Chapter Sixty-One: The Deal

Longteng Star-Slayer blinked his clear eyes, just about to bargain, but was stopped by Thief Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed. After a brief moment of thought, he said, “The Demon Witch Secret Ring at the three hundred you mentioned, the Gale Sword and Blackfire Staff together for one-fifty, and the remaining two rare-grade items for one hundred, a total of five hundred fifty gold. How does that sound?”

Ye Chen nodded in satisfaction. This price was already higher than he had expected; after all, the Blackfire Staff's level wasn’t high, so it wasn’t worth much, and even though rare-grade set items were good, single pieces always fetched a lower price. Five hundred fifty gold was more than decent. He understood well that this was thanks to his earlier performance—otherwise, Thief Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed wouldn’t have been so generous.

After the transaction was completed, Ye Chen hesitated a moment before pulling out the silver-grade Doran’s Blade. It was too valuable a gift for someone he didn’t know all that well. After all, Liu Liu wasn’t like his eldest or second sisters—his second sister, Drunken Yearning, had saved his life, and his eldest sister, Sword Over City, was his patron. Liu Liu, on the other hand, didn’t have that same bond with him. Besides, giving such a precious item to a girl could easily send the wrong message; a simple bronze dagger would suffice as a token of goodwill.

“Doran’s Blade, a fine weapon dropped by the Fierce Tiger Bloodblade. Interested?” Ye Chen turned the elegant dagger over in his hand, showing its attributes to Longteng Star-Slayer and Thief Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed.

Thief Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed’s eyes lit up. Smiling, he said, “Impressive stats! I won’t lie, I’ve had my eye on this dagger ever since the Fierce Tiger Bloodblade dropped it. Name your price.”

Ye Chen thought for a moment and raised eight fingers. Normally, a silver-grade weapon was worth about five hundred gold, but given their rarity, supply couldn’t meet demand and prices ran high.

Thief Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed frowned slightly, but then nodded decisively. “Alright, eight hundred gold it is.”

“Uh, Thief Bro, I don’t have that much on me,” Longteng Star-Slayer said, swallowing hard. He could marshal a thousand gold if it was for the guild, but though Thief Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed was an officer, Longteng wasn’t acting alone here; he couldn’t authorize spending eight hundred gold for a single weapon.

Thief Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed waved him off impatiently. “Who’s asking you to pay? I’ll buy it myself. Ye Chen, hold on, I’ll go exchange some gold now.” With that, he began operating the trading page.

Ye Chen thought to himself that this guy must be loaded. He quickly stopped him. “Wait, if you exchange gold, I’ll still have to sell it. Why not just transfer the money directly to me?”

Thief Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed paused, then grinned. “Sure, that’s easier. Give me your account number.”

“Don’t you need me to leave something as collateral?” Ye Chen was taken aback.

“It’s not that big a deal. A player of your caliber wouldn’t run off over such a sum; I trust you.” Thief Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed smiled faintly. He had already learned from Longteng Star-Slayer that Ye Chen was a member of Bluefeather, and even if Ye Chen tried to disappear, he could simply track down the Bluefeather studio. With their reputation, they wouldn’t risk it for such a small amount.

“Alright, transfer it directly. My account is xxxxxxx. Save the transaction fee—just send me fifteen thousand.” Ye Chen gave a cheerful laugh and recited his account number. This was much more convenient than going through the website, saved on taxes, and the money arrived instantly. He wondered idly if this was technically tax evasion. Ha.

Within a minute, the funds had arrived. Watching the numbers in his account climb from two digits to five, Ye Chen was delighted. He immediately tossed Doran’s Blade to Thief Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed.

“By the way, I’ll be brewing a batch of potions in a bit. Do you want any? Blood Coagulation Pills and Intelligence Pills,” Ye Chen said. He’d come to the Alchemist’s Guild specifically to buy ingredients for potion-making.

“Yes, I’ll take the lot,” Thief Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed replied at once. No guild ever thought they had too many of these special-effect potions.

“Alright, come pick them up in an hour—same price as before. Prepare two thousand two hundred fifty gold.” Ye Chen quickly calculated; the herbs in his bag would yield about eight hundred Blood Coagulation Pills and two hundred Intelligence Pills. Now that he wasn’t strapped for cash, he planned to keep some for himself—three hundred Blood Coagulation Pills and fifty Intelligence Pills set aside, the rest worth exactly two thousand two hundred fifty gold.

“Two thousand two hundred?” Thief Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed and Longteng Star-Slayer both cried out in astonishment, staring at Ye Chen like he was some kind of monster. Thief Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed exclaimed, “Where did you dig up so many herbs? You’ve gathered almost as much in a day as our entire Dragon Soaring gathering team. Didn’t anyone try to compete with you?”

Ye Chen gave a sly grin. “Telling you wouldn’t help; your gathering team of lifestyle players can’t get to those places. Unless you send a squad of high-level combat players to clear the way, but I imagine those players are otherwise occupied right now?”

“True. With your strength, you can go where ordinary players can’t. That’s why game power is everything—without it, nothing else matters,” Thief Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed nodded in realization. “Right now, our elite team doesn’t have the time to escort the lifestyle players, but once our family’s outer members level up, we’ll definitely start sending people to secure those areas. When that happens, will you sell us the coordinates?”

“We’ll talk about it then,” Ye Chen replied noncommittally. When the time came, a partnership with Dragon Soaring wouldn’t be out of the question.

Thief Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed nodded casually. Such matters were handled by designated family members; he’d only mentioned it in passing. Then, as if remembering something, he asked, “By the way, Ye Chen, do you happen to have any of those stealth potions left? If you do, we’ll buy at a high price—ten gold each. What do you think?”

“The materials for those are much too hard to come by. I only managed to make a few—don’t really have any in stock now.” Though ten gold apiece was tempting, Ye Chen refused without hesitation. Unlike Intelligence Pills or Blood Coagulation Pills, the Ghostwalker Elixir had tremendous practical value in combat. He didn’t want others using it against him; better to keep it tightly in his own hands.

“That’s a real shame,” Thief Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed sighed, but didn’t press the issue. Longteng Star-Slayer, seeing their negotiation finished, sidled over with a grin. “Ye Chen, have you changed classes yet? I just did mine today. The dungeon refreshes at midnight—want to join us for a run?”

Ye Chen’s heart skipped. He didn’t have a party, and random groups were hit-or-miss. A team organized by Dragon Soaring’s third captain would surely be solid. Joining them was a good idea—he’d be pioneering new content anyway, and even if they failed, it would be an experience. “Sure, I’m in. Let me know when it’s time.”

(x)