Chapter 26: The Other End of Libra

  The aroma of black tea wafted through the lavishly decorated room, but failed to alter the chilly atmosphere within.

  "Mr. Creighton, I am unable to meet your terms."

  The middle-aged man put down his teacup and refused with a firm expression.

  "The current situation in the mine is very stable, and we think it's unreasonable to raise prices drastically at this time. As a member of the association, I naturally have to consider the interests of the association, but in this regard, I really can't help. Hope you can understand."

  "Calm down, Mr. Keller."

  The man sitting on the soft sofa, wearing a loose and luxurious long gown, revealed a hint of cold smile.

  "The proposal to increase ore prices by thirty percent was unanimously passed by the association. As members of the association, you must comply."

  "But this is not normal!"

  Keller furrowed his brow.

  "There is no shortage of ore at present, and it will be difficult for such a problem to arise in the near future. We cannot arbitrarily raise prices without giving a good reason. And you, Mr. Crait, so far I have not been able to get a good reason from you. You can't just say that the association has decided and expect me to nod my head in agreement. At least, I hope to know the reasons behind this decision. Moreover, if Gold City finds out about this arbitrary price increase..."

  "That woman knows she can't do anything to us."

  As soon as Golden City was mentioned, Klayt's face immediately darkened.

  "Mr. Keiller, as the vice president of the association, I personally invited you to discuss this matter because you hold 85% of the mining industry in Deepstone City, but I hope you can understand that the industries you control are actually insignificant to the entire Parfield region."

  "No matter how you put it, if you don't give a reasonable explanation, I find it hard to accept the association's proposal."

  Kai Le stood up.

  "If it's just like this, then I'm sorry, I think we don't need to talk about it anymore."

  After finishing this sentence, Kayler nodded and turned around to leave.

  "Wait a minute, Mr. Keller."

  At this moment, Klay's face also sank.

  "Since you don't agree with the association's request, I have no choice either. In fact, I didn't want to do this either, but... it has come to this point, and you can't blame me for not giving face anymore..."

  "What do you want to do?"

  Upon hearing this sentence, Kayler's expression turned solemn.

  "If you refuse the association's opinion, then the association will have to take back all the mines under your control to ensure they can operate normally and stably."

  "The association does not have this power!"

  Kai Le slapped his palm heavily on the table.

  "The mines of Deepstone Castle are property of our Keller family and have nothing to do with the Association, or do you want to rob us openly?!"

  "We certainly won't rob openly."

  Kleit narrowed his small eyes and a hint of a pleased smile appeared on his face.

  "The association will pay 5,000 gold coins to acquire the mine under the Keller family... What do you think of this price?"

  Five thousand?

  Kailer almost fainted when he heard this. The Kailer family controlled four mines, with total profits of tens of millions. These bastards think they can buy all the mines for just 5,000 gold coins? Forget about buying a single mine pit! Are they out of their minds or is there something else going on?

  As the head of a family, Keller naturally wouldn't think that everyone in the association was a fool. He fell silent for a moment, then looked at the vice president with a hint of doubt. Klait wasn't a fool either; he must be a clever person to have become the vice president of the Merchant Association. In fact, Keller had felt that something was off when he was summoned to the association's headquarters this time. The mineral market had been stable recently, and there were no signs of turmoil in neighboring countries. Suddenly requiring all mineral industries to raise their prices by 30% was absolutely not a small matter. As a commercial family that had struggled through many years of wind and rain, Keller knew very well what kind of impact a sudden price increase would have on the entire surrounding market, let alone for an important commodity like minerals.

  If someone else had said that, Keller would have laughed at it. He was certain that if the lady from Golden City found out about this, all the merchants would be in big trouble. That lady wasn't a kind-hearted person, everyone has their own way of dying, but offending her would absolutely be the worst way to die.

  But now, the merchants' association is actually going to raise prices? Have they eaten the gall of a brave leopard? Do they really think that Miss will not be held accountable by law?

  As he thought of this, Kayler felt a chill run down his spine. He immediately recalled the massacre that had shaken the entire duchy five years ago, simply because the nobles had united to oppose her proposal. The young lady had slaughtered nearly a third of the duchy's nobility, and her ruthlessness and determination had left even Kayler, a merchant who valued wealth over life, trembling with fear. What was even more terrifying was that such an incident would normally cause turmoil throughout the country, but to everyone's surprise, just two months after the massacre, everything returned to normal.

  This is what merchants like Kayler fear the most. They are not afraid of encountering those tyrannical kings, after all, that kind of impulsive fool will eventually suffer from their own stupid impulsiveness. But this young lady is different, she obviously has a backup plan and is not afraid of any problems at all.

  Does the merchants association really think it's powerful and want to find trouble with that young lady?

  Do they really think that Miss will not come again like five years ago and slaughter them all, then find some people to reorganize the Chamber of Commerce?

  How dare these guys be so reckless and brazen?

  Keller felt things were getting stranger and stranger, he stared at Klett but didn't say a word.

  Clyde smiled and stood up.

  "I also hope Mr. Kayler will think it over carefully after he gets home, I'm sure you'll have other ideas."

  There must be something wrong!

  Facing Klett's words, Kayler fell silent for a moment, then decided to turn around and leave, first returning to his family, mobilizing all his strength to thoroughly investigate what had happened, and then responding would not be late. But where did this guy get such great confidence? Was he really confident or was he bluffing, or did he have an ace up his sleeve?

  Kayler made up his mind and bid farewell, intending to leave. Just as he reached the door, Klayt's voice sounded again behind him.

  "I've heard your daughter is lovely, I've always wanted to meet her, please don't mind."

  Kailer's hand, which was reaching for the door handle, suddenly stiffened.

  The moon is above the treetops.

  Under the dark night, the carriage quietly stopped by the side of the road. The two dim oil lamps hanging in front of the carriage box faintly illuminated the surrounding grass and trees. Although the night was a bit gloomy, within the range of the Light Dragon Soul, even on a dark night, there were strips of dazzling light that condensed and emitted soft colors, reflecting off the bright moon in the sky, so it wasn't completely pitch black. Outside the carriage, the three guards who followed Helen began their night watch duty. The coachman lay by the fire pit at the side of the carriage, wrapped in a beast skin blanket, occasionally letting out snores.

  At this moment in the carriage, except for Rode, the other three people have already prepared to rest. Mais is very adapted to life on horseback, rolled up a blanket and fell asleep. Lijie still has the mercenary style as always, leaning against the edge of the carriage, closing her eyes slightly, and not curling up like the other two, after all, if something unexpected happens, as a spiritual master, she must react in the first time.

  Helen had been chatting all day and was tired. At this moment, she was leaning on the other side, hanging her head and closing her eyes, it seemed that falling asleep was just a matter of time.

  Rode didn't sleep, instead he was quietly organizing his attributes. Previously it was too hasty and there wasn't enough time to do these things, but now that he finally had some free time, Rode also started organizing his attribute values. After all, this was extremely necessary for him, and in the previous battle, Rode had already realized that although this body was his own, the abilities contained within were absolutely different from his former self. To think that in reality, he couldn't even make quick dodges or defensive movements.

  First and foremost is strength. Through these days of battle, Rod has discovered that his own strength surpasses that of ordinary people in this world. According to the settings of Long Soul Continent, the power of NPCs in this world generally lies around 45. A person with a power value of 45 can be considered strong among ordinary people. Going further up to 68 in power would allow one to wield a heavy two-handed sword single-handedly, which is already monstrous. Rod's strength lies right between that range, although he hasn't tried wielding a two-handed sword before, but judging from the previous battles, it shouldn't be a problem.

  As for physical strength, it's what Rod worries about the least. The average person has a physical strength of 57, elves are slightly lower at 46, and dwarves and beastmen have the highest at 79 and 71 respectively. Angels and demons, being exceptions to the norm, mostly fall between 15-20. Considering his own injuries and how he felt during battles along the way, Rod inferred that his physical strength should be around 10-15. This is already completely beyond what a human's physical strength should be; after all, being swatted down by an empty dragon and still being able to jump around is quite abnormal.

  As for agility, my speed is faster than ordinary people, but it hasn't reached the level of a sprite. Considering that the sprite's speed is the highest attribute on the entire continent at 1015, Rod's speed should be around 710 based on an ordinary person's 56.

  The will was originally the most difficult attribute to judge, but after the battle with the shadow, Luo De also had a basis for reference. Recalling the game data's requirement for resistance to the shadow's spiritual attack, Luo De's will attribute should be considered a narrow victory, barely crossing the standard line of 89. This is higher than an ordinary person, but similar to that of a warrior with a general strong will, and may be lower than some powerful NPCs. However, considering that attributes will increase after leveling up in the future, Luo De doesn't have to worry too much.

  As for the sensory attribute, it is the only one that has changed from the game. In the game, increasing the sensory attribute not only enhances the player's hearing to a certain extent but also displays red dots in front of their eyes to indicate potential dangers and provides prompts at the bottom of the screen. However, in reality, the sensory attribute has completely changed. After closing his eyes, Rode still "sees" everything around him, as if he had a pair of invisible, freely controllable black-and-white infrared cameras that can zoom in and out, observing the world. In this regard, his senses are far superior to those of ordinary humans (34) but significantly inferior to those of elves (91-10). If calculated using the exclusion method based on the previous silver wolf, it would be around level 67.

  And so, Rode's properties also roughly floated into his heart.

  Strength: 68.

  Body: 1015

  Agility: 710

  Will: 89

  Sensitivity: 67

  Overall, all attributes are higher than the default human role attributes. Luo De wondered if even taking out the character from the game at level 10, they wouldn't have such good initial attributes. Because attributes and talents are the same, they only start growing with levels after awakening at level 10. For Luo De, who is known as the online library, what kind of race, occupation, and initial attributes, he is almost all clear about.

  After sorting out his attributes, Rod found that his overall attributes surpassed those of humans, but in each individual attribute, he was slightly lower than other races. What puzzled Rod even more was that even after sorting out his attributes, he couldn't figure out what blood was mixed in his body. Generally speaking, mixed-blooded races would always inherit some outstanding attributes from another race. For example, take Liricia - her other attributes might be close to those of humans, but in terms of willpower, agility, and soul power, she was definitely at the level of an angel. But Rod's current upgrade was too average, with only his physique being slightly exaggerated, while all his other characteristics were clearly beyond human but not reaching the initial attribute levels of other races. What secretly shocked Rod even more was that this was before he awakened - if his bloodline truly awakened, these attributes would at least increase by half again.

  Is there such a freaky species in this world? If so, wouldn't players have scrambled for it long ago?

  Roder had his suspicions, for example, the blood-sucking species at night, especially during full moon, all attributes were greatly enhanced, not to mention demons and angels of this caliber. However, they all had their own limitations, if he himself had the bloodline of these species, then under the influence of environment and day and night, there should be fluctuations and changes, but his own attributes were extremely stable, without any fluctuations.

  What kind of bloodline is this?

  Roth thought for a while, but still couldn't come up with an answer, and could only helplessly shake his head. In any case, this bloodline was very stable and wouldn't have any fluctuations, which was good. Otherwise, if it were a half-angel or half-demon, and he accidentally walked into the wrong territory causing his attributes to drop by half, he would be left with no place to cry.

  As he thought of this, Rode closed his eyes and decided to rest, but just as he had closed them, his expression changed.

  "Psst!"

  A faint sound came from the grass thicket, mixed with the night wind, and reached his ears.