The battle of Star Town was in full swing.
With the addition of new reinforcents, the efficiency of ice sculpture smashing had greatly increased.
Moreover, the arrival of new mbers ant that the expedition team was no longer made up solely of close-range physical combatants.
Various mid-range and rear-position combatants brought functions such as reconnaissance, support, enhancent, battlefield dical treatnt, and firepower output, rapidly rationalizing the team’s composition and multiplying its actual combat capabilities.
Even though they were facing more and more monsters, their speed only picked up.
One obstacle after another was overco, and the victory march of this rudintary expedition team seed unstoppable.
As a result, Molly successfully persuaded the Mahara rchants.
They agreed to purchase the official supplies of the expedition team and to provide cash-on-delivery services for the materials they bought.
The rchants were much more reliable than Molly had imagined.
The first batch of supplies took only half a day to be transported from the Royal City to the Underground City stronghold.
Molly personally checked all the goods.
Not only were they furnished in full and ample quantity, the quality was also top-notch.
And that representative of the rchants delivering the goods could barely take his eyes off Molly, holding onto her hand unwillingly to let go, looking especially eager to pounce and lick her twice.
Molly, with her keen perception, took advantage of this and managed to haggle down the price by a bit, paying several thousand silver coins less.
The rchant representative, besotted with her, didn’t even realize, and after returning, was docked ten tis the loss in salary by the rchants.
Both parties were delighted.
An officer planted among the rchant convoy described what he saw and heard to the rchants: the Blazing Burning Guardian Fire, the vast Underground City stronghold, the safe surrounding environnt, and at least several hundred thousand square feet of the cleared area.
Of course, in his description he could not omit the shrewd yet beautiful and competent Assistant Commander Molly.
This convinced the rchants that the pioneering endeavor of Star Town was very likely to succeed.
They slled a business opportunity with sharp acun.
Therefore, the rchants contacted Molly further through Spirit Crow ssengers and Spiritual Communication, seeking to deepen their cooperation.
With this developnt, Rod completely confird that the rchants of this world had not changed at all.
Even in such a dark world, facing such a severe living environnt, their nature stayed completely unchanged.
"In that case, things will be much easier."
Rod revealed a triumphant smile.
"Molly, tell them if they want to collaborate further, first loan five million silver coins, to be repaid in one year, with a fifty percent interest rate."
Molly’s eyes flickered uncertainly, and though her expression was serious, the hands clutching the hem of her dress betrayed her inner unease and confusion. She asked softly, "Will they agree to such a large amount of money?"
The corners of Rod’s mouth curved upwards, drawing a mischievous, flamboyant, carefree, and confident smile.
"They will."
"After a year, to repay seven million and five hundred thousand silver coins, can we afford it?"
"We can afford it, trust ."
Molly fell silent, then whispered after a mont, "Rod, you seem to have changed a bit."
Rod shook his head slightly, stood up, and the day’s battles were about to begin again, which was also the most joyous mont of harvest.
When it cos to souls, the more, the rrier.
"Molly, I’ve always been like this. I just wandered too long in unfamiliar environnts and now I’ve returned to a familiar domain," he said.
He pushed open the door, and the light from the Guardian Fire itself poured in, casting a hazy golden glow on his smile.
"Don’t worry, Molly, our good days are really coming," he assured.
He stepped out the door and leapt down from a hollow in the outer wall.
Noisy cheers ca from below; even though the pit of the Underground City was deep, the enthusiastic voices were still clearly heard.
Everyone greeted the new day of battle with high spirits, as if it was a picnic.
Soon after, the rumbling sound of footsteps approached, as they ran out towards the well along the stairs.
The few who couldn’t wait scurried up the walls, accompanied by the scolding of Captains O’Hara and Conrad.
A mont later, the Underground City returned to calm.
In the dimly lit room, Molly suddenly revealed a faint smile, her serious expression lting away like ice and snow.
"Maybe, the good days are really coming."
She stood up, her tall figure showcasing the charm of the Wind Black Silk to the fullest.
"Thank you, Rod."
Molly laughed softly and left the room.
——
Communication with the rchant was much smoother than expected.
rchant Leader Mahara personally engaged with her in expensive, imdiate Spiritual Communication, with the rchant covering the cost of communication.
Ultimately, the rchant agreed to pay the five million silver coins loan in one lump sum, but insisted that all materials for Star Town had to be purchased through the rchant assembly, and all looted spoils of war must be sold through them.
This was sothing Rod did not fully agree with, and he added a condition.
If the prices were blatantly not in line with the market, then they had the right to sell to soone else.
In exchange, he mortgaged his Upper City ho to the rchant.
Although theoretically it could not be sold, the rchants didn’t care about this point.
The rchant’s efficiency was very high; the very next day, chests containing five million silver coins were directly delivered to the Underground City base.
A new female representative signed a Spiritual Energy contract with Rod that had special effectiveness.
The second step of cooperation between both parties was officially reached.
With such a large sum of money, they no longer had to worry about weekly wages and supplies, and they could even hire more logistics personnel to more swiftly transform this region, long subrged in darkness, into an environnt suitable for human habitation.
You see, due to the lack of manpower, only less than ten percent of the Underground City had been cleared up to now.
Areas that had been quiet in the dark for too long inevitably carried an air of decay and pollution.
To reside there without purification was akin to walking into the Black Fog without any protection.
Purification of an area was a very tedious task; it required the use of a variety of Purification Potions to carefully clean the pollution hidden in walls, floors, and crevices.
Up to now, Trolian survival techniques had beco quite mature. The job didn’t require powerful Spiritual Energy, only patience and care, as well as a sufficient quantity of Purification Potions.
In Rod’s team, however, there were only two logistics staffers doing this work, and they were so exhausted they were spitting foam at the mouth, vomiting and having diarrhea, and suffering from tremors in their hands and feet; they hadn’t even completely purified the Underground City stronghold that was wholly occupied, let alone the vast cleared regions outside.
Molly hired three thousand logistics personnel in one go, sent under protection by the Mahara rchant.
It’s worth ntioning that the escort fee was also paid on delivery.
The weekly salary of non-Fire Holders wasn’t high, usually around fifty silver coins. Star Town Dungeon, though far from Royal City and situated in the Dark World, offered room and board, and thus held great appeal to them.
At that ti, as soon as Mahara rchant’s recruitnt notice was issued, the door was nearly broken down by the crowd, cramming the nearby streets to the point of impassability.
From Morning until evening, the number of people did not diminish but instead continued to grow.
After evening ca and the lights dimd, the descending Black Fog did not drive the crowd away, and the Lower City District’s Governnt Affairs Hall had to send people carrying brass lamps to stand guard around the recruitnt area to ensure their safety.
The rchants, for the sake of their good collaborative relationship, carefully selected three thousand individuals. They boarded large chanical vehicles, travelling along roads that had been cleared, past the outer defensive ring and Star City, and finally arrived at the Star Town Dungeon stronghold.
re successful arrival prompted cheers of joy from the three thousand; nothing felt warr than the sight of light amidst the boundless darkness.
The massive well-like structure of the Underground City gave them an imnse sense of security as well.
Those who lived in the Dark World always had a natural fondness for fire and walls.
Here, they t Rod, the year’s most dazzling new star, whose na was known to many residents.
His youthful appearance moved many to their knees, weeping openly. In Trolian, a law had always been passed down: the younger the new star, the more dazzling they would beco in the future.
The last person who was such a young new star was now the First Knight, a hero in the hearts of many, Alan.
The more strong individuals erged, the more secure the residents of Troli could live in this world, this was the simple wish of all the Trolian residents.
Rod was a bit bewildered by this welco; three thousand people kneeling en masse made him rather embarrassed.
Fortunately, Molly helped to break the siege. She inford them in detail about the rules of the Underground City and their daily work and had the two logistics staffers take them away and arrange their accommodation.
With the inclusion of these three thousand personnel, the purification work finally got on the right track.
The plan had taken its first successful step, but Rod still needed to finalize the details of the next steps.
After another day of clearing out monsters, Rod returned to the Underground City, ate his not particularly delicious canned black beef, chatted briefly with his brothers and sisters, then went back to his room and entered the Dream Realm.
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