While Varian was deeply worried about the future of the Alliance, Duanmu Huai seed quite at ease, currently leading the girls on a big shopping spree at the Stormwind Auction House.
That’s right, shopping.
Duanmu Huai hadn’t forgotten to buy so small animals for Ann and Mary. Conveniently, the Stormwind Auction House had all sorts of things, including cute little animals. So he decided to look here.
I must admit, there are quite a few pets here.
"What do you think of this one?"
Looking at the pet in front of him, Duanmu Huai showed a proud smile, while the girls beside him shook their heads vigorously.
"No way."
"I think if Miss Ann and Miss Mary saw this, they might just faint... Uncle, are you deliberately teasing them?"
Naruse Mio backed away, looking at the small snake in front of them, and promptly comnted. Honestly, what girl would like snakes?
"What about this one then?"
Duanmu Huai turned his attention to the Obsidian Proto-Drake next to him, only to be rejected again by the girls.
"Not cute!"
"It looks fierce!"
"Not cute at all!"
"Co on, do you guys even understand the value of dinosaurs?"
Hearing the girls’ objections, Duanmu Huai rolled his eyes helplessly. This is a Velociraptor, so cool, and you all say it’s not cute? Such a difference in taste?
"So how about this cat then?"
Feeling resigned, Duanmu Huai decided to give up and pointed to the magical feline pet in the cage next to them.
"I think this one is quite suited for Ann."
"I don’t think so. Miss Ann is a mage, not a witch."
Looking at the black cat wearing a mage’s hat, its eyes glowing a ghostly green, Homura Akemi shook her head.
"Sigh, I can see it now, you all have too many demands..."
After having several pets rejected by the girls, Duanmu Huai lost his patience. He was never a patient person to begin with. Let alone it’s just buying a pet... sigh, if he had known it would be this troubleso, he wouldn’t have bothered.
"Hey, buddy, hey buddy."
Just as Duanmu Huai was scratching his head, apparently aware of his frustration, a gno rchant approached with a cheerful smile.
"Judging by your expression, you don’t seem too satisfied with the goods here?"
"I wouldn’t say satisfied or not satisfied, it’s mainly not who’s unsatisfied..."
Duanmu Huai thought these were good enough, but the little girls around him opposed every option, leaving him speechless.
"In that case, would you like to take a look at the auction?"
"Auction?"
"That’s right."
The gno rchant said while handing over a booklet.
"The Stormwind Auction gathers rare treasures from all over the Continent of Azeroth, especially so rare items hard to find in the Eastern Kingdoms. If you’re looking to buy so treasures for your companions, checking out the auction is a great choice. Here’s the catalog."
"Hmm..."
Duanmu Huai took the catalog from the gno rchant and opened it. He wasn’t too interested in armor and weapons. After all, in a world of this level, those weapons and equipnt were probably already obsolete by the Tribunal. They were of no interest to him.
However, sothing else in this world did catch Duanmu Huai’s attention.
That was the mounts.
Through the two reins he previously obtained, Duanmu Huai discovered that this world indeed had magical mounts, and these magical mounts were convenient. Duanmu Huai himself didn’t need these, but he could give one to Ann and Mary, especially since Mary couldn’t fly like the others and really needed a ans of transportation.
As for Ann... if worse cos to worst she could always ride Greiya, right?
Fortunately, Duanmu Huai found two gifts in the catalog that matched his tastes.
These were the Warm Sun Fluffy Cat and Qiu Yi Fox.
The Warm Sun Fluffy Cat was a large orange cat about the size of a horse, looking fluffy, with two pointy ears, quite cute. The Qiu Yi Fox was an entirely pink fox with wings, looking adorably girlish—hmm, even Duanmu Huai himself wanted to ride it.
Just imagine painting his Power Armor in girlish pink, a cute Steel Warrior riding a cute pink fox, isn’t it a perfect match?
Unfortunately, both the Warm Sun Fluffy Cat and the Qiu Yi Fox were rare magical mounts, and there were only these two available at this auction, priced quite high—Duanmu Huai calculated, and it was obvious that he didn’t have enough money on hand. The currency he had in Azeroth only ca from those bounties, good for food, lodging, but clearly not enough for buying these magical mounts.
Hmm...
"I don’t have that much money on hand, can I trade with other items? By the way, I don’t want to participate in the auction, I’d prefer to buy them directly."
"Oh? Of course, you can, though the price might be higher. What do you plan to trade for these two magical mounts?"
"How about this?"
As he spoke, Duanmu Huai took out a Thermite Bomb from his pocket.
"...What is this?"
Looking at the steel creation in Duanmu Huai’s hand, the gno rchant was dumbfounded.
"Thermite Bomb."
"Bom... Bomb?"
"That’s right, just this single bomb could blow up the entire Stormwind; Blackrock Mountain was destroyed this way before, how about it? Trading this for your two magical mounts, quite a deal, right?"
"???"
Listening to Duanmu Huai’s words, the gno rchant was utterly confused, he glanced at Duanmu Huai, then at the Thermite Bomb in his hand, showing an expression uglier than crying.
"Sir, you must be joking, I’m just an honest rchant, this... bomb, and such, we don’t deal in weapons..."
Saying this, the gno rchant took small steps back.
"Well, then, I have to go ahead, you continue... hahaha... I just rembered I have an urgent matter..."
With these words, the gno rchant turned and ran without looking back, and Duanmu Huai watched his retreating figure, helplessly shrugging his shoulders.
"Sigh, looks like I have no choice."
While sighing, Duanmu Huai turned his gaze back to the catalog in his hand.
To be honest, those two magical mounts were indeed beautiful and very suitable as gifts, but the problem was Duanmu Huai didn’t have that much money on hand right now...
Hmm, if it really doesn’t work out, maybe just steal them?
Although it’s not impossible, Duanmu Huai felt it was sowhat beneath him. After all, how could a prestigious Big Judge of the Tribunal resort to a zero-cost purchase when buying a gift for a woman?
Oh right, he still had the special skill of Heart of the Blood Raven. If push ca to shove, he could just visit the auction house, and do a little "yours is mine, and mine stays mine" deal?
That might work too?
"Hey, hey, my lord......"
Just as Duanmu Huai was considering whether to drop by the auction house, a voice suddenly sounded. He then saw the gno rchant had returned, still with that smile that looked more painful than crying.
"Uh... I went back to discuss with my colleagues at the comrce guild, and we are willing to accept your barter trade."
"Oh?"
Upon hearing this, Duanmu Huai’s eyes brightened, and he took out the Thermite Bomb again. Seeing it, the gno rchant turned pale and waved his hands frantically.
"No, not that... The guild ans... if you have sothing less dangerous... preferably items without military use..."
"You have quite a few requests."
Hearing the gno rchant’s words, Duanmu Huai frowned. Why would he carry items without military use? His inventory was filled with explosives and shells because his shooting skills were terrible. Duanmu Huai didn’t even have a gun, preferring to rely on firepower saturation over accurate sniping. It’s all bombs and mines, or shells. And you’re telling no military use? Where am I supposed to find sothing for you?
"Wait a mont, let see here......."
Saying this, Duanmu Huai opened his inventory and carefully checked.
Radiation Grenade, Thermite Bomb, Cluster Mines, Stasis Bomb... no good.
Earthquake Cannon, Vulcan ga Bomb... no good.
Explosive Weapons, Heavy Fla Sprayer? Seems like no good either.
BFG9000, Colossus Bomb? Probably even worse.
After searching through, Duanmu Huai’s gaze at the gno rchant beca more unfriendly. You sure have stringent demands, and military use is out? What’s wrong with military use?
Huh? Wait, maybe I do have sothing?
Spotting sothing in his inventory, Duanmu Huai’s eyes lit up. He then turned to the gno rchant.
"I do have a good item for you, but I can’t take it out here. Is there a secluded place?"
"Of course, please follow ."
Led by the gno rchant, Duanmu Huai arrived at a clearing behind the auction house.
"May I ask what you want to trade for those two magic mounts?"
"This."
Faced with the gno rchant’s inquiry, Duanmu Huai snapped his fingers. The gno rchant was astonished to see a steel colossus, over four ters tall, suddenly appearing in front of him, almost causing the gno to sit down in shock.
"W-what is this?"
The gno rchant stared in disbelief at the steel colossus. It had ostrich-like legs, and its arms were modified to resemble weapons. It looked like so chanical creation, akin to the alchemical colossi often used by mages.
Except it was much larger.
"Oh, this is called a cha."
Duanmu Huai calmly introduced.
"This thing operates by a single person, using any kind of fuel."
What Duanmu Huai presented was a Knight ch from the Human Imperial Era, originally used to assist the Titan Legion. A classic bipedal combat ch, Duanmu Huai never intended to actually use it, especially after witnessing the robots like Gundam and VF in another world, making the Knight ch seem less impressive.
The only advantage this has over a Gundam is that it can run on anything as fuel, even wooden coal, though how long it lasts is another matter.
"But... but isn’t this military use?"
"How so?"
"Look at its left hand, this huge chainsaw..."
The gno stared intently at the ch’s left hand, swallowing hard. The left arm and hand were entirely transford into a long chainsaw, its serrated blade gleaming coldly under the sun, intimidating anyone who looked at it.
"Oh, that’s for logging."
Duanmu Huai explained nonchalantly.
"L-logging?"
"Logging."
"Then... what about its right hand... is that a flathrower?"
"That’s for starting a fire. Don’t you need to build a campfire when logging outdoors?"
Duanmu Huai remained calm. Just because an axe can kill doesn’t an it should be considered a weapon, right?
"But this is......"
"For logging."
"But......"
"For logging."
"But..."
"For logging."
"............."
The gno rchant tried to question several tis, but each ti, Duanmu Huai’s response stopped him. Finally, he dropped his head in defeat.
"Please, let report this."
After saying this, the gno rchant turned and left dejectedly, while the other girls watched Duanmu Huai with speechless expressions.
"Truly worthy of Lord Duanmu."
Banriya couldn’t help but shake her head in amazent.
"Even as a Nightmare, I couldn’t co up with such absurd words."
"But I wasn’t wrong, was I?"
Duanmu Huai spread his hands and shrugged.
"This thing really can be used for logging, and it’s even faster than normal humans, isn’t that right?"
Faced with Duanmu Huai’s twisting logic, the girls could only nod and agree, "Yes, yes, everything you say is right..." What else could they do?
After a while, the gno rchant ca back, sweating profusely as he ran with his short legs.
"Honored custor... We’ve agreed to the trade."
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