Chapter Sixty-Eight: Back to the Homeland

I patted the head of the Little Dragon Daughter beside me, and the Black-haired Girl casually shook her head.

“It’s just some petty change. Wealth is meaningless if it isn’t turned into value. Although it seems that Cassio made off with some advantage this time, as the Grand Admiral of the Second Naval Fleet in the Ost Empire, he should have a considerable status in the Coastal City of Leila and the entire military of the empire.”

“As a neutral organization, the Lingyin Merchant Association should avoid getting involved in national conflicts, but establishing a good relationship with a high-ranking official from the Ost Empire can bring way more benefits than this small sum of money.”

“Since that guy loves money and happened to have this opportunity, we might as well try to get closer to him. Real villains are often easier to deal with than hypocrites; you never know—the right connection might bring unexpected help.”

“I understand, Miss.”

“Good, now get to work.”

“Yes.”

As I watched Ming Lan rise and swiftly leave, Vilyric finally turned to face the Golden-haired Little Girl who had just stolen the spotlight moments ago.

Habitually ruffling her magically soft golden hair, the Priestess smiled.

“So, what are your thoughts?”

The young Xiao Guang looked up slightly, her silver-blue eyes reflecting into her golden slit pupils, and she pouted a bit helplessly.

“Well, I have to admit… it’s indeed a bit more interesting than killing them, teasing the weak is kind of a fun of the powerful, but the efficiency in solving problems is still pretty low. Shoving money around, I can’t believe that fox-eared trickster thought of that.”

“Hehe, that’s his specialty, simple and practical, isn’t it?”

Exactly, it was just plain bribery.

That business card and booklet were indeed Ming Lan’s identification used when operating in the Origin Land, representing his position as Vice President of the Lingyin Merchant Association.

However, only a few strong individuals and Ming Lan himself could notice that it actually contained a check issued by the Lingyin Merchant Association, which could be exchanged for goods or an equivalent of five million Holy Light Coins at any of its branches worldwide without conditions.

A straightforward method, for true big shots and organizations like the Lingyin Merchant Association, five million Holy Light Coins are merely a drop in the bucket, but for someone like Cassio, the leader of a fleet, it was quite a nice sum.

A simple gesture of goodwill precisely suited the previous situation, showcasing our financial power and sincerity while paving the way for friendships, and wouldn’t raise suspicions for offering too much benefit.

As for the repair costs for Golem, it was utterly negligible compared to this large sum, no wonder that Admiral of the Navy was so enthusiastic and generous earlier.

After all, in a sense, most of what Ming Lan said was the truth; they weren’t spies attempting to infiltrate the Ost Empire. Just as Vilyric originally thought, as long as the real bottom line is not crossed, very few would turn against something like money.

And the subsequent sequence of exchanges and promises, while they didn’t directly hand over cash, symbolized far more than five million in wealth.

Don’t be fooled by Ming Lan only promising a ten-percent discount, there’s no stipulated deadline or limit for that, and considering the sky-high prices of the goods the Lingyin Merchant Association sells, it’s obvious how much wealth those two words represent.

While the Lingyin Merchant Association doesn’t seem to possess overwhelming military power, due to the array of precious resources they control and their extensive network of intelligence worldwide, even a behemoth like the Ost Empire wouldn’t easily provoke them.

Especially now, as the world situation grows increasingly chaotic, with the two major alliances openly scheming against each other, such a powerful neutral organization needs to tread carefully. Once Cassio confirmed this identity, he would naturally know how to act.

This is called combining kindness with authority.

Seeing the Little Dragon Daughter still deep in thought, Vilyric chuckled and rubbed her head again.

“No need to overanalyze; this is just an ordinary case, a slice of life. In fact, aside from brute force and capital, we still have many other ways to solve problems. Once we get into the city and meet a variety of people and things, you’ll gradually understand.”

…

A day later, Noah’s Ark successfully reached the largest port city on the eastern coast of the Ost Empire—the Coastal City of Leila—and completed the connection with personnel arranged in advance by the Lingyin Merchant Association.

Even without using backdoor channels, it seemed that Cassio, who arrived in the Coastal City first, had already made arrangements for the port staff to give our conspicuous giant merchant vessel the highest priority—removing most inspection processes and exempting it from the port duties that should have been charged.

Although it wasn’t much money and wouldn’t land in Cassio’s pockets anyway, it was clear that guy still knew how to treat people.

Building a good relationship with Cassio would greatly benefit the development of the Lingyin Merchant Association on this side. While he can’t be completely trusted or befriended, as long as it’s managed properly, the help he can provide due to his military power will outweigh what we put out.

Of course, it’s best to let hard worker Ming Lan handle this. While the Lingyin Merchant Association is a direct industry of Lingyin Fairy Island, calling it a private venture of a certain Spiritual Fox Priestess wouldn’t be entirely inaccurate, but Vilyric didn’t intend to meddle too much in the organization’s operations.

After all, the Lingyin Merchant Association over here in the Origin Land is essentially an independent enterprise developed over three hundred years under the support of Hao Miao Yi Meng, significantly differing from the part of the Ancient Spirit Realm controlled entirely by the Fairy Island. As long as the status quo is maintained and they can provide certain help in the shadows, that’s enough.

Princess Nitira and the Merman Tribe did not enter the port but followed the predefined plan, bidding farewell when they were nearly a hundred kilometers from the coastline, just before entering the coastal patrol area. The princess had spotted several island clusters suitable for large-scale immigration within the Emerald Sea Region on the way here, and it’s likely she would be busy with those for quite some time to come.

The next time we meet her, who knows when that will be?

Meanwhile, Miss Vilyric, in order not to attract too much attention, ordered 01 to maneuver Noah’s Ark out of the port after unloading the cargo and shrink it back to its original form several dozen kilometers out in a secluded sea area, before quietly flying back to the Coastal City to meet with everyone.

Thus, the Priestess officially returned to her homeland after nearly a year apart.

But at this moment, she was still unaware that the ripples caused by the butterfly’s wings had long been brewing storms in various corners of the world, about to stir… the entire world.

   

---