Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: Hellscythe_
Darkness arrived in God's Domain once more. The lights in White River City shone brilliantly.
After the night had arrived, aside from a small number of experts and elite parties grinding in the fields, the majority of players could only head back to the city to rest.
While it was lively in White River City, the liveliest area, without a doubt, was the Candlelight Trading Firm.
As for the reason behind the Candlelight Trading Firm's popularity, that was due to the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits.
Although the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits were not as powerful as the Basic Mana Armor Kits, the latter was simply too scarce. It could not compete with the large number of Basic Strengthened Armor Kits available at the Candlelight Trading Firm every day.
Inside a high-class bar a short distance from the Candlelight Trading Firm...
Feng Xuanyang sat on the second floor open-air terrace, gazing at the Candlelight Trading Firm with a smile on his face.
"I want to see just how long you can hold out," Feng Xuanyang laughed, his expression clearly displaying his arrogance.
Initially, Feng Xuanyang had been slightly worried that the Candlelight Trading Firm's flourishing business would show no signs of ending. If that were so, it would not be easy to deal with the Firm in the future. However, during the process of poaching the Firm's workers, Feng Xuanyang had discovered a secret, a fatal weakness of the Trading Firm.
And that secret was that only three people in the Trading Firm knew how to produce the Basic Strengthened Armor Kit.
With just three people, it was simply impossible to satisfy the demands of the large number of players in White River City. Even if it were possible, a long time would be required to do so. By then, players would have outgrown their need for the kits.
Knowing this fatal secret, Feng Xuanyang began to spend large sums of money to purchase the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits, buying as many as he could.
First, he wanted to deplete the Candlelight Trading Firm's stockpile. As long as the Firm no longer had any Basic Strengthened Armor Kits remaining, the Firm's popularity would fall and limit its business. Although he had to invest a massive sum of Coins, the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits he bought were not completely useless. On the contrary, they were particularly helpful when raiding Team Dungeons.
Secondly, aside from striving to establish their own Guild Residences, the various Guilds in Star-Moon City also strived to accumulate sufficient money to purchase the city's golden Lands. Other than that, these Guilds were also continuously raiding large-scale Dungeons, improving their Guild's Popularity and equipment.
Meanwhile, other than giving the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits to his own teams, Feng Xuanyang also set aside a portion, selling them to other cities.
There was no Candlelight Trading Firm branch in other cities, so there were no Basic Strengthened Armor Kits available there. With Underworld's channels, Feng Xuanyang had sold these kits to the various Guilds of other cities. When these Guilds saw the kits, they fought tooth and nail to purchase them. As a result, he made a huge profit by reselling the kits.
It was truly killing two birds with one stone. Not only could he deplete the Candlelight Trading Firm's stockpile of armor kits, but he could also profit from reselling them. How could this possibly go wrong?
However, as he celebrated his plan, he had also gained a deep understanding of how fearsome the Candlelight Trading Firm was.
Fortunately, the Candlelight Trading Firm was only in White River City, and there were only three forgers capable of producing the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits. Should the Trading Firm ever resolve these two problems, it could definitely dominate Star-Moon Kingdom's market. At that time, who could possibly compete with the Candlelight Trading Firm?
Feng Xuanyang could not hold back his envy.
"Why isn't the Candlelight Trading Firm mine?" Feng Xuanyang held a deep hatred towards Melancholic Smile.
If the Candlelight Trading Firm had agreed to cooperate, it would have been his possession by now. With the money he could earn through the Trading Firm, his position within Underworld would also soar. At that time, those currently above him would be at his beck and call.
"Hmph. Did you think that, just because you refuse to sell the Trading Firm to me, I would be helpless against you? The Firm will fall into my hands!" Feng Xuanyang could already picture the moment he grasped the rights to the Candlelight Trading Firm, and it would only be a matter of time before all of Underworld's power in Star-Moon Kingdom would fall under his control. At that time, it would be child's play to deal with a Combat Guild like Zero Wing.
Just as Feng Xuanyang enjoyed the wine of victory, a slightly chubby middle-aged man in pompous clothing sat down beside him.
"Young Master Feng, may I know why you have called me here today?" Although the middle-aged man was only Level 10, barely reaching the minimum requirement to enter a city, his body radiated a distinct shrewdness. In particular, those beady little eyes of his greatly resembled that of a wily old fox.
"How is the progress of the task I assigned you?" Feng Xuanyang asked softly.
"Young Master Feng, rest assured, I have already discussed things with many members of the Candlelight Trading Firm. Although only over a dozen or so Advanced Forging Apprentices have officially defected to our side, many have expressed their intentions of doing so. I believe that in the near future, many more Advanced Forging Apprentices will willingly defect to our side. At that time, the Candlelight Trading Firm will show signs of supply shortages. When the Firm's popularity falls, it will become even easier for us to poach its members. If they run out of workers, even with a good Shop and the Basic Strengthened Armor Kits, expansion will be impossible." The middle-aged man chuckled.
"Good, you've done well. As long as you succeed, you will receive your fair share of benefits." Feng Xuanyang nodded with satisfaction.
—
Meanwhile, inside one of the forging rooms of the Candlelight Trading Firm, Melancholic Smile frowned, obviously worried.
Just moments ago, several more Advanced Forging Apprentices had requested to dissolve their contracts. Moreover, these few Advanced Forging Apprentices all held rare forging designs.
Although these people had to pay a compensation fee that was over a dozen times the value of the forging designs they had learned, it was still a massive loss for the Candlelight Trading Firm. It had not been easy for the Firm to get its hands on these forging designs. Without these commodities, how was the Firm supposed to retain its customers?
"Truly despicable. I didn't expect to have nurtured so many traitorous bastards. I should never have let these people learn those forging designs." Melancholic Smile gnashed her teeth. She deeply regretted focusing on these people, supplying them with rare forging designs and allowing them to become Advanced Forging Apprentices so quickly.
Suddenly, Shi Feng opened the door to the forging room and entered. However, due to his silence, by the time Melancholic Smile had noticed him, he already stood right in front of her.
"Guild Leader!" Melancholic Smile called out in surprise. "Why are you here?"
"Look at how distracted you are. Did you encounter some trouble?" Shi Feng asked, laughing.
Shi Feng was in an extremely good mood. After stealing the God Crystal from the Mythic Monster Orc King Tresik and escaping with his life, he had made a beeline for White River City, afraid that the Orc King would catch up to him and finish him off. Now that he had returned to White River City, even if the Orc King did catch up to him, it was impossible for him to invade the city.
"Guild Leader, I'm useless... I failed to live up to your expectations... To think that I have been nurturing so many ungrateful bastards...." Regret filled Melancholic Smile's eyes. Shi Feng had entrusted so many rare forging designs to her and had even repeatedly stressed that she should only let those who were trustworthy to learn them, yet, in the end...
Listening to Melancholic Smile's mumbling, Shi Feng could not help but laugh.
"So, that's what's going on!
"No problem. Although we lost some rare forging designs, haven't we earned several million Credits in return?" Shi Feng smiled calmly. He then took out a wad of forging designs, tossing them onto the stone platform. "Since Overwhelming Smile wishes to poach our Advanced Forging Apprentices who have learned rare forging designs, let them have at it. If they can afford it, let them poach as many members as they want. I welcome them to do so."