Chapter 1208: Secret Merchant
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Although Donald was the chief imperial mage of the Rotterdam Kingdom who had a very high status, he had already witnessed the strength of Lin Li and the Tower of Dusk during the time spent in the Sky Castle. Besides, Lin Li had also insulted the Gilded Kingdom twice, but there was nothing the Gilded Kingdom could do to retaliate, thus making Donald feel that Lin Li was profound and unpredictable.
Hence, Donald made up his mind to build a good relationship with Lin Li, and even went out of his way to swallow his pride and flatter the latter. If he could have a good relationship with Lin Li, it would be the greatest thing he gained from the trip to the Gilded Kingdom.
Lin Li naturally heard Donald’s compliments, but he did not have any special reaction. Instead, he remained smiling, and said, “You must be joking, Master Donald, we’re acquaintances. All my friends and acquaintances will be given a seat when they’re here.”
Lin Li actually didn’t mean anything else, but Donald and Tory were overjoyed to hear his words. However, they knew very well that anyone could say polite and nice things, and whether or not they could really become friends with Lin Li would depend on their actions. After all, not all friendships were the same, and some were stronger than the others. Effort had to be put into a friendship to keep it going too. At this point, Lin Li merely decided not to hold what happened previously against them.
After they were seated, Lin Li also went to sit down on the master’s seat. He then said to the two of them, “I went on a shopping trip in the Sea Market today, and I have to say that it’s really such an eye-opener. Why didn’t you two go on a tour around the market too? Why did you come here instead?”
Of course, Lin Li knew that Donald and Prince Tory had come over with the purpose of bonding. However, unless they were really close friends, they had to put in effort to spend time with Lin Li and keep their friendship going. After all, their relationship hadn’t reached that level yet.
If they were from the Felan Kingdom, Ledin Kingdom, or the Brilliance Shrine and Darkness Shrine, which had business dealings and cooperations with the Tower of Dusk, they could at least discuss their partnerships. However, the people of the Rotterdam Kingdom had only interacted with the Tower of Dusk during the exploration of the Sky Castle. Later on, they did not cooperate in business or any foreign affairs, so there was no contact at all.
Hearing Lin Li’s words, Prince Tory smiled, and said, “President Felic, since you’ve visited the market today, you must also know that although the goods sold at the market are not too bad, almost none of the goods are really excellent. The Divine Sea Pillar that you bought was an exception, and you can’t find something of its level in all stores.”
Prince Tory’s words were really what Lin Li wanted to hear. The Gift of the Sea was already the largest market where they could find anything they wanted. If not, there would probably be little hope of finding it in other markets. In fact, it made sense because it was only human nature to sell a good thing for a high price. They would naturally want to put it up for auction to fetch a higher price.
Lin Li did not avoid or hide anything, and simply nodded, and truthfully said, “Yes, it might be lively at the Sea Market, but there aren’t any rare or precious treasures. It seems that it’s better to wait for the auction after the Sea Market officially opens.”
After the official opening of the Sea Market, there would be a series of auctions that were held not only by the Gilded Kingdom, but also by other powerful merchants or large Sea Clan forces. At that time, there would truly be a huge display of all kinds of exotic treasures, each of which probably would not be inferior to the Divine Sea Pillar.
Seeing that Lin Li agreed with him, Prince Tory gleefully said, “The auction is indeed a good place for displaying exotic treasures, but apart from the auctions, there’s another place where we can find precious treasures.”
Upon hearing Prince Tory’s words, Lin Li was really interested as he raised his brows, and asked, “What are you referring to, Prince Tory?”
“President Felic, have you ever heard of the profession of a secret merchant?” asked Prince Tory when he saw that he had aroused Lin Li’s interest. His tone also sounded much more casual than before.
When he started talking to Lin Li, Prince Tory was really anxious mainly because he was frightened by what Lin Li had done in the Gilded Kingdom, and was afraid that he would mess things up again if he were to say something wrong. However, after some icebreakers and chatting with him for a while, he realized that this young Sanctuary powerhouse was not as difficult to get along with as he had imagined.
Indeed, Lin Li was just like that. If others were nice to him, he would treat them with respect too. If they were to provoke him, he would insult them back. Hence, although Prince Tory was leaving him hanging, Lin Li wasn’t annoyed, and instead asked, “Secret merchants? Are they different from ordinary merchants?”
Although Prince Tory had kept him in suspense, he knew he could not go too far, so he said, “To put it bluntly, secret merchants are in fact merchants who do sordid business. On the surface, they may be ordinary businessmen, or people who hold ordinary occupations, but their abilities are far beyond ordinary.”
Once Lin Li heard this explanation, he came to a sudden realization, and at the same time, he guessed what exactly Prince Tory was probably talking about. The so-called secret merchants were just black market merchants who had treasures, but could not sell them openly at the auctions. Naturally, they were obtained through sordid means, so they had to sell them on the black market.
At the end of the day, it was because Lin Li had too few resources. He should have thought of the black market long ago! Although Lin Li generally wasn’t interested in black market, the Sea Market of the Gilded Kingdom was now open, and the so-called secret merchants in the world were all out to make a fortune here. It was definitely something on a larger scale than the ordinary black market.
“I think I may know what place you are talking about, but you need to have resources and connections to enter such a place.” At this moment, Lin Li actually knew the reason that Donald and Tory came to visit him.
Just like Lin Li said, those secret merchants were running sordid businesses, so they naturally couldn’t promote and run them openly like auctions. They couldn’t just let strangers in, either. Even if they had a strong background or some powerful backers, they might not be able to enjoy protection. Hence, the secret merchants were very picky with their guests. Either their guests would have to be recommended by a frequent patron, or the secret merchants would have to be familiar with their backgrounds.
Prince Tory and Donald were not surprised by Lin Li’s words. At this point, Lin Li’s intelligence would be questionable if he still couldn’t guess it.
“As expected of President Felic, you’ve made a really good guess.” Although this matter was not difficult to guess, Prince Tory still gave Lin Li a thumbs-up and complimented him sincerely. “Yes, the place I’m referring to is the market of secret merchants, which is sponsored by the Secret Merchants Alliance.”
“There’s an alliance for secret merchants?” Lin Li froze for a moment, and thought, Wow the black market merchants of this place are really bold, they actually have an alliance too. Aren’t black market merchants usually careful and afraid of having their identities exposed? Even with their peers, they would be extremely wary and keep their guard up against each other. By creating an alliance to unite everyone, won’t they be in trouble?’
However, after hearing Prince Tory’s introduction, Lin Li also guessed why those secret merchants were so brazen. Although the Secret Merchants Alliance was a lax organization that was led by the 10 most established secret merchants of Anril who might not know each other’s identity, the Secret Merchants Alliance also united all the competent secret merchants of Anril. If there was an outrage and they went all out, it would probably not be difficult to overthrow a kingdom.
Of course, the purpose of merchants was to earn money. Secret merchants were still merchants, and as long as they weren’t forced to the point of no return, they would not go all out and fight with all their might. Anyway, they had already amassed a large amount of wealth, and they would at most just give up. Even though it was said that they could overthrow a kingdom, it just meant that the amount of money they had was astonishing.
The important point was that no one knew the real identity of the secret merchants. They could be bishops of the Brilliance Shrine, princes of a kingdom, or even people with more shocking identities. Hence, no force dared to guarantee that none of their members was a secret merchant. Even if they wanted to attack the Secret Merchants Alliance, their efforts would usually prove futile.
Hence, as long as the Secret Merchant Alliance did not go too far, there was basically no force that made things difficult for them. The existence of the Secret Merchants Alliance allowed the deals and transactions between secret merchants to be carried out more easily. Of course, it wasn’t that easy to join the Secret Merchants Alliance, and even the most junior secret merchants had to have at least more than 10 years of experience.
“It is said that the Secret Merchants Alliance existed since the Dark Age, and there are even rumors that the rebellion army had once obtained the support of the Secret Merchants Alliance during the war at the end of the Dark Age. Thus, they managed to finally overthrow the rule of the High Elves. Of course, this is only a legend, or perhaps something that the Secret Merchants Alliance had made up to make themselves seem impressive.” At this point, Prince Tory couldn’t help but laugh out loud because he clearly didn’t think that the legend was believable.
Prince Tory briefly introduced the Secret Merchants Alliance before revealing the legend that could be taken as a joke. That was all he knew about the Secret Merchants Alliance. Anyway, even the secret merchants of the alliance probably could not reveal much information.
Lin Li was not very interested in finding out more about the Secret Merchants Alliance. He just wanted to buy some useful things anyway. According to Prince Tory’s introduction, there should be more good things in the Secret Merchants Market that the Secret Merchants Alliance organized since it was such a huge alliance.
“Let’s not talk about the legend anymore. You two didn’t come here just to tell me stories, did you?” Lin Li asked half-jokingly with a smile as he looked at Donald and Prince Tory.
Although the purpose of their visit was already obvious, Lin Li still had to hear it from the horses’ mouth. Besides, Lin Li had also thought that even if Donald and Tory didn’t come today, the news and outcome of their research today would spread, and people would come to do the same thing that they did. After all, in the Gilded Kingdom, Donald and Tory were not the only ones with resources. There were the Felan Kingdom, the Ledin Kingdom, the Darkness Shrine, the Brilliance Shrine, and the Illuminati. They were probably already clear about the secret market.
Seeing that Lin Li did not take the initiative to speak, Prince Tory was more or less disappointed. However, he maintained a smile, and said, “Yes, President Felic, Master Donald and I came to visit you this time to invite you to come with us to the Secret Merchant Market. We hope to have the honor to be your guides.”
Prince Tory’s attitude was really quite positive, and one could hardly see a bit of the inherent arrogance possessed by the nobles of the Rotterdam Kingdom. In the hearts of the people of the Rotterdam Kingdom, they had always perceived themselves to be the humans who had saved Anril, and always viewed the people of other kingdoms with the identity of their saviors. For example, although Prince Kanber was aware that their strength was no match for the Tower of Dusk’s team’s, and that Lin Li was a Sanctuary powerhouse, he was still extremely arrogant.
Lin Li was indeed quite satisfied with Prince Tory’s attitude. It was not that he was fishing for compliments. After all, anyone who was treated condescendingly would definitely be displeased. Hence, Lin Li did not continue to say any pleasantries, and simply nodded. “Okay, I’m a little tempted now. When is the Secret Merchant Market going to begin?”
Although they did not manage to make Lin Li ask them to take him to the Secret Merchant Market, their purpose was considered to have been achieved! Unable to contain his joy, Prince Tory said, “President Felic, if there’s nothing you have to do, we might as well go now. The Secret Merchant Market opened five days ago, and it takes place every other night, just in different places. Tonight, it should be on a ship named The Mermaid. There’s still some time to go before it sets sail today.”
The Mermaid was a famous large cruise ship in the Gilded Kingdom, and based on the name, it was obvious what businesses were usually run on it. The real owner of the cruise ship was said to be from the Siren Clan, and was known as a mermaid. The characteristics of the Siren Clan was that the female sirens were beautiful; in fact, they were even on par with the High Elves who were known for their perfection. However, the male sirens were hideous.
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