Chapter 746 - 733: Clearly Marked Prices
Chapter 746: Chapter 733: Clearly Marked Prices
Dwarf Mountains.
In the study of Bretta, the clan leader of the Zafa clan, the fire in the fireplace burned brightly.
Bretta Zafa leaned back against her chair, holding a theoretical plan on the precision removal of mycelium using runes.
Suddenly, the door was slammed open, and a small figure bundled in the cold wind rushed in, boots thumping on the floor.
"Grandma! Grandma!"
Bretta’s brows furrowed but quickly relaxed. She placed the report on her lap and opened her arms to embrace the little dwarf rushing towards her.
Her grandson, with messy reddish-brown hair sticking out, had a nose frozen red and dirt smeared on his face from who knows where.
"Running so fast again, what if you fall?" Bretta pulled him into her arms, her rough fingers tidying the tangled hair.
"I won’t fall! I’m really good now!" The grandson wriggled out of her embrace, stood up straight, raised his little hand, and a ball of flame flickered in his palm, wavering and floating up, "Look! What I learned today! The teacher said I’ve made the quickest progress!"
Bretta laughed, reaching out to rub her grandson’s head: "Hmm, grandma saw, you’re learning quickly, better than grandma did at your age."
The grandson squinted under her touch, silent for a moment, then suddenly raised his head again.
"Grandma, grandma," his voice softened, tinged with curiosity, "those people parasitized by mycelium, will their thoughts really be controlled?"
Bretta’s smile froze on her face.
Her eyes opened, hand still resting on her grandson’s head.
"Tell grandma," her voice deliberately steady, "who told you that?"
The grandson being patted on the head didn’t notice the change, replied: "Everyone is saying it, Gerpan even said that Ode’s father was parasitized, and told us to stay away from Ode..."
Bretta moved her hand from the grandson’s head to the back of the chair.
A moment later.
"Go to the kitchen and see, grandma had someone leave a honey cake for you." Her voice returned to its usual gentleness, "If you don’t go now, those greedy servants might eat it all."
The grandson’s eyes brightened, disregarding the recent topic, and turned and ran out, turning at the door to shout "Grandma is the best," before disappearing down the corridor.
The next day, in the royal council chamber.
"What do you intend to do? Spreading these words, exactly what are you trying to do!" Bretta’s voice was full of anger.
"I’m simply stating the truth." The Deep Furnace clan leader spoke slowly, "Only then will people be alert to the mycelium, guarding against parasitization. The example of the Northern Empire is right before us, we should not turn a blind eye."
"Then you should know that doing this will cause division!" Bretta’s hand pressed against the tabletop, "Rune masters are already researching solutions. Why do you take it upon yourself to spread these things?"
Her voice suddenly lowered: "Do you plan to abandon those dwarves who are parasitized?"
The Deep Furnace clan leader’s gaze shifted away, he did not reply.
The dwarf king rubbed his temples, he now had a headache whenever he heard mention of the Northern Territory, mycelium, or Puki.
This was not the first time they clashed over the matters of the Fungus Castle, the various clan leaders held differing attitudes, thus any related topics inevitably ended in disputes.
At this moment, the normally silent Black Steel clan leader, wrapped in dark armor, tapped the table to indicate he wished to speak.
"It’s rare for Black Steel to have something to say, let’s hear what he has to say!" The dwarf king seized the opportunity to halt the dispute between Zafa and Deep Furnace, then muttered quietly to himself, "Ancestors above, please no more about those Puki."
A muffled voice emerged from the heavy armor, the opening word shattering the dwarf king’s hopes: "Fungus Castle wants to do business with us, intending to purchase dragons."
A brief silence fell over the council, then Black Steel added: "Alive."
The Fire Beard clan leader’s beard bristled, he roared boisterously: "Purchase what? Dragons? Alive dragons? Do they think dragons are like the Highland goats we keep in fenced ranges? Just buy and you’ll find them? Haven’t they realized how much damage these dragons have caused the mountains recently?"
The Deep Furnace clan leader leaned forward: "Cannot agree, those mycelium might have ways to control dragons, if they master the dragon flocks, what will we do if Fungus Castle becomes the next empire? Don’t forget, the vast majority of Fungus Castle is the Demon Race! We should be vigilant and maintain only magic crystal ore trades with Fungus Castle."
At this moment, Black Steel spoke again: "Three fist-sized and a half S-Class Demon Crystals."
Deep Furnace’s brows furrowed: "What?"
"Their offer for one living dragon." Black Steel’s armor subtly shifted, appearing to adjust its sitting posture, "They mentioned if the dragon’s condition is excellent, the price could be increased."
Gul—
Someone swallowed a mouthful of saliva, the sound unusually distinct in the council chamber.
Indeed, Fungus Castle and the dwarves had some demon crystal trade interactions, and the crystals provided by Fungus Castle were truly of decent quality, mainly B-Level, occasionally sending over some A-Level Demon Crystals in exchange for dwarven craftsmanship assistance.
However, S-Class Demon Crystals had never been traded before.
The dwarves were certain that the advanced demon crystal veins of Fungus Castle surely produced some S-Class Demon Crystals, but the exact quantity was unknown.
Yet now, they directly offered an S-Level Demon Crystal price to purchase a Giant Dragon!
A Giant Dragon’s battle power was certainly far superior to a few S-Level Demon Crystals, but you’d need to be able to command the dragon!
Currently, besides the highest-level contract items that might control a dragon, any other manipulation methods are practically ineffective.
Even Deep Furnace’s talk of mycelium controlling dragons, none present took that seriously.
"Do they really have that much S-Class Demon Crystal?" Deep Furnace’s voice trembled.
"Ahem." The dwarf king coughed and said, "Deep Furnace, you just said..."
"But king, if... if we could capture a few more dragons, that massacre dancer combat puppet in the mountain treasury might just be able..." Deep Furnace’s voice was soft, yet all present dwarves heard it clearly.
Thinking of that legendary combat puppet, if it could be activated... The dwarf king too sank into contemplation.
After a long time.
"Further negotiate, see if you can bring the base price down to four pieces..."
Zafa watched them, feeling that the interaction between the mountains and Fungus Castle would not decrease but instead become more frequent in the future.
She realized she must hastily find a way to resolve the parasitization by mycelium.
...
Not only dwarves, Lin Jun also issued a purchase request through Fungus Castle to humans and elves.
After all, you can’t expect all dragons to fly northwards.
Moreover, the magic crystals used in trade were half the size of a fist, whereas the standard magic crystals produced by Fungus Castle were fist-sized, essentially treating one as two.
Of course, this fact other races were still unaware of, they presumed Fungus Castle’s S-Class Demon Crystals were directly excavated.
However, just as Lin Jun issued a bounty directive for dragons worldwide, Duke Lorenzo’s attention on the Dragon’s Roar Valley, saw the appearance of dragon-specific servants—Kobolds.