Chapter 148: The Baron’s motivations, gathering and discussion [Please subscribe]
The Snake Man’s attitude is very respectful, but his tone is neither humble nor overbearing.
He calls Ophelia Miss Axl.
This is a slightly distant way of addressing someone.
Using the surname "Axo" as a prefix instead of calling her Miss Ophelia.
This is a small detail that represents a difference in the attitude of the addresser.
However, both methods of address can be used in common.
Information about this aspect was also found by Chen Xuan in the book "Naroya Grand View".
He remained silent and did not speak the whole time, watching the snake-man housekeeper and Ophelia maintain a distance from each other as they talked.
In less than two minutes, the snake man who had completed the invitation bowed and left the tent.
Chen Xuan looked at his thick and powerful snake-shaped lower limbs curiously.
It is really strange that many ethnic groups live side by side in the continent of Naroa.
There are so many strange and strange alien races that can be seen in the borders of the human kingdom.
If I had the opportunity to go to those clan territories or foreign tribes in the future, wouldn't I be able to see a completely different civilization?
After waiting for half a minute, Ophelia reopened the various magic circles arranged in the camp.
Arranging a semi-permanent magic circle as a building protection is a very common protective measure in Naroa.
It can not only enhance the privacy of conversations here, but also prevent enemies from launching surprise attacks.
A large magic shield can withstand external attacks for a period of time, giving those inside it enough time to react.
The master and servant looked at each other in tacit understanding, and then both sat back down.
"Master, what do you think of this invitation?"
Ophelia took the initiative to ask Chen Xuan for advice.
After tempering her character, she has indeed become more and more calm.
Regarding this matter, Chen Xuan had already made plans.
He pondered for a while and then expressed his opinion.
"The snake steward just now said that Baron Bezos wanted to ask you about the purchase of magic tears." "
It should be that he discovered that the White Rose Caravan can stably ship magic tears." "
But this invitation But it may not be to discuss business."
"The greater possibility is to find out the source of the caravan's current magic tears." "
And... this matter may have something to do with your stepmother."
Chen Xuan squinted his eyes. It is a habit to consider the worst-case scenario first.
As the consul of Magatan City, Baron Bezos is not one of those businessmen who "die for money".
He is the true local lord, enjoying the power and status conferred by the laws of the kingdom.
The White Rose Caravan suddenly emerged in just five or six Naroa Days, becoming the fastest-growing caravan in the city, and its main product is the strategic-level hard currency material that is miraculous against monsters - magic tears.
The most outrageous thing is that the caravan can maintain a supply of thousands of pills in a single day.
So from the perspective of the city lord, the most critical thing is not the fact that the White Rose Caravan ships the magic tears itself, but where the source of the White Rose comes from.
If you can grasp this, you might be able to reap some of the benefits.
There is a market for magic tears in every corner of the Naroa continent.
If there is an opportunity to wholesale in large quantities, it would be much more promising than foolishly engaging in retail.
In addition, the factor of stepmother Yusula cannot be ruled out for the time being.
That guy had definitely said that he would make Ophelia pay with her life.
Chen Xuan summed up all the possibilities in just a few words. This insightful thinking made the half-elf lady admire her very much.
In fact, he just borrowed the wisdom of Xia's ancestors.
Sima Qian once said in "Historical Records: Biography of Huo Shi": "The bustling world is all for profit; the bustling world is all for profit." The
White Rose Caravan is making money every day, who doesn't want to get a piece of it?
If your ambition is small, just be a distributor and earn retail profits.
But ambitious guys will definitely use their brains.
Using this idea to substitute Baron Bezos’ behavioral motivations, everything becomes clear.
"Master..."
"In that case, when the holiday comes, I will find an excuse to temporarily decline the invitation to the dinner."
Ophelia said with some vigilance.
But Chen Xuan shook his head gently.
"No, you have to go."
"I will go with you." "
Now the Colchicum business group suddenly disappeared."
"Bai Qiangwei wants to become bigger and stronger, so she can't just escape." "
And I also want to see you. As soon as I saw the Baron and Ursula."
"Maybe they know the secret about your father."
The master has spoken, and Ophelia will naturally not escape anymore.
In fact, Chen Xuan had deeper considerations when he asked to go with him.
Now that Blue Star already has Myawadi as a base, it's time to create a new situation on Naroa.
He doesn't only have eyes for the White Rose Caravan.
There is a golden finger that can modify the contract, so why should we stick to one step at a time?
It's time to set our sights on the entire city of Magtanbon.
Neither party spoke anymore, each thinking about their own thoughts.
It has just reached the third water clock hour on Sunday.
There is still some time before the arrival of the moonlit night, and Chen Xuan can still go back to Blue Star before that.
The silence didn't last long, and he stood up calmly.
"Okay, everyone is waiting for us in the tavern."
"Turn off the magic interference, and I will take you out directly." "
Before leaving, don't forget to tell your deputy about the caravan that has been handled..."
Chen Xuan He said with a smile, watching Ophelia stand up and salute, and then walked out of the camp to explain the subsequent affairs.
When she came back here again, Chen Xuan gently held her hand.
With the flickering of the spatial singularity, the two disappeared into the camp.
...
In the private room of the Blue Charm Tavern in the West District.
Two sisters, Rebecca and Dora, were sitting together, drinking clear and refreshing fruit wine.
Jason Ironforge sat opposite them, with a barrel mug of rye beer in front of him.
Due to the influence of brewing technology, the beer in the cup was slightly cloudy, but the dwarf blacksmith still drank it one sip after another.
In the corner next to the table, Franco Budge was leaning next to him with his shoulders hunched, almost lying on his stomach.
He drank a small glass of absinthe, the light green liquid swaying in ripples.
The atmosphere was a bit dull. No one wanted to talk to the dwarf blacksmith, and no one dared to talk to old Buggy.
Only the sisters, Kittengirl and Zerikan, were still active, but the conversation was limited to the three of them.
In this slightly embarrassing situation, time passed by minute by minute.
Until the private room door was pushed open again, Chen Xuan and Ophelia walked in one after another.
Everyone stood up in unison and bowed to him.
"Master!"
"Master...Master!"
Cat girls ranging from teenagers to dwarf blacksmiths in their decades finally had a common topic at this moment.
The "hosts" with different tones echoed in the well-soundproofed private room.
Whether it's a catgirl, a half-elf, the Zerikan sisters, a dwarf, or a street rat.
They have only one identity here, and that is Chen Xuan's slaves.
Chen Xuan just nodded slightly as a greeting.
Sitting at the round table, he raised his hand to signal everyone to take their seats.
The waiter brought new drinks, and a glass of fine beer was placed in front of everyone's table.
It tastes better than bitter ale and is more expensive.
Picking up the wine glass, Chen Xuan glanced at everyone present, and everyone raised their glasses together.
After drinking clinking glasses of wine together, the atmosphere became much more relaxed.
"Tell me about the recent situation in the city."
"Old Buggy, you go ahead."
"I asked you to find a way to go to the coolie mule to find out about the colchicum caravan." "You
should have some clues now, right? "
Previously, when Chen Xuan first contracted Franco Bage, he left an investigation mission with no time limit.
At that time, he asked Old Badji to find a way to find out from the coolie mule the types and quantities of the recent shipments of the Colchicum merchant group, as well as the storage area of the cargo and some actions related to the merchant group.
Now there should be a result.
Maybe some key clues to Ansetus' escape from the city can be found in the activities of the Colchicum Merchant Group in the past few days.
Even if such a large caravan can handle the garrison stationed at the city gate, the transportation of materials and the transfer of personnel must be laid out and prepared in advance.
Chen Xuan didn't believe that the other party could solve these problems without warning.
After he opened his mouth, Old Buggy, who was sipping his drink, suddenly choked.
This guy just wants to be a little transparent.
"Ahem..."
He coughed a few times and looked at Chen Xuan timidly.
Then he regained his composure a little, lowered his head and pondered for a while before speaking.
"Master, I invited the leader of the coolie mule and my friends in the underworld to have a few drinks, and I did find out some information about the Colchicum business group." "Five Naroa days ago, Colchicum stopped concluding contracts
. The business contract has completely suspended the acceptance of new business orders, and is only fulfilling the contracted business..."
At this point, he paused for a moment, swallowing due to nervousness.
Speaking of which, Lao Baji still has a great psychological shadow on Chen Xuan.
The earth-shattering landslide and the tragic situation of Sorel's team left a deep impression on him.
Fortunately, Chen Xuan did not urge him, but took a sip of wine on his own.
Old Buggy breathed a sigh of relief as his spirit was buffered.
He, who was usually quite eloquent, immediately focused his attention and continued speaking in a hoarse and obscure voice.
"After that, the Colchicum Merchant Group began to hire scattered adventurers and mercenaries on a large scale." "
Nominally 'recruiting caravan guards', the total number of employees reached nearly a thousand, which is equivalent to hiring an army. Every day The expenses are astronomical."
Chen Xuan had known this news for a long time. Those days happened to be when Harward died and a stalker appeared around Ophelia.
He gave Old Buggy an encouraging look and motioned for the guy to continue talking.
"The Colchicum Merchant Group closed its base the next day."
"But just a few days ago, they hired coolie mules to transport a batch of supplies to the open space near Revel Forest Road in the northern suburbs of Bangcheng." "According
to The coolie mule boy said that all the luggage boxes contained gray magic cores." "
The quantity is huge. The batch that the coolie mule was responsible for transporting alone contained at least hundreds of thousands of them." "
And that empty space There were at least hundreds of large luggage boxes stacked in the field." "
It cannot be ruled out that there will be higher-level magic cores."
Old Buggy spoke more and more fluently.
Chen Xuan shook the wooden barrel cup and watched the wine swirling in the cup thoughtfully.
"Magic cores?"
"Why did Ansetus bring so many magic cores out in advance?"
New doubts or elements emerged.
Magic Core is a strategic material with a wide range of uses.
The pure magic power contained in it can charge magic circles and magical objects.
If both [Demon Seed] and [Demon Core] were compared to batteries.
Then the former is a reusable large-capacity energy storage lithium battery.
The latter is a disposable dry cell battery.
In addition, the magic core can also be used as one of the raw materials for making [alchemy potions], [spell scrolls], and [magic weapons].
In the continent of Naroa, magic cores of all levels have almost the same status as currency.
Moreover, magic cores are also very common and are not rare and precious materials.
However, the daily refresh amount of monsters in the surrounding caves is limited.
It is not difficult to acquire hundreds or thousands of magic cores in a short period of time.
But it's not easy to get hundreds of thousands of magic cores.
In other words, these magic cores should have been prepared by the Colchicum Merchant Group a long time ago.
This shows that Ansetus urgently needs these "disposable batteries" for charging or as some kind of raw materials.
No matter what, it must have important uses, but I don’t know if it has anything to do with the subsequent collective disappearance.
Seeing his master's thoughtful expression, Old Buggy kept silent.
It wasn't until Chen Xuan raised his head that he continued to add.
"More recently, in recent days, the Colchicum business group has recruited workers with high wages."
"At that time, Colchicum used some underworld channels."
"Many of the workers who are willing to follow the business groups out of the city are poor people in the underworld."
Hearing this, Chen Xuan suddenly interjected.
"In terms of material preparation, did the Colchicum Merchant Group purchase food on a large scale?"
This question made Old Buggy stunned, and then he shook his head.
"I haven't heard any news about this."
After receiving a not-so-comprehensive answer, Chen Xuan looked at the half-elf lady again.
he asked softly in a gentle tone.
"Ophelia, there should be no food in the Colchicum Merchant Group's main project, right?"
As soon as she said this, she seemed to have thought of something, and she had a look of surprise on her face.
"No... food is a necessity, but it is not a high-value commodity." "
Previously, the Colchicum business group mainly sold various monster materials and metal castings." "
In addition, those teams returning from the trade route are I will bring all kinds of fine products."
"Including weapons, armor, magic accessories, rough forged semi-finished materials, etc." "
I seem to understand what you mean..."
Ophelia suddenly fell silent
. At this point, The question raised by Chen Xuan seems to have come to a conclusion.
The Colchicum Merchant Group did not prepare enough food at all!
But Ansetus directly took away six to seven thousand people!
Obviously that guy didn't plan to feed such a large population in the wilderness!
...
The transitional chapter is almost over, and the killing plot and big changes are coming.
Don't rush, don't rush, it's only over 400,000 words now.
Still a young book.
You don’t want to read a book that has hundreds of thousands of words but no content.
(End of chapter)