Close Combat Mage

Chapter 415 - Agate Transaction Pt. 2

Northern Wilds Island. Strictly speaking, it was actually a peninsula, as the inner boundary was connected to the mainland. However…any further in was a completely desolate desert. The reason a port had been built here was just because of the high grade luxury goods produced: agate!

However, despite being the source of agate, there were not many merchant groups able to reach this location. Even pirates rarely came here. This place only served as a goods port; there was no shipyard or anything else, which made it impossible for ships to receive protection or maintenance.

Typically speaking, pirate ships gathered at the ports with high-grade agate. When the merchant ships came to deliver the agate, nearing the area to sell the agate for high prices at the harbors, the pirate ships would circle around and collectively attack the merchant ship. If they robbed at Northern Wilds Island instead, they would end up gaining very little, as the storage room in pirate ships could not carry much agate.

Despite being few in number, that did not mean they did not exist. Suo Jia spotted a few pirate ships floating not too far from the harbor. The most concerning point was that these pirate ships all represented a single group.

However, since they had already arrived, Suo Jia would not retreat either. If he did not take this business transaction because he was afraid of pirates, the long journey here would become meaningless.

Suo Jia thought over this for a long time as he stood at the public pier. He then suddenly turned his head to tell Xiang Yun, “I can’t feel at ease like this. Go and obtain two small ships immediately — I don’t care if you steal or buy — and head out with Roger to investigate those pirates. I don’t want any mishaps to happen during this transaction. You understand too; we cannot afford to fail!”

Xiang Yun sharply nodded. Suo Jia had already explained this exchange clearly to everyone. Although agate was not expensive at its place of origin, that was just relative to its selling price. To complete this transaction, Suo Jia would need to use up everything he had and put an overdraft on his merchant card. If they were robbed, they would not only lose all their blood, sweat, and tears, but also be unable to pay back the overdraft. This would cost them their qualifications to continue adventuring the Greater Trade Routes!

Xiang Yun and Roger walked towards the wharf together. No matter what, they must first eliminate any possible ship that attempted anything with unfavorable consequences. Xiang Yun would absolutely not allow anyone to damage this transaction.

Suo Jia entered Northern Wilds City and softly told Nicole standing next to him, “Go to the inn now and see if you can get any information about those pirates, the more detailed, the better. Not a single accident can occur during this deal!”

Nicole briefly glanced at Miya before resolutely turning around to leave. With Suo Jia’s close combat ability and his abnormally powerful spirit perception, there was indeed no reason to stay by his side. Besides, Suo Jia already had Miya with him. While Nicole had never exchanged blows with Miya before, Nicole’s instincts as a fighter ascertained that Miya was definitely amazing!

Suo Jia watched Nicole gradually disappear into the distance. After some thought, he and Miya entered the exchange area. At the moment, the large area was completely empty inside. The reason agate was so profitable was really because few people dared to ship it. In contrast, if people did dare to do so, the value would not be so high.

The rarer something was, the greater its value. Only precious and uncommon goods were worth much, such as luxury goods like agate. In general, one only got a single chance to make a transaction on each port. Considering how expensive agate was, its consumption rate was very limited; it took a very long time to use up a batch. Although Suo Jia would earn back its price, it had too long a cycle time (defined in years). Suo Jia could not possibly wait until then.

Suo Jia arrived in front of the counter. Without any superfluous words, he straightforwardly asked, “What is the current price level of agate? How much does the island have in stock?”

The worker shot Suo Jia a sideways glance and indifferently replied, “At the moment, agate is four million per box. There are approximately ten thousand boxes in inventory at the island. However…there is also plenty of fresh ginger and gold powder that have reasonable prices. If you would like…”

Suo Jia furrowed his brows at the worker’s words. Although ten thousand boxes was a lot, Suo Jia had a hundred ships with a capacity that could fit a hundred thousand boxes. The shortfall was too great.

This was not the most important point. Rather, it was the fact that each box of agate was four million. Wouldn’t that mean filling his ships would cost four hundred billion? Even if Suo Jia handed over his own life, he would not be able to get that much money. The only usable funds Suo Jia had at the moment was an overdraft of ten billion. This was the most Suo Jia could afford with his current level of prestige!

Miya noticed Suo Jia’s frown and instantly worried for him. After some thought, Miya pulled out a merchant card and asked, “Is it an issue of money? I have some here.”

“Hm?” Suo Jia looked at Miya doubtfully, but did not reject her kindness. He reached out to take the merchant card and quickly glanced at it. Then…Suo Jia’s jaw dropped in shock.

Suo Jia had assumed that a girl like Miya would at best have a few million merchant coins. But the long string of numbers on the merchant card nearly blinded Suo Jia.

“…0…0…0…0…0…” As Suo Jia counted the numbers, he found that Miya had a ridiculous amount of six billion merchant coins. While still unable to help the situation, it was quite a miracle for a single woman to have obtained so much money.

Suo Jia smiled and shook his head as he passed the merchant card back to Miya. “I never would have imagined that you were a wealthy young lady! But…there’s no need for your money for the time being. You can hold onto it for now!”

Miya’s eyes knit together in annoyance as she asked, “What? Are you a male chauvinist that firmly refuses to use a woman’s money?”

“As if…” Suo Jia bitterly chuckled, “How did you get that conclusion? The problem isn’t who the money belongs to. If I could use it, I definitely would not reject it. The issue right now is that we’re short of four hundred billion!”

“Ah!” Miya was stupefied by this statement. “Oh my god! What are you thinking? Even if we continued earning money our whole lives, there’s no way we could ever gain back that much money. Our objective is still the end, right? Your plan is too unrealistic, impossible even!”

“Tch…” Suo Jia clicked his tongue in disdain as he shook the inconspicuous grey cloak he wore. “Look closely at what I’m wearing.”

“Hm?” Miya was puzzled as she studied the cloak on Suo Jia’s body and asked in confusion, “Isn’t this a cloak? Even a peak heaven tier one would only be a few hundred thousand merchant coins…Why? Does it have some kind of history?”

Suo Jia helplessly looked at Miya and softly whispered in Miya’s ear, “This is the Death God’s Mantle! Yes…one of the three underworld weapons listed at auctions. It’s worth a trillion. Do you get it now? To me, four hundred billion is merely a small figure, it’s not beyond me.”

“Heavens!” Miya stared at Suo Jia in shock, completely at loss for words. As someone that had been wandering through the Greater Trade Routes for nearly a decade, there was no way she did not know about the Death God’s Mantle, how it could be obtained, as well as its price!

Miya’s expression was complicated as she realized that the longer she stuck around Suo Jia, the more mysterious she found him to be. At the moment, Miya was finally starting to slightly understand why Nicole had blindly worshipped Suo Jia so much, as well as why even the unyielding Xiang Yun and Roger were willing to listen to Suo Jia’s orders. This man was a creator of miracles!

Suo Jia grinned at Miya’s astonished face and shook his head as he pulled Miya by the arm to walk out of the exchange area. Miya asked Suo Jia in bewilderment, “What? Are we not buying the agate?”

“What…” Suo Jia dryly laughed at Miya’s words. “What are you thinking? Do you think I’m a god that can just materialize money? I’m just confident that I can definitely think of a way to do it. There’s no way I can instantly create money!”

Miya was now completely lost as she blankly stared at Suo Jia. If he had no means of handing over the money, where did his strong self-confidence come from? She really did not understand at all!