These Half-Beasts possess certain Beastman characteristics, such as ears, tails, sharp teeth, and so on.
Although it requires a substantial one-time payment, there’s no need to continuously pay wages.
I have the slave contracts (Witchcraft Contracts) in hand, so there’s no worry about them making trouble.
Give them a sum for living expenses, and the grain industry affair is settled. Later, once the super fertilizer is researched, there’s no need to change the soil every few seasons.
As for why not use Dan Dong natives or other races for guards, Lin Suo can only say that without the slave contract, they’re not trustworthy, and the Elf Clan and such are too costly.
Half-Beasts are far more economical; they’re inexpensive, numerous, physically strong, include board and lodging, and with just a bit of space for personal cultivation and some entertainment, they can be perfectly controlled.
I’ve told a few members of the management team the location of the Rhein Bookstore.
In the blink of an eye, half a month has passed.
The grand opening of the grain shop took place, and due to it being super rice varieties, twenty mu of land would normally yield 30,000 catties at most, but my super varieties produced a whopping 75 tons, five times that of ordinary rice varieties.
This surplus is enough to sell for a season.
I arranged for the Half-Beast guards to experience the delights of the Gold Cave in the Mixed Blood District, and life gradually got on track.
At first, Lin Suo would still make rounds to the shop.
Initially, there were indeed inquiries, but the prices were very steep; Lin Suo sold rice for 10 gold a catty. If sold out in a season, that’s a bloody profit of 1.5 million gold in two months.
Almost zero cost, all profit.
This number might look large, but when converted to low-level Magic Stones, it’s only 150 pieces, which, to the common man, is considered wealthy.
To a Wild Wizard, it’s the same!
However, for real wizard families or organizations that have formed, it’s hardly worth mentioning, but individual members might be envious, which Lin Suo has calculated.
The outside world doesn’t know his costs. Once he gets some reputation and blends into the noble circles, everything will fall into place naturally. This progression can be solidly established at a quicker pace.
On the other hand, Lin Suo dares to price so high for three reasons: the overall quantity isn’t large, the quality is exceptional, and there are countless ships coming and going at the port, always some who are willing to buy a batch of novel goods.
To sell at a high price elsewhere.
To be a middleman making a profit on the spread.
Speculation and arbitrage isn’t anything sophisticated; just a bit of insight is required, it has a low barrier to entry, suitable for unique local products to earn a middleman’s fee.
The shop gradually got on track, and occasionally some blind ruffians would try to extort protection fees, all beautifully resolved by the appointed store managers.
After monitoring for some time without any issues,
Lin Suo also felt relieved.
Refocused back on personal cultivation practice. These past few days, his Extreme Knight progress has reached 95 points, getting closer and closer to the end.
Although it slowed down toward the end, it was still much faster than the gradual grind of the past.
In at most half a month, he should be able to condense out the Magic Energy Core in his spine, allowing his body to complete the first stage of Magic Guiding.
At that time, his bloodline will undergo a transformation, and his body will be able to refine Magic Power. As time passes, he will fully transform into a Longevity Species, with longevity, his heartfelt aspiration, right in front of him.
His cultivation practice became even more fervent.
Aside from the Knight’s Path, the activation of spiritual power takes much longer, Lin Suo is also working on improving the Skill Level of the Silver Fish Curse without crafting any Curse Medium.
As for the Acid Corrosive Water Arrow, he simply had no time to train, not to mention he hadn’t even gotten to practice the Fireball Technique or Ice Cone Skill...
The Meditation Law made no progress at all.
After breaking through to the red level with the Round Pupil Meditation Method, his original plan was to practice the Moon Snake Meditation Method, but to be cautious, he decided to wait until after the Body Demonization was complete.
Mutation and corruption were not trivial matters; the more cautious, the better. Lin Suo had learned his lesson well and preferred to go slower rather than risk his life by recklessly experimenting.
It is only half a month’s matter.
He could always wait.
With the counterfeit market for Artificial Magic Stones opened, Lin Suo’s craftsmanship was rated as superior. Before using them, even the highest authority wouldn’t be able to tell they were fakes.
Those big players were shrewd too, aware that some people like to authenticate.
So they simply made the top and bottom layers genuine and padded the middle with Artificial Magic Stones, and it has always been safe so far.
In just a month, Lin Suo tried to control the output quantity but still earned more than 500 Magic Stones.
That was just his share.
Including the profits from Reynolds and the other big dealers in fake goods, the total reached 2000. In Koster, this figure was already a bit risky.
Lin Suo put aside his grain store business and practiced for a few days, but still felt uneasy.
He went to the theater in the Upper City again.
Watching Miss Jones shake her head and sway.
He didn’t have to wait long before Reynolds Augustus, leaning on his cane, came down the aisle and plunked down next to him.
"Just wanted to talk about something."
"About Magic Stones?"
Lin Suo narrowed his eyes imperceptibly and nodded, indeed everything was under the old man’s control.
"With the current volume, it’s a bit risky for me, how about I hand it over to you?"
Upon hearing this, the old man stayed silent.
Seeing this, Lin Suo upped his offer.
"You can earn more without going through the fake merchant intermediaries."
"Maximum output, two thousand a day, I only want two hundred."
Reynolds Augustus indeed became interested.
This was no small sum. To think that the Nature Language family, backed by the vast Monster Salt Swamp, would stoop to earning 2500 Magic Stones a day, and that wasn’t even a stable income.
Reynolds could, of course, be tempted by 1800 Magic Stones a day.
Moreover, in Lin Suo’s mind, he had always been the king of greed, a character of a monstrous level of avarice.
And he wouldn’t have to put in much effort, just getting the goods from him would do.
Considering Reynolds’ connections might extend beyond Koster to the entire region of Dan Dong, that amount of Magic Stones would just be like a splash in the sea, greatly reducing the risk level.
Without accidents, one could sleep soundly without worry.
Considering the costs of hiring help and managing relations, Lin Suo only asked for two hundred. He could earn 6000 a month! More than his current fortune!!
He was doing this to prepare for purchasing a noble title.
A simple knighthood or baronetcy wouldn’t satisfy him; at the very least he aimed for Viscount, attached to a Duke with real power, to feel secure.
Reynolds, the avaricious monster, nodded briskly in agreement without a second thought, apparently a bit embarrassed because Lin Suo was offering too much.
"Rhein, I really didn’t misjudge you. Here’s the deal, if you provide a stable supply for a year, I’ll gift you a First Rank Spell of Space Magic that you should be able to use, how about that?"
Starting to promise big now?
Reynolds must think that producing two thousand a day would affect his practice, so he steadied him in this way.
Lin Suo didn’t care if it was given or not, because his research on Artificial Magic Stones had already foregone the manual capturing of Magic Power.
The cooperation was perfectly reached.
After returning to Rhein Bookstore, Lin Suo marched down to the tunnel without stopping. Recently, he had turned the fifty meter underground area into a labyrinth, also painted with Earth Crystal Liquid as a protective layer.
Giving him time to retreat if his enemies invaded.
Going further down, reaching a hundred meters, he had already breached the path to the Monster Salt Swamp.