Chapter 495: Creating a Body for Captain Dunn
join the Church of MissRaven and become a Sequence 9: Reader p atreon.com/KeyofStars for more chapters
"First, we should clarify a concept." Hobert said, "The Beyonder characteristics of that 'Puppet' are already discounted."
Hobert spread his hands, "Any Beyonder characteristic at Sequence 4 is already difficult to measure with money. I think I don't need to say more."
Sharron quietly looked at Hobert.
"Cough, cough." Hobert cleared his throat somewhat unnaturally and said, "So, the 50,000 pounds in it cannot be discounted any further. What can be discounted are the Beyonder characteristics of other Sequences."
Sharron still quietly looked at Hobert.
Hobert suddenly felt that, outside of combat, the Temperance faction of the 'Prisoner' pathway was quite restrained towards 'Lawyers.'
Even if Hobert's logic was clear and his eloquence was good, Hobert was somewhat helpless when the other party didn't give any feedback.
However, Hobert's words were not completely useless. When it came to dealing with the 'Rose School' next time, he reached a verbal agreement with Sharron that the Temperance faction would also send a certain amount of force to participate in the battle.
As for the price of those Beyonder characteristics, the final transaction was completed at a price of 150,000 pounds, and the transaction would be completed uniformly in about ten days.
Taking advantage of the fact that Sharron hadn't left yet, Hobert quickly said, "If you have any new demands for Beyonder characteristics, the payment can be made in installments, or paid with a loan from me."
"No need." Sharron said, "We have ways to raise money, provided you give us enough time."
Hobert smiled. So, the Temperance faction is very wealthy!
Sharron added, "You should have more than one Beyonder characteristic of the 'Puppet,' right?"
"Yes, there are two more." Hobert said.
Actually, there were three more, but Hobert couldn't shatter that Beyonder characteristic of the 'Disciple of Silence' yet, so he temporarily said there were two more.
Sharron nodded slightly, "If there is still a need in this regard, how should I contact you?"
Hobert thought for a while before saying, "I probably go to the Bravehearts Bar every two weeks at night. If you need anything, you can wait for me at the bar for a few days."
Hobert planned to tell Sharron how to summon his messenger after the first batch of transactions was completed.
It wasn't that Hobert didn't trust Sharron, but it seemed like there would be a problem if he revealed his identity now.
After watching Sharron disappear, Hobert began to imagine how to spend the 150,000 pounds. No matter how he spent it, he now had relatively abundant money in his hands.
Hobert planned to go back and have Roy draw up a budget for the later stage of the renovation. Now that he had a new territory and more population, he could plan to speed up the construction progress.
After imagining for a while in the carriage, Hobert asked the coachman to stop, because he had just made a big deal, so Hobert specially gave the coachman a 1Sucre tip.
The coachman happily praised Hobert's generosity, and Hobert smiled and walked into the shadows of the street corner.
...
Friday morning, Feynapotter Kingdom, west bank of Full Moon Lake.
The disaster relief mission is progressing steadily. The tents and food purchased by Jeffery have arrived one after another, and the refugees' food and accommodation problems have been basically solved.
Conrad organized the refugees to replant once, and began to build the collapsed houses before, for which a lot of building materials were transferred from Jeffery.
Hobert approved these expenses very generously, and the budget was sufficient.
The reason why he was so generous was that Hobert had just completed a transaction of hundreds of thousands of pounds and indeed had money.
On the other hand, the new territory made Hobert's potion digest very significantly, probably more than a third.
Hobert believed that such significant digestion was largely due to his driving away the previous rulers.
The rulers who had been entrenched here for decades were suddenly hanged at the entrance of the village or town in the form of corpses. The people's confusion, daze, fear, and other emotions can be imagined. For a time, they must have fallen into a completely different new rule, bringing chaos in order, life, and spirit.
The key is that Hobert has become the actual controller of Felix and other four territories, so the emotions and reactions of the people here can be fed back to Hobert.
That's why so much potion was digested at once.
Hobert estimated that when the land revolution is completed, the reconstruction of homes in the disaster area is completed, and an effective rule is established, he will obviously digest the potion again.
This made Hobert feel great, so he was particularly generous when approving the funds.
Hobert also sent people to bring Dennis, Freya, and Serena to the west bank to participate in this rescue to hone their temperament.
By the way, he called Philip and Roy to discuss the next construction budget in the territory.
Regarding the later budget for decoration, their father and son had already roughly calculated it before. With most of the wood being self-sufficient, about 180,000 gold Lire was still needed.
Hobert was stunned: "It costs so much money?"
"The main reason is that the decoration required for the villas where the nobles live is expensive." Roy said, "The decoration costs for institutions such as hospitals and post offices are not high.
"And this also includes office supplies, medical equipment, etc. These don't cost much money, but the supplies prepared for the nobles are not cheap." Philip said, "A set of tableware costs more than three hundred gold Lire."
Hobert smacked his tongue: "Tableware made of gold?"
These two confidants knew that the Earl, who was also a nobleman, was very simple. Philip smiled: "It really has to be inlaid with beautiful golden carvings, and some are inlaid with gems."
"Aren't you afraid of scratching your hands!" Hobert muttered, "Then buy it openly, money is not a problem."
After discussing some details, Hobert gave Philip a batch of gold worth about 6,000 gold Lire, and more than 30,000 pounds.
This batch of gold was obtained from the transaction with the Balk family before and has not been used because it has to be exchanged before it can be used, so it is better to exchange it in advance.
As for the more than 30,000 pounds, it is mainly the payment for the goods traded with the Sanguine. This is the budget for the fourth batch of goods, but because of the income from the auction house, Hobert did not immediately give this budget to Philip.
This time, nearly 20,000 gold Lire were compensated to the martyrs, and there were also expenses for disaster relief. The money in Philip's hands was reduced at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The Temperance faction's payment will have to wait about ten days before it can be received. In order to prevent problems with the capital chain, Hobert gave all his belongings to Philip.
Of course, there is a premise that the inherited property cannot be used.
After dealing with official business, Hobert became bored again. Fortunately, in the afternoon, Fors, wearing a light yellow casual dress and a playful fedora, came to Baron Felix's manor with a stove of freshly made donuts.
Baron Hobert's hobby of eating donuts has long been widely spread.
Fors certainly knew that Hobert's donuts were for the messenger, but the current butler of the manor, Allen, and the chefs all hoped that the Lady of the manor would bring the donuts that the Lord liked to visit him.
It was difficult to refuse, so Fors had to come to the west bank with donuts: "These are the donuts you like to eat."
She smiled and said, "Everyone in the entire manor knows you love to eat this."
Hobert hugged Fors: "Nonsense, I obviously like to eat you the most!"
Archibald tactfully took the Puppet away, and did not forget to close the door when leaving.
Fors pushed Hobert: "I'm here to find you for something serious!"
"What I'm doing now is serious." Hobert said while acting with his hands, "The weather is so warm, you don't need to wear so much."
Fors smiled helplessly. Her matter was not very urgent, and she also missed Hobert a little, so she half-pushed and half-accepted Hobert's intimacy, and the two embraced each other before talking about serious matters.
During the days when Hobert was not in the territory, a noblewoman named April came to Jeffery Town and gave Fors a "Stone of Life" as soon as she took action.
Fors usually doesn't care about the external affairs of the manor, but this gift was too precious. In order to express her gratitude, she invited the noblewoman to dinner.
The two chatted happily and had already made two appointments to travel together.
Fors felt that the other party should be an Beyonder, but she didn't know the other party's purpose, so she came to tell Hobert about this.
Hobert thought for a while before saying, "Let's go back together tomorrow and invite her to have lunch. Maybe she will be willing to tell her purpose."
The "Stone of Life" is a strategic material of the Church of the Earth Mother. Simpson only has one. He was reluctant to use it in such a fierce battle a few days ago.
Someone once described that with the "Stone of Life," he has one more life.
The use of the "Stone of Life" is far from simply making one's own life become vigorous again. It can also give life to other creatures.
The effect is better than the "Healing Art," and the use is more extensive than the "Healing Art."
Since there is such a large "early investment," the other party's request must be not small, but the other party should have some request to Hobert, which is equivalent to taking the "Lady's route" and asking Fors to help introduce him.
Fors nodded: "Okay."
Then she talked about the recent situation of the auction house. During the period when Hobert was not in the territory, Fors helped sort out the auction house's "demand list."
After the nobles and wealthy people left, they sent people to inform the auction house of their needs. Hobert glanced at it and found that there were many that he could solve, and he could gradually solve these people's needs in the next one or two months.
Some needs, such as wanting a Level 2 Sealed Artifact, will have to be postponed or even indefinitely.
Since there were donuts, Hobert embraced Fors for a while, then put on his clothes and came to the study alone, writing letters to Leonard and Jessica respectively.
The letter to Leonard contained several Beyonder characteristics of the "Criminal" pathway and told Leonard that he had found a "Devil" den and would kill a large number of demons in the near future.
It was to prepare for his future sale of related Beyonder characteristics.
As for the letter to Jessica, it was to communicate with her about the distribution of magical items later. After Carrie creates a magical item, Hobert will pay 450 pounds for materials and labor.
He said in the letter: Although there is a way to re-condense the Beyonder characteristics in the Beyonder ingredients, it also takes a certain amount of time and pays a certain price.
Here, Hobert only used exaggeration. If he told Jessica the truth, it would sound terrifying.
Seeing that there were still donuts, Hobert also wrote a letter to "Vice Admiral Iceberg" Edwina, asking her about the names and approximate uses of several Beyonder ingredients, and asking her if she wanted the Beyonder characteristics of the "Criminal" pathway?
Hobert had seized several Beyonder ingredients from the Demonic Wolf of Fog, and he still didn't know what they were called? Which pathway did they belong to?
It would be more convenient to get the answer directly by asking the Demonic Wolf of Fog, but that would make the "Creator's" believer too ignorant. It's been almost a month since those Beyonder ingredients were seized, and he still doesn't know what they are called!
So, it's better to simply "abandon the near and seek the far" and ask "Vice Admiral Iceberg."
He soon received a reply from Jessica. She first agreed to Hobert's long-term cooperation plan, and then asked Hobert to prepare a potion formula and Beyonder characteristics of a "Briber."
The process of revising the "Labor Law" allowed her to digest the potion well, and she planned to advance in the next few days.
In the evening, out of courtesy, Hobert and Fors hosted Baron Felix together. At the same time, at the banquet, Hobert explained the next work focus to Conrad and others, telling everyone that he would return to the east bank tomorrow morning.
Speaking of which, Hobert was quite helpless. The straight-line distance from here to Jeffery Town is not far, but if you start from here and take a boat to Jeffery Town, it will take at least two or three hours.
If any news is conveyed to Hobert's manor, there will be a half-day delay.
While a large river plays a huge role in the waterway, it severely hinders local traffic.
So, when Hobert embarked on his return journey the next day, he had the idea of building a bridge, and after returning to the territory, he asked Scholar, who was preparing to leave, to investigate whether there was a suitable place to build a bridge in the South Colson River Basin.
At noon, when Hobert saw Mrs. April in the manor's restaurant, his eyes narrowed. She turned out to be the beautiful lady in her thirties, wearing gorgeous clothes and with arrogance in her eyes, who had appeared at the wedding before.
Hobert had also seen this lady in a carriage in Backlund.
This made Hobert immediately vigilant, guessing April's identity and purpose.
April seemed to not notice Hobert's vigilance at all, and looked at Hobert and Fors sitting together with a gentle and even kind smile: "That's great!"
Hobert was a little confused by this compliment, so he smiled and entered the topic: "Thank you for the gift you gave to my wife before, it was too precious."
"That's what should be." April smiled.
Hobert was stunned, feeling that he and the other party were not on the same channel. What do you mean by what should be?
April said to Hobert again: "When you fought those 'demons' a few days ago, I was also on the west bank. Don't work so hard in the future!"
Hobert was horrified. How did he not notice April at all?
Before Hobert could ask this question, April added: "Okay, let's talk about business. I hope to sell some extraordinary items through your auction house.
"I have prepared three extraordinary commodities here. If you offer a suitable price, we can establish a long-term cooperative relationship."
April gestured for a servant to push over a trolley, placing the three prepared boxes on it. The servant pushed it towards Hobert.
Hobert opened the boxes and glanced inside. They contained, respectively, a mystical material, a mystical characteristic, and a magical item shaped like a metal plate.
Hobert picked up the plate and asked, "May I ask where this metal plate came from?"
This inevitably reminded Hobert of the cutlery-shaped magical items he had equipped. The plate seemed to be made by the same person.
April smiled. "I'm selling this magical item on behalf of a friend. He's not entirely satisfied with it, but I think it's quite valuable."
Hobert strongly suspected that April's so-called friend was the artisan friend Christian knew.
Of course, he was probably not just an "artisan," but more likely an "astronomer" or even an "alchemist."
This made Hobert wonder if April was a friend Christian had invited to the wedding.
As for the mystical characteristic, Hobert could tell at a glance that it was a 'Judge' characteristic.
He definitely wanted both of these items. The only uncertain one was the mystical material.
So Hobert said, "Please keep Fors company while I appraise these three items."
Seeing the cutlery-like magical item reassured Hobert somewhat. He believed Fors would be safe alone with April.
Hobert remembered that Christian had many strange friends, and April might be one of them.
He quickly went to the side hall and sacrificed the three items to the 'Nation of Disorder.' Using the 'Nation of Disorder's' authority, Hobert learned the magical item's ability and negative effects.
The ability was: "To freely change its shape, even turning its flesh into liquid to squeeze into extremely small spaces, or to increase its speed; it can detonate its flesh to create an explosion comparable to a bomb."
The negative effect was: "Each use requires feeding the plate with a small amount of the user's own flesh. It cannot be replaced with the flesh of others, otherwise the plate will devour the holder."
Hobert nodded to himself, thinking: No wonder the "master craftsman" was dissatisfied. This negative effect is quite a pain. Unless it's a mystical being whose body can regenerate, how much flesh can be used to feed this plate?
Then Hobert thought of a solution: After using it, he could first feed the plate with his own flesh, and the next time he used it, he could use its ability to change its shape to replenish the flesh he had previously fed it.
This plate was probably made with a 'Rose Bishop' characteristic, making this operation entirely possible.
In that case, the "plate's" negative effect isn't that serious: only that the user has to cut off a piece of their own flesh between uses... a "small amount of flesh," it shouldn't be too much. Also, cutting off one's own flesh requires great courage, which should be the biggest negative effect, but one could ask someone else to help.
As far as magical items go, such a negative effect is completely acceptable. After all, mystical beings generally have good physiques, and the wound will heal quickly after feeding the "plate," without affecting their normal life too much.
Hobert then looked at the mystical material, which was a Sequence 6 material, but Hobert couldn't determine the specific pathway.
Just as he was about to leave the 'Nation of Disorder,' Hobert suddenly thought of the wedding gift Christian had given him.
He rummaged through the pile of Grade 2 Sealed Artifacts and found the 'Reader' pathway magical item.
He infused it with spirituality and looked at the mystical material again. Although Hobert didn't have any relevant knowledge, he knew that it was a 'Planter' pathway material.
Combining the two pieces of information, Hobert concluded: One of the main ingredients for the 'Planter' Sequence 6 'Biologist'.
Although he didn't know the name of this mystical material, he knew enough about it.
Leaving the 'Nation of Disorder,' Hobert returned to the dining room. "Madam, I want all three items. Name your price."
"The mystical material is 2,000 gold," April said. "The mystical characteristic is 4,500, and the magical item is 7,000!"
"The price is a little high," Hobert said with a smile. "Since this is our first cooperation, I won't haggle. But I hope you can show enough sincerity next time we cooperate."
April smiled. "You're a good businessman."
Hobert didn't continue the topic, but asked the servant to call Philip to prepare the gold Lumis.
He changed the subject. "Did you refine that 'Stone of Life' yourself?"
"Yes."
"In that case, you're a 'Classical Alchemist'?"
"That's right!"
Although he had guessed it, Hobert was still a little surprised. "I know a bishop from the Church of the Earth Mother, but I heard him say that the demigods of the Church of the Earth Mother are very busy!"
April took a sip of wine. "Young man, your probing is too obvious."
She spread her hands. "I'm not from the Church of the Earth Mother."
Hobert smiled. "In that case, I have a task that is very suitable for a 'Classical Alchemist' who is not from the Church of the Earth Mother to complete."
April gestured for him to speak.
"I want you to help me refine a body that can highly integrate a certain spirit and mental body with this body."
April nodded. "I have quite a bit of research on this. But isn't the Church of the Earth Mother more professional? Given your relationship with the Church of the Earth Mother, why didn't you ask them for help?"
Hobert leaned back in his chair and smiled. "I asked them first, but they declined, saying it was an act of disrespect for life."
"Ha!" April laughed sarcastically. "I once stole research data from the Church of the Earth Mother. They have plenty of research that disrespects life."
"Their response only means that the price you offered wasn't high enough?"
Hobert was stunned. Wasn't a Sequence 5 main material enough?
Then he suddenly realized: I think I asked the wrong person! Bishop Utravsky is so devout, or rather, he basically doesn't beat around the bush on such issues. If I had asked Bishop Simpson, the problem might have been solved already.
But since the matter had already been brought up, Hobert decided to continue talking with April. If she charged an exorbitant price, he would go to Simpson.
join the Church of MissRaven and become a Sequence 9: Reader p atreon.com/KeyofStars for more chapters