Sovereign of the Ashes

Chapter 541: Potential Partnership

“I can guarantee she’s taken a liking to you. Do you want to make a move on her? In my experience, you have a sixty percent chance of success!” Ghur whispered to Sein via mental focus.

Sein rolled his eyes at Ghur’s words, dismissing them.

After taking a tour of Luna’s establishment, Sein, who was usually quiet, suddenly asked, “Have you considered expanding your business to other divine towers in the Magus World?”

Sein’s question caught Luna off guard before her eyes lit up, sparkling like magicoins.

“Of course! Our tribe has hundreds of thousands of slaves ready for sale, and we can increase supply to meet demand if needed,” she replied eagerly.

“Master Sein, do you have any well-off clients you might recommend?” Luna asked, blinking her large, light blue eyes as she moved closer to Sein.

For Luna’s tribe, the primary challenge in the current enslaved creature trade was not a lack of supply, but a scarcity of suitable buyers.

The tribe had already paid a hefty price to secure entry into Fredem Underground City and establish their own trading area.

If they were not urgently seeking a reliable trading partner to recoup their initial investment, there would be no need for Luna and her fellow centaurs to give such a huge discount out of desperation.

Despite the apparent bustling activity in their trading area, the reality was that they might not be turning a profit—at best, they were just managing to break even.

What they needed most was to establish a reputation and boost sales.

The divine towers and orders of the knights in the Magus World would be ideal customers.

However, most already had established supply channels for enslaved creatures or their own enslaved planes.

Furthermore, Luna’s tribe was not super powerful. It was a large tribe led by two demigod-level centaurs and could provide only two to three hundred thousand qualified slaves at most in the short term.

Generally, no divine towers would show interest to them.

Up to now, the transactions Luna and her group completed were primarily with average-sized knightly houses and prestigious magic families."

Sein had only asked that question casually because the slaves offered by Luna and the other centaurs were the cheapest he had encountered since leaving the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

Since the conclusion of the last Viridian Venom Flame World War, Sein suspected that an interplanar war exclusive to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring might be on the horizon.

Lorianne needed the substantial profits from the war to settle her magicoin loan and further develop the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

As Lorianne’s apprentice who had lived together with her for decades, Sein could discern her intentions from subtle cues.

The appealing prices set by the centaur tribe were likely to interest Lorianne, given that wars demanded a large supply of cannon fodder.

With the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring having a limited number of registered mages, there was a pressing need for more enslaved creatures and foreign legions to complete strategic objectives.

Before Sein could discuss this with Luna, Ghur, standing beside him, suddenly asked, “Oh? Are you planning to purchase a large number of enslaved creatures, Sein? Is this for the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring you’re affiliated with?”

“You should’ve told me that!” Ghur exclaimed, patting Sein’s shoulder.

***

Ghur knew that Sein came from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, but he was unaware that Sein’s mentor was the tower master herself.

Sein did not discuss much about the enslaved creature trade with Ghur and Luna, mainly because he lacked the authority to represent the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring in such negotiations.

Ultimately, Sein only shared the location and coordinates of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring with Luna and House Jobbs.

Upon discovering that the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring was a divine tower established just over two hundred years ago, House Jobbs expressed considerable excitement.

Investing in such a new divine tower promised substantial returns.

Luna then mentioned that she would explore the possibility of approaching the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring for potential collaboration.

After all, establishing a stable partnership with a divine tower on the Magus World side could greatly benefit her tribe.

Sein never made any commitments with either of them. He merely revealed his status as the tower master’s apprentice and encouraged House Jobbs and the centaur tribe to initiate contact with the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

If the negotiations went smoothly, everyone would benefit. Even if they did not, Sein had nothing to lose.

In any case, keeping the interests of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring in mind during his travels would certainly please Master Lorianne.

After discussing potential collaboration with Ghur and the others, Sein continued his exploration of Fredem Underground City.

This vast underground city spanned nearly eleven floors, with rumors suggesting that construction on the twelfth and thirteenth floors was underway, soon to be opened to the public.

Here, Sein encountered an array of exotic enslaved creatures—finger-sized, beautiful humanoid butterflies; docile beastman maid on all fours; and behemoth slaves ranging from several meters to tens of meters in size...

All sorts of enslaved creatures were available.

However, Sein noticed the absence of the elf slaves he had once seen in the black market, let alone the rare and elusive mermaids.

Upon asking, Ghur explained, “The Elven World does not engage in the slave trade, and the Magus Alliance respects their stance and vigorously enforces the prohibition against trading elves. And as for mermaids, well, I myself have yet to discover what they taste like.”

After a pause, Ghur leaned in closer and whispered, “However, if you’re interested, I know a place—a hidden slave market on the East Coast. They have not only elf slaves but also mermaids. The last time I went there, I acquired a female giant.”

Ghur raised an eyebrow suggestively as he said that.

The giants he referred to were likely titans, who, like the elves, were officially protected from the slave trade under the Magus Alliance’s rules.

As far as Sein understood, the appearance of the titans from the Titan World was... He could only conclude that Ghur was indeed adventurous.

It seemed that where there was light, there was also shadow.

The East Coast’s proximity to the Western Archipelago likely also made the underground black market and illicit activities more rampant here than on the South Coast.

In response to Ghur’s invitation, Sein ultimately shook his head and declined, “Forget it, I\'m not interested.”