Chapter 2709 – Walking Wallet
Monarch Mu stared at Lu Yin in a daze, feeling that she must have heard wrong. She stared at Lu Yin and sneered. "You think I’d ever believe that? Cloudflow is the Transcendent Universe’s captive, and they are constantly experimenting on him. How could you have brought him here? You’re trying to tell me you were able to take Cloudflow away from the Transcendent Universe? Impossible."
Lu Yin praised the woman, "It seems that you three Monarchs have a great relationship with the Transcendent Universe. With your connections, you should be fully aware of just how they treat Cloudflow."
Monarch Mu denied nothing.
Lu Yin moved closer to the woman, his hands clasped behind his back as stared at the Monarch’s tired expression. "You’re right, normally, Cloudflow would not be able to be rescued, but at the same time, you should not be my captive, either, and yet here you are. Do you want me to call Cloudflow over to meet you? Would you like to get acquainted?”
As he spoke, Lu Yin waved a hand and dispersed the death energy that filled the area overhead. Monarch Mu looked up, and was stunned by what she saw. "It really is Cloudflow? How did you do it?"
Lu Yin stared at the woman. "The greater your surprise, the more complete your knowledge of the Transcendent Universe. Is this because you’ve been working together with He Ran?"
"Don"t you already know the answer to that?" Monarch Mu"s voice sounded dejected. As time pa.s.sed, she was finding Lu Yin to be increasingly unfathomable. If he really had rescued Cloudflow, then it meant that not even the Transcendent Universe was able to do anything about this youth.
Lu Yin shook his head as he smiled at the woman. "In that case, why did I hear that you have an agreement with Sovereign Shao Yin to deal with He Ran and Lord Wei?"
This question instantly caused Monarch Mu"s expression to change drastically, and as she stared at Lu Yin, her pupils fluctuated. "You- what did you just say?"
Lu Yin moved even closer. "Aren"t you going to help the You family?"
Monarch Mu looked as though she had just been struck by lightning as she stared at Lu Yin. "Why- how do you know about that? How could you possibly know? Who told you? The only people who know about that are Luo Shan and me! How could you possibly know? How on earth did you find out?"
Monarch Mu spat out questions in a manner that made her sound insane. Lu Yin had just spoken one of the Three Monarchs Universe’s greatest secrets. They made a show of working with He Ran, but in secret, they had agreed to help the You family and Sovereign Shao Yin eliminate Lord Wei. If this matter ever leaked, the three Monarchs would suffer a terrible blow, as it would be difficult for them to find anyone in the Sixverse a.s.sociation who would trust them.
This was not only because they were trying to eliminate Lord Wei, but more importantly because they had secretly betrayed him to the You family. No one would be willing to tolerate such a thing.
If the Three Monarchs Universe was willing to help the You family defeat Lord Wei and take over the Transcendent Universe, they were just as likely to secretly cooperate with other powers to overthrow the rulers of other universes.
The fact that the Three Monarchs Universe had been cooperating with He Ran meant that their behavior was nothing less than a betrayal, and who would be willing to work with traitors?
Monarch Mu just stared at Lu Yin. How could he know about this? This should be a secret to absolutely everyone.
Lu Yin slowly smiled at the woman. "Do you think I was just joking when I said I was going after your Three Monarchs Universe? I have everything under my control. As soon as Lord Wei learns of this matter, who in the entire Sixverse a.s.sociation will ever be willing to ally themselves with your Three Monarchs Universe? How will you be able to maintain your place in the Sixverse a.s.sociation? You’ll be treated as outcasts."
"What do you want?" Monarch Mu"s face had already gone pale.
Lu Yin stared at the woman. His eyes were filled with pity and ridicule. "I"m quite surprised at you. You’re already my prisoner, so why are you so worked up? This is Luo Shan’s concern now. Even if this matter gets exposed, he’s the one who will be in trouble. None of this has anything to do with you anymore. Monarch Mu. Are you the kind of person who would sacrifice yourself for Luo Shan?"
Monarch Mu"s eyes flickered as she stared at Lu Yin.
He suddenly laughed. "Think about things; if I already know about this, then I can destroy Luo Shan whenever I wish. You need to consider whether you want to go down with him or not. I’ll give you some time to think, but you’re running out of time. You also should stop hoping for something to happen. If I already know this much, do you really think that Luo Shan and the others will be able to succeed?"
Monarch Mu had no idea that Luo Shan and the others had already attacked Lord Wei, only to have failed.
To Monarch Mu’s understanding of matters, if Sovereign Shao Yin, Luo Shan, and the You family worked together, there was absolutely no way for Lord Wei to survive. They had everything in the Transcendent Universe under their control, yet were not implicated in anything. If Lu Yin already knew the truth of the matter, their plans would not proceed as they expected.
"As long as Luo Shan does nothing, you have no evidence at all!" Monarch Mu shouted.
Lu Yin smiled. "But Luo Shan doesn’t know that he’s been exposed."
Monarch Mu"s pupils shrank sharply. Lu Yin was right, Luo Shan did not know that he had been caught already. Lu Yin could simply share everything as soon as Luo Shan took action, and as long as Lord Wei’s guard was up, the plan would fail.
"Maybe I should even help Lord Wei? If I approach him as the representative of the Origin Universe, it shouldn’t be difficult to get Lord Wei to help me deal with an enemy who already tried to destroy him. Monarch Mu, once Luo Shan is dealt with, you’ll be next," Lu Yin He said before abruptly leaving.
Monarch Mu stared at Lu Yin"s back, her mind in complete chaos. She had no idea what to do. Everything Lu Yin had just said was absolutely true. He was aware of their greatest secrets, and if he used that against them, Luo Shan would unquestionably fail. What should Monarch Mu do? What was the right choice?
Lu Yin was unconcerned with Monarch Mu’s thoughts. All he wanted was to shatter the woman’s hope.
Monarch Mu was a very selfish individual, and the more selfish the person, the more they thought about themselves. If Luo Shan was already guaranteed to lose, Monarch Mu would find a way to save herself, and the cost that she would be willing to pay would be extremely high.
Lu Yin was in no rush, and he intended to leave the woman to her thoughts. After all, she had no way to escape from him.
It was important to continue forward one step at a time.
***
In the Cloudflow Universe, Qiu Zhan had already completed his investigation and returned to deliver his report to Lord Wei.
The ruler of the Transcendent Universe listened quietly, but his eyes were cold. "A demi-human transaction? How audacious!"
Qiu Zhan was similarly furious. "That woman is too twisted! I never thought such a thing would happen under me. Please punish me for this oversight."
Lord Wei coldly replied, "Everyone is already dead; what would be the use of punishing you? Who was she trading with?"
"The Zhu Mercantile Company," Qiu Zhan replied.
Lord Wei grunted; the Zhu Mercantile Company no longer needed to exist.
The Cloudflow Universe was Lord Wei’s private property, and every plant and creature in it belonged to him, including the demi-humans. The fact that the blonde woman had dared to sell the demi-humans had violated Lord Wei’s bottom line, and the fact that the Zhu Mercantile Company had dared purchase from her was equally unforgivable.
Suddenly, Lord Wei"s expression changed, and he turned to look in a particular direction. Far away from the bestowal art carrier, a distant figure was approaching, and they slowly bowed to Lord Wei.
The ruler stepped out and approached the man.
"The Merchant Exchange’s Yin Hua greets Lord Wei." The person who had arrived was an old man who appeared quite calm.
Lord Wei was surprised. "Someone from the Merchant Exchange? Why have you come to see me?"
Yin Hua bowed again. "A member of our Merchant Exchange died here, and I came to investigate the matter."
Lord Wei grew puzzled. "Why would anyone from your Merchant Exchange have died here? Who was it?"
"His name was Zhu Ye," Yin Hua replied.
Lord Wei"s eyes grew sharp, and from behind him, Qiu Zhan stepped forward and exclaimed, "Zhu Ye? The young master of the Zhu Mercantile Company? He’s a member of your Merchant Exchange?"
Yin Hua looked over at Qiu Zhan and nodded. "As of a few days ago. The young man only just joined my Merchant Exchange, and I’m his supervisor. It would seem that you know what killed Zhu Ye, Senior."
Qiu Zhan glanced at Lord Wei, as did Yin Hua.
Lord Wei nodded, and Qiu Zhan shared what he knew. Yin Hua remained composed throughout the entire report, and only spoke after Qiu Zhan had finished speaking, "Cloudflow? He doesn"t isn’t capable of killing Zhu Ye. The youth received the protection of my Merchant Exchange. No ordinary powerhouse could have touched him."
Lord Wei"s heart skipped a beat. "Zhu Ye was already given a power vessel?"
Yin Hua answered in a respectful tone, "Yes, he already received one."
Lord Wei"s expression grew a great deal more solemn. He understood just how powerful the Merchant Exchange"s power vessels were. While they possessed no offensive abilities whatsoever, they shifted a person out of phase with the common layer of s.p.a.ce so that they could not be touched by most people, not even peak powerhouses.
If ten random peak powerhouses were selected from the Sixverse a.s.sociation, no more than three would be capable of touching someone like Zhu Ye who was protected by the Merchant Exchange.
Things had just become far more serious. If just Cloudflow and someone with a black energy converter had attacked, Lord Wei would not be particularly concerned, but the fact that someone had appeared who was capable of killing Zhu Ye made things completely different. This was a qualitative change of the situation.
"Commander Qiu Zhan, may I be allowed to go and take a look?" Yin Hua asked.
Xuan Zhan again looked over at Lord Wei, who had no objection.
"Please, follow me."
Yin Hua was grateful and followed the commander to the bestowal art carrier.
Yin Hua soon left. If not even Lord Wei was able to find anything, Yin Hua certainly was incapable of discovering anything.
Once Yin Hua was gone, Qiu Zhan returned to Lord Wei. "I never expected Zhu Ye to have actually joined the Merchant Exchange. There are rumors that Merchant Exchange is led by someone from the Lost Clan."
Lord Wei calmly stated, "Seal all information about the Merchant Exchange. Also," He paused for a moment. "Don"t touch the Zhu Mercantile Company. Give Merchant Exchange a bit of face."
Xuan Zhan nodded to show his understanding.
Lord Wei stared at the bestowal art carrier. Had it really been Aeternus? If not, then why had such a powerful individual appeared in this place?
…
What had happened in the Cloudflow Universe did not spread. After Lu Yin returned to the Voidforce Universe, the first thing he did was look into the Merchant Exchange.
The Bureau had access to a great deal of information, including some about the Merchant Exchange.
A few days later, Lu Yin stood at the top of the bell tower, staring off into the distance while lost in thought. What had happened in the Cloudflow Universe might bring some real trouble for Lord Wei.
The Merchant Exchange was a ma.s.sive trading company that spread across the entire Sixverse a.s.sociation, including the sixty-two subsidiary parallel universes. However, the company did not sell or produce anything at all. They engaged in only a single activity: exchange.
The sole function of the Merchant Exchange was to exchange resources that were used as currency in the various parallel universes, such as star energy crystals, star essence, the Transcendent Universe’s transcendent crystals, and the Three Monarchs Universe’s flourishing crystals. Truthfully, there were many other companies that engaged in the same activity, but the Merchant Exchange was the largest and was the only one that dealt with every known parallel universe.
The Merchant Exchange"s trades were guaranteed and were never suspect. They had their own conversion rates, and they even provided delivery service, which was very convenient.
Of course, the Merchant Exchange"s services were not free. They charged a handling fee of one thousandth of each transaction. While that did not sound like very much, the Merchant Exchange did not conduct small transactions, and each trade would be at least in the tens of millions, or even billions. Their fee quickly added up to a substantial amount.
The Merchant Exchange was also famous for their efficiency and impartialness within the Sixverse a.s.sociation. One of the primary ways that they ensured such efficiency was by having every member of the Merchant Exchange carry vast amounts of resources with them, which allowed people to use the Merchant Exchange’s services with any of their members, no matter where or when they were encountered. The Merchant Exchange would complete business with everyone as quickly as possible.
It was because of this that every member of the Merchant Exchange in the megaverse was regarded as a walking wallet.
Each of them were also protected by power vessels that looked like eyes, which was also the symbol of the Merchant Exchange. Even if someone wants to rob the Merchant Exchange, they would find that it was impossible, whereas those who were capable of it would not bother to attack members of the Merchant Exchange.
As soon as Lu Yin learned about this, his immediate thought was of Zhu Ye"s cosmic ring. How could he have forgotten such a thing? He should go back and search for it.
The Merchant Exchange did not have many members wandering the Sixverse a.s.sociation, yet each and every one of them carried ma.s.sive amounts of resources, which was why Lu Yin found his oversight to be such a pity.