ning immediately told Zheng Dao, “Hm, this affects the safety of the public, I can’t not do it.
“If that’s the case, I will raise my production by fifty percent. I’ll let you handle the price, it should maintain the usual price range. I will be strained a little, but I can only do so for the sake of the lives of millions.”
Zheng Dao was moved.
If it were any other bosses, how could they resist the urge to raise the price? Monopoly is power!
Not only did he raised his productivity, he even kept the price. Only a true hero would be able to do it!
Zheng Dao immediately said, “You’re such a virtuous person, I really admire you for that.”
Dragon Carp heard that and could not understand, it muttered, “Hm? Master was totally different from Long Da, Long San, and the others… If it were them, they would’ve increased the price tenfold.”
The white hamster said proudly, “Venerable One had always been a role model in justness. He definitely wouldn’t corner the market like that and take advantage of the dangerous situation. That’s the target I wanted to emulate.”
Dragon Carp looked at Cang Gongzi like he was an idiot.
‘Mm, it was not wrong, it’s enough to have a clever Dragon Carp like me at home…
‘Wait, I have a competition. The yellow dog keeps acting like he’s the boss, and now that he’s working overtime, I have some serious target to hit…
‘That won’t do, I need to show off my intelligence a little.’
Dragon Carp interrupted. “Master, even though your strength was not back at a hundred percent, your pills were still more flawless than those Long San had created.
“I was lucky enough to have a few of those pills, all of them were of the highest quality, as expected of the true Dragon Clan’s production. I think the Dragon Clan’s leader could occasionally produce pills of this quality.
“Since that’s the case, we shouldn’t waste the precious items. What we should do is to raise the selling price tenfold so it could match the fame of the Dragon Clan.”
The System was even more depressed after hearing that. “As I thought, every advantage will come with its own disadvantages. Can I, a heroic system, fit a profiteer system within me?”
Fang Ning gave it a thought and proposed, “We can actually solve this easily. Keep the price of the existing ones, start selling some new things of higher quality, and price them ten times the price of the original ones. That would conform to ethical business practice so no one would say that we’re making money out of others’ misery.”
The System was ecstatic. “You are a genius! I recall now, humans do that for their pharmaceutical sales as well, aren’t they?”
Fang Ning ignored it and told Zheng Dao his ideas.
As soon as Zheng Dao heard the news of a new line of herbal pills, he was thrilled. It meant that the Venerable One’s business would be expanded. As for the higher pricing, that was a natural progression.
It was normal for items that were slightly better to have an exponentially higher price, the best example being in-game equipment.
After finishing with the webshop, Fang Ning let the System take over his body again while he went back to his games.
Zheng Dao left as well.
At this point, Dragon Carp stared at the white hamster, signaling it to speak.
Cang Gongzi mentioned having Dragon Carp as assistant to Vigilante A. Fang Ning immediately agreed.
He was lazy to think anymore. ‘Dragon Carp wouldn’t do anything bad… Sir System is looking after it anyway.’
Dragon Carp was excited. It wanted to start showing its skills in hoarding mounds of treasures again.
It knew its new master loathed vice. However, gifts were normal for human interactions, so they would not count as a vice. Besides, it would help with the work, so it was fair for it to receive some compensation.
…
A nameless mountain somewhere in Southeast China.
In the southeast, summers were harsh. The trees were almost shriveling in the heat.
An unremarkable-looking thirty-something man appeared.
Who could it be aside from Gu Buwei from the Azure Mountain?
A few months had passed since anyone had heard about them. Supposedly, they were closing their door and were prepared to move their arcane realm. Their dispatch of disciples once again was confounding, to say the least.
Gu Buwei was alone this time, not having any juniors following him. He lifted his head to look at the sky and saw white clouds hovering above, as well as a single gray cloud.
“Rain is coming, as expected.”
He mumbled and then disappeared.
Not long after he left, a downpour spilled over the area. Countless trees sprung to life and swayed happily in the rain.
