Chapter 131: The Ha Rui Trading Company’s Bargaining Chips
While Owen was pondering these unorthodox methods, Maya was on the territory, making full use of her talents. She not only improved grassroots management and currency operations but also established a preliminary market and obtained the first batch of tax revenue.
Although it wasn’t much, it was a good start. It meant that the territory had gained an additional source of income besides its own output.
At the same time, the prosperous and promising Autumn Field Town became more and more widely known, attracting more and more outsiders. Everything was developing in a good direction.
However, fortune and misfortune always come together. The mutation fluctuation from before was sensed by many people. These people originally didn’t hold out much hope, after all, the Northland was too vast. But after Autumn Field Town became famous, many decided to make the trip.
As the old saying goes, “A poor man in a bustling city goes unnoticed, but a rich man in a remote mountain has distant relatives.”
A certain comedian also said, “Even if a rich person hides in a remote mountain and practices all 18 weapons, they can’t stop the people who come flocking.”
Obviously, Owen could be considered rich and noble, so trouble also came.
Bryan sat absentmindedly in the carriage, from time to time wanting to pick up the thick notebook in front of him. The strange patterns on it made him both fascinated and wary, so every time he was about to touch it, he would retract his hand as if he were about to get an electric shock.
“Sigh~, maybe I really was wrong.” For a whole decade, Bryan had served in the Imperial Border Army in exchange for their support. But ten years had passed, and he was still only one step away from success, a step he could never seem to take. His last, desperate attempt had left him with missing limbs and caused serious damage, leading to dissatisfaction within the military. They were unwilling to invest any more resources, and he had left the army disheartened.
For a while, Bryan’s heart was filled with confusion, unsure of where to go. Suddenly, he remembered the strange fluctuation that had come from the Northland before. He decided to go to the Northland to see if he could find inspiration.
Unfortunately, all he saw along the way was emptiness, desolation, and barrenness. This was all Bryan saw in the Northland, making him wonder if he should continue.
The carriage suddenly stopped, and the jolt caused Bryan’s body to tilt. His hands and feet, originally hidden by his mage robe, were partially exposed, revealing a metallic structure.
Pulling his robe back to cover the exposed parts, Bryan’s face showed displeasure. He spoke to the student outside.
“Duomi, go see what’s going on ahead.”
“Yes, Teacher, I’ll go right away.” Duomi was Bryan’s apprentice. But to say he was an apprentice, he actually also served as a servant, an assistant, a punching bag, and a test subject.
Being a mage apprentice was a notoriously dangerous profession, especially since Teacher Bryan had been in a bad mood recently. So Duomi didn’t dare to delay. He pulled up his robe and ran forward, silently cursing the Ha Rui Trading Company. They claimed to be the most famous merchant group in the Northland, but this was it?
In another carriage, a stunningly beautiful lady was holding a three or four-year-old little girl. Judging by their identical silver hair, they were a pair of high-value mother and daughter.
At this moment, the silver-haired lady, the mother, looked up and glanced outside the carriage. Then, she lowered her head with disinterest, patted the little girl, and continued to coax her to sleep.
Cord had just returned with two guards when he encountered Duomi, who had come to complain.
“Mr. Cord, why did the caravan suddenly stop? Master Bryan is very unhappy about this!” Duomi, who was meek and subservient in front of Bryan, was quite impatient when facing Cord. But Cord didn’t dare to show any negligence. A mage apprentice was nothing, but behind him stood a formal mage. If they wanted to do anything to the Ha Rui Trading Company, they had no power to resist. So he hurriedly said.
“The village ahead has been slaughtered, so the caravan is preparing to change direction and avoid it.” Cord’s face was grim. Although the Northland had become quite chaotic recently, such a cruel act as massacring a village was still rare. After all, in the Northland, population meant a continuous source of wealth. No one would wantonly kill civilians. But once it happened, it meant there was a group of vicious bandits or monsters nearby, which was definitely not good news for the caravan.
Duomi frowned. Although dissatisfied, he also understood what this meant, so he didn’t say much. He just asked the caravan to set off as soon as possible, and then he would go back and report to his teacher.
“Massacre.” Bryan seemed to have thought of something. He thoughtfully drew the curtains of the carriage and fell into deep thought.
For some reason, Duomi felt a chill in his heart at this moment because he knew very well what his teacher’s experiments were about. He also guessed what kind of inspiration the massacre ahead would give his teacher. This was definitely not a good sign.
Duomi remembered several other apprentices who had also been his teacher’s students but had suddenly disappeared one day. He knew very well what had happened, and now he was the only one left. Perhaps he should think about his escape route.
After the caravan detoured and left, a monster emerged from the village littered with corpses. After glancing warily in the direction the caravan had left, the monster turned and left. It needed more flesh and blood, more killing. Only in this way could it please that great being and gain greater strength. Then it wouldn’t have to hide like a rat anymore.
For the rest of the journey, Cord remained cautious because this caravan represented the greatest resources the Guild Leader could mobilize. If it failed, forget about the Guild Leader’s position, even his entire family would be finished. Burdened with such a heavy responsibility, he couldn’t help but be careful.
But he wasn’t sure if the Guild Leader’s approach would work. After all, that person was no longer a sixteen-year-old boy but a mature lord. Sending the eldest young miss over, he didn’t know if it would backfire.
That’s right, the silver-haired mother and daughter were Owen’s mother and younger sister.
When Owen’s maternal grandfather, also the Guild Leader of the Ha Rui Trading Company, learned from Cord about the changes in the Hydra family’s territory, he didn’t hesitate to gamble everything.
Not only did he mobilize a large amount of supplies, but he also made full use of his daughter. He truly lived up to being a merchant. For profit, everything could be used as a bargaining chip.
Owen, who was completely unaware of this, was currently testing his new puppet. After sending the Top Hat Puppet to Green Shade Town, he put on the Consciousness Remote Projection Glasses and somewhat clumsily controlled the puppet to stand up.
It was difficult. If it weren’t for his Puppeteer profession leveling up, Owen would only be able to consider using caterpillar tracks to replace the two legs.
As he projected his mental power, invisible threads spread out from the puppet, gradually taking control of all the parts, and the movements became more fluid.
He picked up and put down a cup, and it remained intact. Owen was very satisfied. Next, he could create more delicate puppets and even consider the issue of touch. Then, he could add various accessories to them. As for what they would be used for, of course, it was for fun.
With puppets as his stand-ins, Owen, who didn’t have to worry about his safety, could roam around freely, while his original body could just stay safely in the castle. It was simply perfect.
