Chapter 391: Distribution Of Resources
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The meeting of the Severed Fingers’ higher-ups ended with Watson issuing his orders one by one. Soon, the ten leaders left the Three-legged Cat tavern and ordered their subordinates to meet at Count Gray’s manor later.
“Count Gray, do you know why the Black Emperor wants to meet us later? If you know, can you tell me? ”
Veronica walked behind Count Gray and stopped him before he left.
“It’s not something I can guess,” Count Gray said with a reverent look on his face. Then he heard Veronica relentlessly ask, “I don’t need you to guess; I just need you to tell me what you know.”.
Count Gray cleared his throat. “Let me tell you what the Black Emperor did to us last time. The Black Emperor took us to the manor to heal our fingers. Some of those who were disabled also recovered, and Donder was one of them! In addition to helping us recover, the Black Emperor also gave Marcus and me a large amount of wine and weapons. You may not know that, but the Black Emperor has mastered a spell that can fuse things of inferior quality and turn them into higher quality items..”
“There’s such a spell?”
Veronica looked doubtful. However, she had asked Watson for 100 million gold coins, and he had also conjured it in an instant. The strange feeling in her heart weakened slightly and was replaced by an even more intense curiosity.
“That Black Emperor looks so young, but he has mastered so many magical spells. Who is he?”
Count Gray turned his head and looked around. When he found that there was no one around, he moved closer to Veronica’s ear and said, “Don’t tell anyone about this. The Black Emperor had forbidden us from divulging this matter, but you are one of the leaders. I think you have the right to know about this! Actually, the Black Emperor’s real name is Watson. Now you should know who he is, right?”
“Watson? Antonio’s disciple from the border? And also the Sword Saint’s disciple?”
Veronica chewed on the name; she was shocked.
Watson’s name was famous in the capital. Even though she had just returned from outside, she had heard many people talking about that young man. He had become the disciple of two famous figures in the kingdom, and he had even made a name for himself in the Royal Academy’s a.s.sessment. He had obtained a perfect score, one that they only see once every few decades. Then, the King had personally invited him to a banquet. That was a lot of achievements for a single person, and that demonstrated his power.
However, that young man had another ident.i.ty. He was the Severed Fingers Gang’s boss, and his nickname was the Black Emperor.
“Now you know why the Black Emperor is so powerful, right? With his ident.i.ty, the Severed Fingers Gang will be able to go legitimate. We won’t have to hide and worry about anyone suppressing us. At the same time, the resources in his hands will allow us to earn more because, with the Black Emperor’s partic.i.p.ation, the Severed Fingers Gang will enter a new era from now onward.”
“I hope so.”
Watson’s deeds had already convinced Veronica, but she still did not want to admit it verbally. Furthermore, whether Watson’s policies were effective or not, it was useless to talk about it. It was better to wait for time to verify it.
On the other side, Basher and Amon were walking together on the road. Both of them held middle finger positions, and they had a good relations.h.i.+p with each other.
“Basher, does your leg still hurt?”
“It doesn’t hurt at all. That d*mn Black Emperor: Why didn’t he say that he’s a platinum-tier elite? If he had said earlier, I wouldn’t have attacked him, and I would have been lying on the ground for half a day, making a fool of myself in front of others.” Basher stepped on his right leg as he complained unhappily.
“Basher, stop complaining. If it weren’t for the Black Emperor’s kindness, I think you would have died! But I really didn’t expect to meet such a talented person in the world—he would be very famous in the kingdom. Why have I never heard of him?”
As Amon recalled the scene, he could not help but feel a wave of fear in his mind. When the dagger in his hand collided with Watson’s neck, he felt the shadow of death shrouding his body. As a professional killer, he was always able to kill his prey in various ways. His name was the b.l.o.o.d.y Executioner. However, a person put his neck out for him to cut, but he could not even cut it. That was the first time he had encountered such a situation.
“There’s still half an hour before we head to Count Gray’s manor. Let’s use that time to investigate the Black Emperor. It is likely just an alias. I want to see who he is.”
Many of the Severed Fingers higher-ups had the same thoughts. Within half an hour, they gathered all their members while preparing their own matters and headed toward Count Gray’s manor.
Soon, half an hour had pa.s.sed. Close to 100,000 people were heading toward Count Gray’s manor in various streets of the royal city. They inconspicuously entered the estate.
About 100,000 people stood inside the manor. Most of them, who did not know what had happened, were discussing it carefully and inquiring about what had happened.
The Severed Fingers members were scattered throughout the kingdom; the 100,000 people were not all of them. Those were just the elites selected to attend the meeting. They had even more members in the entire kingdom.
At that moment, those elites stood in front of the ten higher-ups. They looked in the direction of the gate nervously, waiting for Watson’s arrival.
One of Veronica’s subordinates whispered to his companion beside him, “I didn’t expect the ten leaders would appear here at the same time! They’re usually out of sight, without a trace. It was generally impossible for any ordinary member to see them, so I didn’t expect to see all ten of them here. What an honor, indeed!”
His companion looked smug. “What? Then, I know a little more than you. I heard that we have a new boss, and he has met with our ten higher-ups. He had issued commands to turn our illegal activities into legitimate ones. So, those higher-ups don’t need to hide their ident.i.ties anymore.”
“A person with a higher status than the ten higher-ups? Is that true? If that person really exists, what should we call him?”
“I don’t know his name, but I do know that all the higher-ups refer to him as the Black Emperor.”
While the members were whispering among themselves, suddenly, a vast magical black hole appeared in the sky above Count Gray’s manor. A youth in a feathered coat holding a black and red longsword in his hand descended from the sky like a G.o.d.
“Everyone, I’m sorry I’m late.”
“Greetings, Black Emperor.”
After the youth arrived, Marcus and the other higher-ups knelt and bowed toward the teenager. Among them, Basher and Amon lowered their heads even lower than the rest. They had learned the Black Emperor’s ident.i.ty within the past half an hour.
‘The Sword Saint and the Astrologer’s disciple, the youngest platinum-tier elite in the history of the kingdom! With such an ident.i.ty and strength, he was bullying me when he fought with me.’ Basher sighed in his heart as he lowered his head.
How could he be so blind? He should have detected Watson’s strength. Initially, he was not very convinced of Watson’s ident.i.ty, but the more he investigated, the more he understood Watson’s power. The young man was very powerful. Plus, the Severed Fingers Gang experienced an increase in their turnover for the past two days.
For example, Marcus and Count Gray sold weapons and wine for tens of millions of gold coins a year. However, with Watson’s fused weapons and red wine, the turnover in the past two days had exceeded ten million.
Watson had fused many weapons that were in short supply in the black market. Many would still buy them even though they cost a thousand gold coins. Count Gray’s business was also booming. n.o.blemen would go to the tavern and leave with ten bottles of the same red wine.
‘We don’t need to resort to illegal activities to grow the Severed Fingers Gang. I wonder how Watson’s brain works? He is already an influential person, yet he can still come up with so many strange ideas. Is he not busy with training?’
While Basher was indulging in his wild thoughts, Watson had already descended from the sky to Count Gray’s manor. A young girl trailed behind him from the black hole.
“This is the royal city? It looks good. By the way, there are so many people here. Are these your newly recruited subordinates?”
“Globe, don’t talk about so many irrelevant things. Get the things I told you to bring here.”
“Yes, Master. I’ll release the things right away.”
The young girl Watson called the Globe was the World Transformation Mirror. He wanted those who had lost their fingers to be there in half an hour because he wanted to give the higher-ups some time to prepare. He also needed the time to contact the World Transformation Mirror and get something from Mount Creation.
Suddenly, huge palaces fell from the black hole in the sky. “First, there are ten platinum-tier palaces on Mount Creation.”
Before the palaces fell, Watson had already extended his right hand to the top of his head. “System fusion, activate.”
[Congratulations on successfully fusing ten platinum-tier palaces, Master. You have obtained a diamond-tier palace.]
Following the system notification, the huge palaces above his heads transformed into rays of light and fell into the gray manor below, enveloping the entire manor. Under the blinding rays of light, the manor underwent a complete transformation.
Firstly, the entire manor did not change. However, the people there felt that the manor had become tens of times more s.p.a.cious. Numerous spires and towers were situated within the courtyard, and there was also a huge floating courtyard. The top of the courtyard was covered with densely packed trees. Fresh air filled the entire area. The floating courtyard was above that. However, the Severed Fingers Gang members could not see it from below.
“What is that?”
One man stared at the top of his head. His voice trembled slightly.
“Am I seeing things? In the blink of an eye, the Black Emperor had transformed the courtyard that we are in. He is worthy of his status with the gang, indeed! While I am standing here, I can feel the speed of my combat aura increase quite a bit. If I can continue to train here, I might be able to turn from bronze to silver-tier in a few years.”
Another person sighed.
[Diamond-tier building: Eight-story Courtyard in the Sky]
The structure was composed of eight courtyards with different levels. Each courtyard had a different environment.
[Abilities: Terrain Change (the terrain and scenery of each courtyard can be changed according to the owner’s wishes), Absolute Invisibility (the eight-layered courtyard is located in another s.p.a.ce and can’t be seen from the outside), Cultivation Enhancement (cultivation speed increased by 100%), Eight-layered Aurora Strike (the courtyard can absorb light elements and cast a large-scale light element spell on the ground, causing diamond-tier damage).]
[Additional abilities: Light Enchantment (all items stored in the courtyard will be enchanted with light elements).]
The information appeared in Watson’s eyes, and he nodded in satisfaction. Count Gray’s manor was initially used to store red wine and a temporary place for the Severed Fingers members to gather, but there were too many members there at that moment. A hundred thousand people seemed to be too much for the manor, so Watson decided to renovate it.
“From now on, that manor will be the Severed Fingers Gang’s new headquarters. Its name is the Eight-story Courtyard in the Sky. It can accommodate a million people, and it’s very well hidden! You can construct the buildings you want in these courtyards and store the items you want to store. Even platinum-tier elites will not be able to discover its location.”
Watson announced the use of the courtyard to everyone there.
“Black Emperor, if you had told me that you wanted to build a new headquarters, I would have offered you a few unused mansions in the capital. I can give them to you to build a new stronghold,” Veronica said. She looked disappointed, as if someone had stolen a large amount of her gold coins.
To Veronica, making money was not only her specialty but also her nature. If one did not make money, one would lose money—that was her life principle.
At that moment, she learned that Count Gray’s manor had been renovated into something more luxurious. There were also all kinds of strange effects. So, Veronica felt envious.
She regretted that she had not asked Count Gray about it. They could not have built the same thing with a million gold coins. She could have had the same thing.
“Black Emperor, don’t listen to Veronica’s nonsense. Her mansions in the royal city belonged to those who couldn’t pay their debts. They don’t belong to her at all! I do have a few houses in the royal city that belong to me. Why don’t you use my house, Black Emperor?” Klein asked.
“My place is in the royal city, so it’s more appropriate for Lord Black Emperor to use my house.”
“No, it’s more appropriate to use mine.”
The rest of the Severed Fingers leaders spoke one after another. None of them gave way to the others.
That was an opportunity to upgrade their houses for free. Who could give that up? Even though they were the Severed Fingers’ higher-ups and were in charge of the underworld forces that covered the entire kingdom, they had never lived in a courtyard that floated in the sky. No one would be able to reject that feeling of being high up and overlooking everything.
“You don’t have to fight for it. There will be plenty of such opportunities as long as you perform well in the future! We are doing the fusion in Count Gray’s manor because I gave him and Marcus a mission two days ago to see which of the red wine and weapons would be more profitable. In the end, Count Gray won. That is my reward to him. ”
Watson waved his hand to stop the quarrel among the Severed Fingers’ higher-ups. “Next is my gift to you! Absolute Healing!”
A thick layer of green light emerged from his body and washed over all the Severed Fingers’ members. Those covered by the green light instantly recovered their severed fingers. Some who were disabled were also healed.
Many of them were shocked. They exclaimed, “My finger is healed!” Then, they knelt toward Watson.
If Watson’s diamond-tier courtyard had shocked them, then his following action had stunned them and left them grateful.
“Then, the third thing. Globe, take those things out.”
Watson gave another order, and Globe immediately took action. She tore the black hole above her head a little bigger, and fruits that emitted light and fragrance fell from the sky. They floated in the air like dancing flames.
The fruits were silver and golden-red. They were the moon and sun gems that grew on Mount Creation. They had an oversupply of the fruits on the mountain, and they were taken as ordinary wild fruits. However, to the Severed Fingers Gang members, who mainly were bronze and silver-tier elites, those were supreme treasures.
“These two kinds of fruits are called the Moon and Sun Gems. Their purpose is to allow the user to obtain the strength of gold-tier and awaken the cultivation talent of light and dark elements! Currently, I’ve brought more than a million of these fruits from Mount Creation. Apart from the ones for each of you, the rest can be used to brew wine. The wine cultivated from these fruits will have some effects that can help people increase their strength. I’ve named them Sun wine and Moon wine. Each bottle is priced at a thousand gold coins. Count Gray, I’ll leave this matter to you.”
Count Gray had successfully stimulated the market with the fusion wine in the past two days. He had won the hearts of the people in the capital. Watson felt that it was time to launch a more impactful product and make a fortune.
“Yes, Black Emperor.”
Count Gray’s eyes were filled with excitement at Watson’s order. He put his head on the ground devoutly. He swore that he would complete the task Watson had given him perfectly. The wine was named after the Moon and the Sun gems. It was well-suited to its magical effects. If that wine appeared on the market, it would definitely sell well.
Right Ring was also excited. She had asked Watson for the formula to fuse the wine, so she did not expect Watson to give her something better.
“Next is for the two thumbs who are in charge of selling weapons. I want you to sell platinum-tier weapons! There are currently 10,000 sets of platinum weapons and armor here. I will put the sun and moon gems on the first floor, and I want to put those weapons on the second floor of the courtyard.”
Watson waved his hand, and a strong wind blew, splitting the sun and moon gems into two parts. One part was blown into the hands of the 100,000 members with broken fingers, and the other part was blown into the lush courtyard in the sky.
Some of the members quickly bit into the fruits when they got their hands on one.
There was a buzz, the member who had consumed the sun gem immediately burst with a gold-tier aura. Two incandescent light-elemental combat aura wings appeared behind his back, causing him to shout out in pleasant surprise. “It’s true. The Black Emperor has told the truth. I’ve advanced to gold-tier!”
“Wow! It’s true! I’ll give it a try too.”
With someone taking the lead, everyone stuffed the fruit into their mouths and successfully advanced to gold-tier. The aura of the 100,000 gold-tier warriors combined into one, causing the earth to tremble.
At the same time, swords and armor flickered with platinum colors fell from the black hole, landing in the second-floor courtyard made of metal and rocks.
“Each of those weapons and weapons costs 10,000 gold coins. I want you to sell them slowly to avoid selling too many at once and causing the price to depreciate.”
“Please rest a.s.sured, Black Emperor. We will not disappoint you.” Marcus and the other thumb stuffed the sun fruit into their mouths as they lowered their heads excitedly.
If they were already excited when Watson brought fruits that could allow people to advance to gold-tier, their mood did not worsen when they saw the platinum-tier weapons. The kingdom only had no more than ten platinum-tier weapons. However, there were 100,000 of them in front of them. Even if they each had a set, it would be more than enough.