These monster merchants turned out to be even more successful than I imagined.
Dalun Li appreciated their characteristic of doing whatever it took to earn gold coins for him.
This excellent trait was precisely the masterpiece he had created.
He was becoming increasingly proficient at Monster Creation.
Through the efforts of the monster merchants, Dalun Li had obtained a large amount of gold coins over these past three days.
The small pile of treasure already looked quite pleasing.
This hoard of treasure had successfully increased the Earth Vein Power absorption rate to 434.621 per day.
With the current Earth Vein Power absorption rate, I'll be able to create the 12th floor tomorrow.
However...
Dalun Li looked at his pile of miscellaneous items.
Everything the monster merchants sold came from Dalun Li's junk pile.
The food being sold was the entry fees Dalun Li collected periodically.
Nowadays, more and more adventurers were buying from the monster merchants within the dungeon.
Essentially all adventurers knew that a type of monster existed in the dungeon that would not actively attack humans, held a neutral stance, and could be traded with.
The quantity of goods might not necessarily be enough to supply such a large number of adventurers.
Furthermore, the items sold by the monster merchants were too limited in variety.
Dalun Li wanted to establish a currency system for the Well of Eternal Imprisonment to increase the value of copper coins and wood coins.
On this point, having a single type of item might decrease the value of these two currencies.
Copper coins and wood coins themselves had no inherent value; Dalun Li could create a massive amount of them whenever he wanted.
The materials were simply copper and wood.
He didn't even use magic wood, just ordinary wood; magic wood was quite expensive.
As long as the currency system could be established, Dalun Li could use the dungeon coin to harvest the money of the adventurers.
As the floors went deeper, it became harder to transport resources from the surface.
By then, even ordinary food could be sold at a high price.
He also didn't have to worry about adventurers making counterfeit currency.
All currency of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment had anti-counterfeiting measures, and fake coins could never deceive a monster merchant's [Money Scent].
But all of this required a rich supply of goods at the lower levels to support the value of the dungeon coin.
It might hold up for now, but as time passed, the adventurers would surely discover the monster merchants' empty shelves.
"To have a rich variety of goods, I must have my own production chain."
Stealing things from humans to sell back to humans was certainly not a long-term strategy.
"Zeno."
With the call, Zeno, who was wandering the upper floors, was instantly teleported before Dalun Li and knelt on one knee.
"My Lord."
"Go catch Fete... never mind."
"You no longer need to hide from humans. Go and ask him some things directly on my behalf."
Dalun Li changed his mind.
"As you command, my Lord."
"But regarding not hiding from humans, you mean..."
Zeno asked carefully.
"You have blended in among humans and observed them for so long; you should have learned their way of interaction by now."
"Use these dungeon adventurers as practice for now. Later, I will need you to infiltrate Gray City."
Zeno understood her master's intent and quickly bowed her head.
"As you wish, my Lord."
Having received her orders, Zeno quickly arrived at the human station on the fourth floor.
This time, however, she did not continue to hide herself.
Instead, she walked into the human station openly.
The clothes on her body had changed again, mimicking the outfit of a female adventurer.
Although the metal head-armor she wore, which covered the upper half of her face, was somewhat conspicuous.
Among the diverse and strange adventurers, it wasn't considered an odd outfit.
She followed the path and walked straight to Fete's house.
"Orders are full for today..."
"Sss..."
Fete was about to dismiss the visitor casually, but when he looked up and saw Zeno, his hands trembled, and the magic item he was alchemizing was instantly ruined.
"You—no, why are you here, my lady?"
Fete felt a bitterness in his heart, not even daring to mourn his wasted alchemical materials.
Why was this terrifying woman here?
Zeno's power had already become a shadow in his heart.
According to his guesses during this time, Zeno was very likely a member of the elf race traveling to the Northern Territory of Lanxi.
At the same time, her strength was at least above the third-rank.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to crush a second-rank swordsman, along with a first-rank heavy warrior and a first-rank swordsman, so easily.
He truly didn't know why such a powerful being would appear here.
Several merchants waiting for their goods nearby looked up in surprise.
Even Mr. Fete, the alchemist, was being so respectful.
Who exactly was this woman?
"I have questions for you. You only need to answer them."
Hearing Zeno's flat tone, Fete swallowed hard.
"Please wait a moment, I'll be right with you."
Fete quickly walked toward the suspicious merchants.
"Everyone, I have urgent business to attend to today. I cannot host you any longer."
He quickly ushered the merchants out of the house.
"Mr. Fete, who is that lady? Could you introduce us?"
The merchants who were ushered out tried to seize the opportunity, wanting to get to know the clearly extraordinary Zeno.
The more unusual the person, the more it indicated a potential business opportunity.
Networking was incredibly important for merchants.
Fete's expression stiffened.
Damn it, you merchants might not value your lives, but I value mine.
Seriously, what was going on lately? Ever since becoming an alchemist, bad luck had been following him one after another.
Once he returned to the surface, he would have to go to the Church of Light to wash away this bad luck.
"Next time, definitely next time."
After quickly sending the merchants away, Fete returned to the room and sealed the doors and windows.
Then he poured his treasured black tea and served it to Zeno.
His heart was full of bitterness.
He was terrified that if this lethal lady became unhappy, she would blow him away.
The bloody scene of those people's deaths back then had become an indelible shadow in Fete's mind.
"Lady Zeno, what is the purpose of your visit this time?"
"If there is anything I can help with, please just say the word. As the Goddess of Light is my witness, I will certainly do my utmost."
Zeno raised her hand.
Fete's back was instantly drenched in sweat.
As it turned out, Zeno merely picked up the teacup gently.
"Do you know of the Foundry Church?"
Hearing Zeno's question, Fete quickly accessed his most hidden stores of knowledge.
He was quite confident in his own reservoir of information.
"The Foundry Church is said to be a church that came from across the North Sea Strait in the northwest."
"Those who believe in the Foundry Church and the God of the Foundry are the legendary dwarf race."
"They can use hammers to forge magical artifacts and mana equipment."
Although Fete didn't know why Zeno was asking, he still explained in detail.
However, whether it was alchemy or forging.
The magical artifacts and mana equipment produced always had a limit of the masterpiece grade.
However, because the magical artifacts produced by alchemy were more diverse and could also include alchemizing magic potions, the Alchemist Association had always flourished while the Foundry Church had gradually declined.
"Have you learned about forging?"
Fete didn't dare say he knew nothing.
"I know a thing or two."
"Forging is different from alchemy. Alchemy relies on talent; without talent, no matter how hard one works, they cannot perform alchemy."
"Forging, on the other hand, relies on certain techniques and the power of the God of Forging."
"By relying on the blessings bestowed by the God of Forging, they forge monster materials and magic metals."
"The barrier to entry is much, much lower than that of alchemy."
"I previously collected a book regarding Forging. If you are interested, Lady Zeno, please accept it."
Fete rose sensibly and quickly searched for an old, worn-out book, respectfully handing it to Zeno.
Zeno took the book. The cover was already indistinguishable, but the content inside was well-preserved.
"How much do you know about the Harvest Church?"
Zeno's words left Fete puzzled.
Considering the plant-manipulating methods Zeno had used before, you're asking me about this?
If his guess was correct and Zeno was indeed an elf of the elf race.
Don't elves worship no gods, believing only in nature itself?
Was her plant ability simply the power of nature and not a gift from the Harvest God?
No wonder her plant abilities were completely different in style from those of the Harvest Church.
Fete quickly completed this mental narrative in his head.
After all, his reservoir of knowledge was extremely rich, so he was also extremely quick at filling in the blanks using various pieces of information.
Perhaps this was the curse of knowledge.
Rate on N.U.
