"Could it be a Territory Creation scroll?", Mr. White exclaimed, "That scroll is an invaluable treasure that's impossible to buy on the market. It's something almost every City Lord, and even every Estate Lord, dreams of obtaining. I never imagined Lord Ethan would actually get one! I'm so jealous."
"Haha! Just got lucky. Just got lucky."
Although Ethan had no idea what this so-called Territory Creation scroll was, if Mr. White said it was, then so be it. From the name alone, he could more or less guess what it did.
But it definitely wasn't as amazing as the system's upgrade function.
No time to waste.
Ethan immediately checked the requirements for upgrading the town.
[Town Upgrade Requirements: Advanced Stone 24,275/10,000, Top-Grade Mud 31,165/10,000, Advanced Wood 36,521/10,000, Iron Ore 62,302/10,000, Vines 23,108/10,000, Glass 3,267/1,000, Spirit Stones 6,849/10,000, Earth Beast Cores 5,784/1,000, Fire Beast Cores 8,927/1,000, Water Beast Cores 4,100/1,000, Metal Beast Cores 3,180/1,000, Wood Beast Cores 3,820/1,000, Wind Beast Cores 5,314/1,000, Rainbow Beast Cores 42/100]
Ethan had originally thought that after accumulating resources for so long, he should have more than enough to upgrade the town.
Who would have thought he was still short on two materials?
One of them was because he hadn't settled accounts with Mr. White yet, the Spirit Stones he would receive in exchange for the Ice Galls. That was easy enough. Settling part of the payment first would be enough.
But the other material was much more troublesome...
Rainbow Beast Cores!
'Damn! How did I forget about those?'
You could only get Rainbow Beast Cores by defeating mini-bosses. He was still fifty-eight short, yet he'd already bragged to Mr. White that he'd show him the town upgrade.
Now... this was awkward.
"Mr. White, I need some energy resources right now. How about we settle the payment for the Ice Galls first?"
Ethan immediately held out his hand for the money.
People who owed money acting like they were the boss?
That didn't exist with him.
Borrow money and refuse to pay it back? He'd splash red paint on your door, kick over your trash cans, and spam your phone day and night until you paid up.
"Uh... of course, of course..."
Mr. White immediately regretted coming to ask questions.
His original plan had been to transport the nearly seventy thousand Ice Galls Ethan had entrusted to him into the city, sell them first, and settle the payment afterward.
That way, he would have capital available for other business deals and could even trade other goods along the way.
If he settled now... the money he had on hand would become tight. He might not even have enough left to cover the entry fees and taxes for entering the city.
"Mr. White, is something wrong?"
Seeing Mr. White hesitating, Ethan guessed he probably didn't have enough money.
After all, seventy thousand Ice Galls worked out to about seventy million Spirit Stones.
Even with a sixty-forty split, with Ethan taking sixty percent, he'd still receive over forty million Spirit Stones.
That was an enormous sum.
Even major merchants in the city would have trouble producing that much cash at once, let alone a traveling merchant like Mr. White.
"It's difficult for me to come up with forty million Spirit Stones all at once," Mr. White admitted honestly, "It's not that I don't have forty million. If I scrape everything together, I can manage it. But doing business in the city isn't just about paying the entrance fee. There are people to grease the palms of everywhere, and there's also a twenty percent tax on outside goods. Altogether, that's close to another twenty million, so..."
"Alright then. Give me twenty million first. You can pay me the rest after you've sold the Ice Galls."
After hearing that, Ethan didn't make things difficult for him.
After all, twenty million Spirit Stones would definitely be enough, for now.
"Thank you for your understanding, Lord Ethan."
Mr. White's expression finally brightened. He immediately took out an ordinary-looking storage ring from his robes.
"There's twenty million Spirit Stones inside. Please check them, Lord Ethan."
"So you were prepared all along?", Ethan was genuinely impressed by the old fox.
So...
He'd planned from the beginning to give Ethan only twenty million Spirit Stones first.
Even if Ethan hadn't brought it up, this guy probably would have talked him into accepting a delayed payment for the rest.
Still...
'Forget it.'
Running this business was clearly much harder than Ethan had imagined.
After deducting all the taxes and various expenses, Mr. White probably wasn't making that much anyway. Even if he managed to sell each Ice Gall for fifteen hundred Spirit Stones, he probably still wouldn't earn more than Ethan.
"Heh! Heh! I just knew Lord Ethan is generous and would surely understand my situation," Mr. White smiled, "So when are we starting? I've never seen the power of a Territory Creation scroll before. Let us broaden our horizons."
"Uh..."
Now it was Ethan's turn to have a headache.
Who knew upgrading a town would require as many as a hundred Rainbow Beast Cores?
Where the hell was he supposed to find that many mini-bosses to kill?
At this point, his only option was to ask his bargain-bin masters for help.
"You two have a seat for a moment. I'm still missing something. I'll go get it and be right back."
As Ethan spoke, he headed toward the storage room inside the villa.
But the moment he reached the warehouse, he immediately activated his Lord's Domain and teleported outside to seek help from the two Archmages beneath the Demon Tree.
To his surprise... Neither Archmage had any Rainbow Beast Cores.
In the end, Ethan could only pin his hopes on the Saint of Formation.
But after entering the chessboard, the Saint of Formation looked at him in confusion and asked instead, "What are Rainbow Beast Cores?"