Chapter 172 - 127: Mortal Realm Level 1 Trusted Influence
"Most of those were on credit."
"Only 138 Skeleton Horses, 49 Ghost Camels, and 4 carriages were paid for in cash."
"This part brought in a total of exactly five hundred thousand Ghost Stones."
"As for the rest—"
"Once the Medicine King Valley, the Sheep Race, and our other Level 1 Trusted Influences—22 in total—deliver the Ghost Stones for the credit sales, we’ll receive another 2,231,500..."
After carefully calculating for a long time, Lame Monkey’s voice trembled as he spoke.
"We’ll be getting another two million-plus Ghost Stones."
This figure stunned him.
’He’d never imagined in his entire life that he’d one day see Ghost Stones counted in the millions.’
"..."
Wang Kui was dumbfounded, too. He had been exhausted all day and knew business was booming, but seeing the actual figures left him speechless. He used to earn 120 Ghost Stones a year working for the Hill and Valley Royal Family.
’These Ghost Stones are equivalent to...’
He snatched up an abacus and quickly calculated, finally arriving at an answer.
"I’d have to work for the Hill and Valley Royal Family for 18,595 years to earn this many Ghost Stones..."
"Domain Lord!"
"How on earth did we earn this? How is this even more profitable than wiping out the Pill Sect?!"
...
"..."
Chen Fan sat in his rocking chair, rocking and smiling without speaking. His eyes were full of amusement, and he couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
The first day was a roaring success.
He hadn’t originally intended to explain in detail, but perhaps because he was in such a good mood today, he couldn’t help but elaborate.
"Destroying the Pill Sect netted us hundreds of thousands of Ghost Stones."
"Is that a lot?"
"It’s considered a lot."
"But in reality, we didn’t get all of the Pill Sect’s revenue. We couldn’t touch the shops they’d established in various cities. The loot from destroying a single faction is often the smallest part of the prize."
"But this time—"
"We’ve essentially plundered the foundations, and even the future earnings, of numerous factions in the three regions of Jiangnan, Jiangxi, and Jiangdong."
"Those factions will figure out a way to gather the Ghost Stones within their own territories, send them to our Level 1 Trusted Influences, who will then deliver them to us."
"Our Mortal Realm just has to hold down the fort in Jiangbei and do nothing."
"The Ghost Stones from Jiangnan and the other regions will flow to us in a steady stream."
"It’s definitely far more profitable than just destroying a single Pill Sect."
’Actually, the numbers Lame Monkey reported are revenue, not net profit, but... my costs are so ridiculously low, you could basically consider it all net profit. A Skeleton Horse for 100 Ghost Stones.’
’Even I get a headache looking at that price.’
"Besides."
Chen Fan paused for a moment, then continued with a smile, "Next, as other factions start entering the market, there should be another peak. After that, the market will become more or less saturated and slowly enter a slump. After all, Skeleton Horses are quite durable."
"After that, we’ll need to expand into new channels."
"Zhou Mo, I asked you to select a group of people who are good swimmers. Have you chosen them yet? We’re preparing to head out to sea and take a look."
"They’re just about ready."
"Good."
"Then, one last thing."
Chen Fan looked at the crowd, stood up, and said with a smile, "Everyone has worked hard this past month for the Mortal City Marketplace. Now that we’ve had a grand opening, on top of this month’s regular wages, all Pavilion Masters will receive a bonus of 1,000 Ghost Stones."
"Vice Pavilion Masters will receive a bonus of 500 Ghost Stones."
"All Mortal Realm Members will receive a bonus of 100 Ghost Stones."
When he finished speaking, the crowd didn’t seem particularly happy.
Instead, they exchanged glances, and finally, Lame Monkey spoke up hesitantly on behalf of everyone, "Domain Lord, perhaps we shouldn’t distribute the bonuses? After all, we’ll need a large amount of Ghost Stones in four years to build up Jiangbei. It’s better to save them."
"..."
Chen Fan glanced at Lame Monkey, paused for a moment, and then couldn’t help but laugh.
’Just last night, he had told the Mortal Realm’s upper echelon about the "Four years, three hundred million, guard Jiangbei" plan. He had to tell them. After all, with today’s massive earnings, if he just handed out a 1,000 Ghost Stone bonus, some people would surely feel it wasn’t fair.’
’One thousand Ghost Stones was already a huge amount.’
’It was equivalent to ten years of Wang Kui’s old salary.’
’But...’
’...compared to the Mortal Realm’s total revenue, it was a drop in the bucket.’
’Although he trusted these people, human nature was such that seeing the faction rake in so much money while they themselves received so little would inevitably lead to some feelings of imbalance. That’s why he had brought up the plan first.’
’Not giving them any money was out of the question. With such a large group of people following him, how could he not distribute some of the wealth to his subordinates?’
’Looks like it worked well.’
"No need."
Chen Fan gazed out beyond the City Wall, stretched, and said lazily, "There are three reasons why I want to guard Jiangbei."
"First, I like Jiangbei. I’ve gotten used to it here."
"Second, this crisis is also an opportunity. We might get a lot of High-Level Building Blueprints to drop. The only way to get more advanced Blueprints is to kill more advanced Ghost Objects. Even if we left this place, we’d still have to figure out how to kill High-Level Ghost Objects anyway."
"Third, I’m very interested in the Celestial Dao Blessing for guarding Jiangbei. It most likely extends one’s lifespan; otherwise, that person wouldn’t have lived so long. If it can extend my life, I’d like to live a little longer."
"These three reasons led me to create the ’Four years, three hundred million, guard Jiangbei’ plan."
"But—"
"I know what I’m doing."
"Things are what you make of them. If it comes to a critical point and we lack the strength, the Mortal Realm can simply pull out of Jiangbei."
"Don’t worry so far ahead. Just take the bonus I’m giving you."
"Especially..." His gaze landed on Wang Kui and he chuckled. "During the rainy season, you said your biggest dream was to marry a wife. Without some Ghost Stones in your pocket, how are you going to get a wife?"
"That’s all. Dismissed."
"Get some sleep. Tomorrow’s another busy day."
...
After Chen Fan headed down the street,
Lame Monkey, Wang Kui, and the others exchanged glances, all of them seeing the excitement in each other’s eyes.
"A thousand Ghost Stones!"
Wang Mazi couldn’t help the hopeful look in his eyes as he started to fantasize, "Last time the Domain Lord took us to the Osmanthus Tower, we only had some ’flower wine.’ With the Domain Lord and Big Fish there, I was too embarrassed to really show you guys a good time. Now that we have money, next time I’ll take you for some *real* flower wine."
"..."
Wang Kui watched Chen Fan’s departing figure with a complicated expression on his face.
Before he met Chen Fan, he had worked for the Hill and Valley Royal Family for 13 years.
But now...
This bonus of one thousand Ghost Stones was equivalent to everything he had earned in the first half of his life.
On one hand, he was excited—excited that the Mortal Realm was developing so well and that the Domain Lord still treated them the same. On the other hand, he felt a bit wistful, lamenting how cheap the first half of his life had been.
"Let’s go!"
He took a deep breath, pushing aside his thoughts, and strode toward the Warehouse, calling out with a smile.
"Follow me to the Warehouse and get your bonuses!"