End of the Magic Era

On the other hand, with enough samples, especially the brand-new ones, Dick immediately let the Lincoln Business Alliance’s alchemists do experiments.

Dick’s hands shivered when he got the result of the experiments…

“Lord Dick, we have to get the Universal Cores, which can improve our magic tools by 48% in general!

“The Spiritual Magic Tools, which are the most profitable, have been improved most significantly. Damn it. The cores are applicable to most Spiritual Magic Tools. They can improve the popular Spiritual Magic Tools, except the special ones, by 62% on average!

“By 62%!

“If we have the cores, the suckers of the Roosevelt Business Alliance will be left far behind!”

An alchemist spoke to Dick excitedly. Dick, however, read the experiment report with unfocused eyes…

The Spiritual Magic Tools weren’t the most expensive, and didn’t have the biggest sales, but they were the most profitable!

Even a 10% improvement in magic tools could make them crush other magic tools of the same kind, not to mention a 62% improvement!

In the Sten Kingdom where the competition was fierce, it meant absolute domination!

The winner took all, and the loser had nothing. It was nothing unusual in the Sten Kingdom.

“Also, this must be a new material that the Gilded Rose has discovered. We can’t find any similar materials in our labs. They must’ve found it in a certain plane.

“Without the material, there won’t be anything we can do even if we get the technology.

“Lord Dick, we must strike a deal with the Gilded Rose! The Universal Core can bring forth a 5% to 30% improvement if it’s applied to True Spirit Magic Tools.

“We must get the supply of the Universal Cores ahead of the idiots of the Roosevelt Business Alliance!

“If they get the cores, the Lincoln Business Alliance will probably be suppressed. We might even lose our position in the Upper Parliament…”

Dick was quite frightened. As an alchemist, he was fully aware of the significance of the data.

He jumped from his seat, and rushed out straight to the Gilded Rose.

Entering the Gilded Rose and meeting Lin Yun, who seemed casual and poised, Dick finally calmed down.

Damn it. He was already prepared to be taken advantage of by the Gilded Rose. If the Gilded Rose was satisfied, the Lincoln Business Alliance would gain profits 10 times greater.

He would accept any of the Gilded Rose’s terms as long as they agreed to cooperate with the Lincoln Business Alliance…

“Sir Merlin, I’ve come again with absolute sincerity. I hope that we can cooperate with the Gilded Rose regarding the Universal Core.”

Lin Yun turned him down quickly.

“Sir Dick, I’m sure that you are aware of the insufficient productivity of the Universal Cores…”

Dick remained solemn, as if he didn’t hear any of that.

“Sir Merlin, we’re not asking for technological cooperation, just purchase cooperation. I know that the Gilded Rose’s offer for bulk purchases is 50,000 purple gold, but the Lincoln Business Alliance can pay 53,000 purple gold!

“We will purchase 600,000 Universal Cores every year. We can even share the Lincoln Business Alliance’s connections and sales network in the Odin Kingdom…”

Dick solemnly proposed a lot of conditions that were all in favor of the Gilded Rose.

Besides the higher price, the Gilded Rose’s chance of using the Lincoln Business Alliance’s connections in the Odin Kingdom was even more useful. With the connections that the Lincoln Business Alliance had set up for years, the recent slander incidents wouldn’t have happened.

It wouldn’t have taken the Gilded Rose such a long time to figure out someone was conspiring against it, or investigate who the suspect was.

With the shared sales network, the Gilded Rose’s expansion would be easier. At least, it would be on steady ground in the Odin Kingdom. Not everybody would be able to plot against it.

There wouldn’t be so many slanderers. No mobsters would come to the Gilded Rose’s branches for trouble again…

Dick went on, yet Lin Yun simply considered it with his head lowered, deep in thought.

Lin Yun didn’t show any reaction, and Dick panicked.

Damn it. When the idiots of the Roosevelt Business Alliance tried to take down the Gilded Rose, he was just watching the drama. He wouldn’t even have noticed the Gilded Rose had it not been for them.

He didn’t expect that the Universal Cores were as effective as, no, even more effective than they were said to be. If the idiots of the Roosevelt Business Alliance succeeded, then the Lincoln Business Alliance would be in big trouble.

If the Lincoln Business Alliance was suppressed, and lost its seat in the Upper Parliament, it would be a lot harder if the Lincoln Business Alliance wanted to pass any motion.

By then, the president would definitely strangle Dick, and then turn his soul into a soul lamp that would burn for 10,000 years…

Dick was quite panicked, but he waited quietly without changing his expression.

There was a fixed number of seats in the Upper Parliament of the Sten Kingdom. However, some business alliances had one seat, and some had five or even more. All motions required voting. One more seat meant a better chance of having the motion passed.

Losing one seat didn’t seem to affect the Lincoln Business Alliance too severely. However, it was a signal of decline, and the Lincoln Business Alliance’s supporters might stop supporting it.

The chain reaction would definitely be a huge trouble for the business alliance…

Lin Yun was silent for five minutes, and Dick couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Sir Merlin, if you have other requests, just tell me. We will accept them as long as we can. We’ll consider them even if it’s hard for us to accept…”

Lin Yun heaved a sigh and looked at Dick, as if he were feeling awkward.

“Sir Dick, I’m deeply touched by the Lincoln Business Alliance’s sincerity. Since you’ve shown so much sincerity, the Gilded Rose must do something no matter how hard it is.

“You asked for 600,000 Universal Cores a year. That’s even more than our productivity in a whole year.

“I’ll talk to other partners. I believe I can convince them to spare some of their quota. I think the most I can offer you is 60,000 Universal Cores a year.

“After all, the raw materials are very hard to get. Even I was almost killed when I tried to get the materials. I suffered heavy losses too…”

Hearing that, Dick was immediately enlightened.

It was said that Merlin was already on the fourth level of the Heaven Rank. Even his life was at risk. He had surely found the materials in a very dangerous plane.

No wonder the Lincoln Business Alliance had never found the materials, which had to be from an advanced plane. Those people had definitely accidentally found the path to another plane. The materials might even be around the path!

After figuring that out, Dick gave up the thought of finding the materials. If the plane was dangerous even for a level-4 Heaven Rank expert, he couldn’t possibly get materials from there even if he knew where the plane was.

“Sir Merlin, 60,000 is too few. How about 150,000?”

Lin Yun shook his head, and didn’t give in.

Several minutes later, Lin Yun was still not giving in, and Dick got more and more anxious. He considered what the Gilded Rose needed.

After thinking for a long time, Dick suddenly remembered that the Gilded Rose came from Andlusa, and that it had been opening branches crazily since it came to the Odin Kingdom.

Immediately, Dick came up with an idea, and blurted it out without much thinking.

“The Lincoln Business Alliance can help the Gilded Rose open branches in the Sten Kingdom!”

But Dick regretted the moment he said it—the price was too high. Almost all the alchemy businesses of the Sten Kingdom were controlled by business alliances. If the Gilded Rose came, the Lincoln Business Alliance would infuriate a lot of people for helping it…

Dick was losing it, but Lin Yun retained his rationality. If the Gilded Rose were to start a branch in the Sten Kingdom and develop as it did in the Odin Kingdom, it would definitely go bankrupt in a month even with the Lincoln Business Alliance’s help.

Recklessly jumping into the Sten Kingdom’s business world would cause fierce resistance. It was better to do things one step at a time.

“Sir Dick, you must be kidding. If the Gilded Rose opens branches in the Sten Kingdom, many people will be angry with the Lincoln Business Alliance, right?

“However, that’s truly a tempting offer. How about this? I’ll give you another 20,000 Universal Cores, and the Lincoln Business Alliance will help the Gilded Rose open one branch in the Sten Kingdom in return.

“The branch will sell potions only. Let’s open it in the City of Angels, shall we?

“In such a case, nobody will be in trouble, right?”

Dick was so moved that he almost shed tears.

Just one branch? And it would only sell potions? It meant that the Universal Cores wouldn’t be sold in the Sten Kingdom.

Also, the branch was to be established in the City of Angels, which was a sh*thole of scumbags and evil mages?

Dick didn’t know what to say. He quickly accepted the agreement of cooperation.

For the 80,000 Universal Cores that the Gilded Rose fetched from other partners, the Lincoln Business Alliance didn’t pay a higher price than others, and didn’t get into any trouble.

Nobody would blame the Lincoln Business Alliance for helping a foreign business to establish a branch in the City of Angels, which wasn’t controlled by any business alliance. Almost all foreign stores were established there.

There were no laws in that place. Whoever had the strongest fist was the lawmaker. As long as they paid tax on time, they could open any kind of store they wanted.

After signing the contract, Dick guiltily took out an iced fruit.

“Sir Merlin, I can’t thank you enough. I feel sorry that the Gilded Rose has to fetch cores from other partners. This Floating Fruit is yours. It’s a symbol of my gratitude. You must accept it.”

Then, he gave the Floating Fruit to Lin Yun, not to be fused, before he left without looking back.

Lin Yun looked at Dick’s back, feeling guilty too.

Had he completely fooled that guy? Was that guy really a director of the Lincoln Business Alliance? It was a miracle that he hadn’t been killed in a trap yet…

The man had offered a Floating Fruit, which indicated the wealth of the Lincoln Business Alliance. They were probably already extending their business to other planes.

The Floating Fruit grew in the void on the mana brought by the void storms. It couldn’t have been easy to get…

Every Floating Fruit Tree was guarded by powerful void beasts. The Lincoln Business Alliance had surely gotten the fruit from the locals of a certain plane, who didn’t know the value of the fruit.

Putting away the Floating Fruit, Lin Yun couldn’t help but smile.

The Floating Fruit would be very popular in the future. It was the spatial mages’ favorite. The mages who hadn’t grasped laws of space wouldn’t benefit much from it. They could only open Spatial Gates faster if they had the fruit.

However, the spatial mages who had learned laws of space could obtain the pieces of laws in the Floating Fruit, which could help them understand the laws of space.

Also, it was extremely difficult for the fruit to grow. It required a desperately huge amount of mana, and couldn’t grow in any plane. Only in the void that was frequented by void or elemental storms could the Floating Fruit grow…

However, it was possible for the fruit to grow in natural Demiplanes.

Lin Yun unfroze the fruit and ate it. He then buried its seed in the lake of mana in his Demiplane. He even specifically dug out a canal for the seed.

With the abundant mana, the seed would definitely sprout and grow better than in the void. The pure and sufficient mana was much better than the mana brought by void storms. The tree that the seed grew into would contain more complete pieces of laws.

After having the fruit, he immediately perceived a few more spatial runes, but the effect wasn’t very significant. Obviously, the fruit hadn’t grown up in the best environment.

There was no telling how long it would take for the fruit tree to grow up. Lin Yun simply set up a protection array and left it aside.

He went away and created more Black Pattern Silver for the Universal Cores.

On the other hand, Dick, who had returned in a hurry after signing the contract, thought carefully after he calmed down, and realized something else.

Sir Merlin had to know that the Gilded Rose could hardly stand in the Sten Kingdom even with the help of the Lincoln Business Alliance, and that the only solution was to start a branch in the City of Angels.

The most likely way to succeed was to stabilize its position in the City of Angels, and then spread out. He had to be tempted, but he knew it might not work out. That was why he chose the City of Angels.

He promised to sell alchemy potions only. It was probably also for the Lincoln Business Alliance, a partner…

What a good man. He was a pure alchemist, not a businessman. Only such a person could’ve developed the Universal Core, the groundbreaking product that changed the architecture of current magic tools…

To ensure his partners’ interests and his credit, he declined their cooperation invitation again and again. It seemed that the agreement came too easy. They should make it up to Sir Merlin.

They would give him the best location in the City of Angels for his branch. Well, they could also give something to the master of the City of Angels so that it would look after the Gilded Rose.

The people of the Roosevelt Business Alliance were idiots. Sir Merlin was such a nice person. They could’ve sought cooperation with him instead of scheming against him.

Humph. Sir Merlin was certainly not a person to be intimated. He would rather stop selling the products than give in. Did those idiots see that the Lincoln Business Alliance had won the biggest deal for showing sincerity?

When the Lincoln Business Alliance got the Universal Cores, the idiots of the Roosevelt Business Alliance would definitely regret. One of their seats in the Upper Parliament would be taken away by the Lincoln Business Alliance!

Seven days later, Lin Yun embarked on an airship to the Sten Kingdom along with Dick, bringing 10,000 Universal Cores with him.

80,000 a year meant no more than 7,000 per month, yet Lin Yun carried 10,000 on the first delivery. Dick was touched again, and mocked the Roosevelt Business Alliance for their stupidity.

During the seven days, Lin Yun had specifically created a magic tool to find the skeleton plane. It took him three days to reach the Sten Kingdom on the airship.

He found himself in a completely different world when he arrived. He saw a snowy world where there was nothing but whiteness.

It was not until they almost reached the City of Angels that he saw a clear boundary from the sky.

Half of the land was a desert, and the other half was covered with snow. The world seemed to be divided into halves. Located on the boundary was a city that was 10 kilometers long and wide. There was not a living creature or even a blade of grass near the city. It was desolate.

From the high sky, they could see that many people were fighting not far away from the city. Soon, the battle was over, and broken bodies were left on the ground. Soon after the fighters left, a necromancer came with a few undead creatures, and took away all the bodies.

At least five similar things were happening around the city at the same time. Battles rarely stopped within several dozen kilometers of the city.

Dick looked out of the window with an awkward expression…

“Sir Merlin, the City of Angels… is indeed a bit chaotic. However, those idiots know what kind of people they can offend and what kind they can’t. Nobody will be stupid enough to provoke you.

“As long as you show your strength, the Gilded Rose’s branch will be safe here. Also, it will be much more profitable here than other places.

“It’s because there are no ordinary people. All residents here are mages and swordsmen. There are even a lot of other races living here…”

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