Chapter 757
Chapter 757 - 743: Things to Be Done
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9 min read
Unexpectedly, Lu Ping’an made a small fortune.
"...Here, this is your ’Wolf Token’. Please remember to feed it regularly. Though it has a simple intelligence, it will only obey the holder of the token. If you lose it...well, run fast, don’t expect the beast to be rational."
Lu Ping’an never thought that his "Battle Wolf" would attract so much attention on the battlefield, which led to many people approaching him to "rent a wolf".
Not just that night, but even during the previous long trench warfare, his "Battle Wolf’s" intelligence and combat power left a deep impression on people. It’s normal to gain popularity now, however....
"...I have to say, your personal strength is not even on par with the wolf. Chasing after the remnants of the Aus people is too dangerous."
"I came here with three brothers and friends, and I might be the only one going back... I only killed one person in the battle, not enough."
The young man spoke as he took the Wolf Token, but Lu Ping’an could see a sense of determination in his eyes.
Perhaps the young man hoped that he could take his revenge, and even if he really fell here, it might be a relief, one less person to face family...
"...Someone has to bring the compensation money back. You participated in that bloody battle too, right? Even if you didn’t make much impact, you still have a fair share of future dividends. That just takes time to cash out. Instead of rushing, why not wait a little? Once you have the money, you can give a better life to the families of your brothers and friends."
Lu Ping’an smiled and gave a little advice.
This young man looked to be less than 20 years old, probably just at the first-tier, without even the qualification of an Explorer. Maybe this was his first and last exploration.
With such an attitude and strength, fighting against the desperate Aus people? Even if Lu Ping’an gave him a wolf soldier, it would probably be a waste.
It would be a shame to fall after making it through the most difficult moments...
"...If you still want to take revenge, you can wait for a while. I have many people renting ’Hunting-dogs’ here. When a suitable team comes along, I can introduce you to join them. They are also short on people..." Lu Ping’an shrugged, doing what he could do.
"...You need to be alive to take revenge, and not just determination to have strength. Becoming strong takes more than just willpower."
Perhaps Lu Ping’an’s advice worked, or the young man figured it out. Lu Ping’an successfully got him into a team that was lacking in logistics and support. Just renting a "Hunting-dog" for a large sum of money was a valuable resource.
"My name is Shui Yizhi." The young man finally revealed his name.
"I’ll remember that. I’m Lu Ping’an." Smiling, he saw off this guest and looked towards the next ... sucker?
"Dear customer, we have two types of wolves here. Of course if they aren’t enough, we have custom-made ones, which are a little expensive..."
Many teams were now renting "Wolf Beasts" from Lu Ping’an. Some used them for extra combat power, and others as "Hunting-dogs". The sales were good, and Lu Ping’an charged an exorbitant price.
It’s not that he was too greedy, but the market price for such things was not cheap.
There were two levels of rental. The lower level wolves have developed intelligence and are excellent hunting-dogs. Their combat power is about 1-tier Battle-profession level.
"Thirty thousand coins for a week, plus three hundred thousand if killed in battle. You can owe first; credit-coins are also acceptable but there will be a twenty percent surcharge. Order now, and we’ll include a week’s worth of kibble."
The high-level wolves were "professionally" trained Battle Wolves, with individual strengths even remotely reaching weaker 2-tier Battle-professionals.
"Two hundred thousand for a week... Don’t think it’s expensive, those who know, already know this price is fairly reasonable."
Most renters, after getting hands-on experience, were quite satisfied... Even under the reality of no Beast Tamer, and straight discount on combat power.
Top-quality first-tier wolf beasts, merged with a "profession," were now clearly leveled-up.
But the most crucial aspect was their extraordinarily high spirituality, which allowed them to become high-quality "mercenaries" even without Beast Tamers.
Most teams only rented the low-level wolves... For these quality war beasts, Lu Ping’an’s price was actually a friendly and supportive rate.
But if they were killed in battle, the one hundred twenty percent compensation would indeed hurt them.
Truth be told, Lu Ping’an was even willing to sell them directly, but the asking price of ten times the rent scared most teams from indulging in such a luxury.
In reality, they realized that these powerful wolf beasts were indigenous species.
"If he can raise them, maybe we can too."
"We can bring back some wolf beasts and have a Beast Tamer raise them."
"Um, maybe we can rent one for breeding purposes..."
People with this kind of mindset naturally wouldn’t want to spend money on something they thought was a rip-off, so Lu Ping’an wasn’t in a hurry, letting them learn the hard way.
Bizarrely, Lu Ping’an’s team made a fortune like this... Directly participating in a war as mercenaries couldn’t compare to the earnings of an arms dealer!
This wasn’t a special case. After losing the pressure from the Aus people, many professionals naturally started their own "normal operations."
Both official forces and Civilian now have a substantial bounty on the Aus fugitives, and Lu Ping’an’s war-dogs and arms sales naturally boomed.
And across from Lu Ping’an’s "Beast Pen" was the Vortex Stone Firearms Shop... Uh, the signboard also belonged to Rebirth Commerce.
Fang Wen and the factory in the courtyard were working overtime, producing various new Vortex Stone Firearms.
In that battle, the Shoulder-Mounted Mortars provided by Lu Ping’an were sold at half-price and given away. Many people who tried it remembered Lu Ping’an.
Now, when they need weapons, they naturally think of Lu Ping’an.
With demand and orders, Lu Ping’an naturally opened a store... Business is really good, and there are quite a few returning customers.
Mainly because there was a complete set of artisan equipment and a factory in the courtyard. With Fang Wen, the high-level craftsman updating and iterating designs, there was no shortcomings in technology and industry.
Selling war beasts on one side and weapons on the other, Lu Ping’an’s store unknowingly became the hottest area in the camp.
"... Uh, it seems like we’ve unknowingly become arms dealers? But we’re just ordinary business people."
Lu Ping’an didn’t expect his Chamber of Commerce to enter the sights of other professionals in such a special way.
"Actually, our food sales are also doing well..." tried Lu Ping’an to defend himself.
"Of course, military rations sell well. Haven’t you noticed you’re almost monopolizing the food market?"
Since the big war was over, Lu Ping’an naturally wouldn’t continue to provide unlimited (low-cost, free) food supplies.
He really didn’t increase the price on this. The food actually isn’t worth much, but the arms make a lot of money... It might be because of the brand effect, or because Lu Ping’an’s food is especially "fresh", that the food store often gets sold out in just a few hours.
Unfortunately, Lu Ping’an’s own "Gardener’s Shop" didn’t get any customers... These busy professionals hunting for money didn’t have the time for those "flowers and plants."
Another reason for the booming business was...
"How much can this thing be worth?" Someone took out a bone, which looked strange and it was really hard to tell what creature it belonged to.
However, there were faint flashes of fire on it, so it probably wasn’t ordinary trash.
"... I don’t know either, but it looks kind of rare. I’ll buy it for a thousand store currency, but you have to tell us the specific information, including where you found it and the surrounding environment."
When some people couldn’t come up with cash or credit-coins, Lu Ping’an was also willing to let them keep an account... He was confident in his contracts, but individuals had an account limit.
Sometimes people would bring over strange items. Some of them could be identified by Lu Ping’an’s "bank," while others couldn’t.
Lu Ping’an wasn’t short of money and was basically willing to accept anything that wasn’t clearly trash... As a result, many people genuinely sold their "treasures" to him.
Lu Ping’an himself didn’t know the true value of these things, but he didn’t mind collecting more. Now, the surplus on Rebirth Commerce’s books was extremely alarming... The Battle Wolves, weapons, and food were virtually without any cost, and the profits made even Lu Ping’an feel uneasy.
But speaking of which, the Rebirth Commerce’s first time doing what a Chamber of Commerce should do not only received a lot of praise but also reaped quite a bit of profit.
Unknowingly, they became the most popular team in the camp, which made many people remember them.
"This is the kind of work I should be doing, making money while lying down..." Unfortunately, Lu Ping’an’s "happy little days" didn’t last long.
— End of Chapter 757 —