"This business is doomed to fail from the very start."
Eren's relaxed smile stood in stark contrast to his own words.
Despite investing more than a billion into that very business, he didn't show even a shred of anxiety.
If anything, he looked even more at ease than before.
From the very moment he heard Marcus explain the full business model, Eren had already understood one simple truth, the business wouldn't survive in this city.
'Marcus was underestimating far too many things, trust being the biggest of them all. Hunters and buyers weren't fools. For them to register, deposit money, and rely on a new system, it required more than just a "good idea." It required reputation, stability, and most importantly… time.'
There were already examples scattered across the city.
Trading platforms that had once tried to operate honestly, packaging units that aimed to build reliable systems, all of them had collapsed.
After witnessing these failures for so long, no one would try to make a deal with something that was almost guaranteed to fail.
No one would willingly place their money or trust into a system that might disappear overnight.
'Even if Marcus managed to start operations, it would take an incredibly long time just to build the most basic level of credibility. And by then, the pressure from those controlling the city's trade would already crush it.'
Eren understood all of this perfectly, yet,
"It doesn't matter."
He muttered those words softly to himself.
Because from the very beginning, Eren never believed in the business, nor did he care about fixing the city's broken system.
Money? he had more than enough.
What he needed was a channel, a way for him to sell all of his spoils quickly without anyone noticing.
Currently, Eren was only Tier One, yet he could already earn more than enough to buy all these assets without batting an eye.
As he grew stronger, the amount and quality of the items he would obtain would increase far beyond what he could sell on his own, inevitably attracting attention toward him.
And for that, Marcus provided the perfect solution through his business model.
Marcus understood distribution, good at making connections, and he could operate in the gray areas of the market.
That was the only things Eren cared about.
Whether the business succeeded or failed didn't matter.
He could easily afford to pay salaries and sustain operations without issue, as long as Marcus could move Eren's items efficiently.
That alone was worth more than a billion to him.
Eren took out his phone as he walked, his attention shifting back to the trading platform.
The interface flickered softly as rows of listings appeared before his eyes.
Most of the materials he had posted earlier were already sold, but a few still remained in auction. His gaze moved across them briefly before settling on the elixirs.
Just like before, they were the first to be sold, while the first batch of boots was still in the auction without making any progress.
"This is exactly why I need a proper channel,"
Eren muttered under his breath.
His attention then shifted toward the forum section.
He filtered out the chats related to his elixirs, but as he scrolled through the discussions, his expression gradually turned strange.
Thread after thread appeared, all centered around one topic.
A lot of people were complaining about a company named Sapphire Enclave Corporation buying all the elixirs immediately without leaving anything for anyone.
They were the same group that had tried to approach him earlier to buy the elixirs directly.
He had ignored them, as he didn't want his real identity to be exposed.
Eren also noticed a few direct messages.
"At least announce the timing before posting!"
"How are we supposed to compete like this?"
"Give smaller buyers a chance!"
Eren stared at the messages for a moment before letting out a faint chuckle.
There was no irritation, only mild amusement.
Without wasting any more time, Eren returned to the listing screen.
If demand was this high, then he might as well use it.
Instead of posting a hundred elixirs like usual, he entered a new number, one thousand.
Not only that, he also added another listing: one hundred low-grade elixirs, freshly taken from his recent deposit.
He set the price at one hundred million, far cheaper than the actual market value.
With a single tap, the listings went live.
He exited the forum after leaving a simple message:
"Next batch will be posted tomorrow evening if current stock is sold."
Next, Eren proceeded to change the delivery address of his transformation crystal to the association branch of this city.
He also submitted a request to transfer all materials from Tidewatch City to his current location, paying a service fee of 100,000 since the quantity far exceeded the free transfer limit between cities.
The timeframe showed that the transformation crystal would arrive by tomorrow evening, while the rest of the materials would take two days to be transported.
A faint look of displeasure appeared on Eren's face as he regretted not bringing all those materials with him to sell them directly here.
Closing the app, the next thing he did was call his family and friends, speaking with them for a while before booking a taxi.
Soon, he arrived at the outer wall of the city and stepped into the wilderness.
"The current time is 7 PM. The Silverfang Union will raid [Chains of the Devouring Pit] in two hours…"
Eren stretched his body before transforming into a majestic silver wolf.
Time to work again…
The majestic wolf disappeared as it vanished into thin air, a powerful gust of wind sweeping past everything as it shot toward the northwest direction.
***
A massive dungeon gate loomed ahead, its surface swirling with dark, distorted energy.
The very air around it felt heavy, as if the space itself was being pulled inward.
In front of the gate stood a group of ten.
Each one of them wore equipment that radiated power and wealth.
Armor engraved with divine sigils, weapons emitting faint auras, cloaks woven with rare materials, every single piece was enough to make ordinary hunters stare in awe.
A large crowd of hunters had gathered at a distance, watching them with a mix of envy, admiration, and fear.
"Those are the elites of Silverfang Union…"
"That's the vice guild leader…!"
"Look, the guild master is one of the very few elite-grade profession holders in our city… He's a Paladin…"
"I heard the full set armor he's wearing costs a billion… it's said to give massive perks against abyssal factions!"
At the center of the group stood a man who looked to be in his late twenties.
A black-haired man with a calm expression on his face.
His appearance could be called above average, but it carried an undeniable presence.
He stood tall, clad in a full set of radiant armor that faintly shimmered under the dim light.
A holy aura lingered around him.
He was the Vice Guild Master of Silverfang Union, Victor Voss, standing there silently with his eyes closed.
Beside him, the other nine members carefully checked their preparations.
"…Only ten members?"
A hunter in the crowd muttered under his breath.
"They usually take at least thirty for high-risk raids…"
"Yeah, it's weird…"
"What's there to be weird about? Look at them closely. Every one of them in this team has a rare or higher-grade profession from the divine factions. There's no need for them to bring extra people. They can clear the dungeon all on their own."
Hearing that, many in the crowd nodded in agreement.
These words did not go unnoticed by the guild members.
Some of them stood a little prouder, their confidence rising as only the face of a middle-aged man twitched slightly in annoyance.
He stepped forward and walked up to Victor before asking with concern,
"Isn't it still too reckless…? Nightmare difficulty isn't something you gamble with. Is it really okay for us to trust the words of that young man from the Zorvath Family?"