298 Rolling Snowball

Of course, Kaman did not think so…

Kaman thought he had the upper hand now as he eyed the insolent young man. "Well, can we talk now, Sir?"

Lin Li said nothing as he turned around to look at the 30-odd people surrounding him, the weaker ones were around level-6 to 7, while the stronger ones were around level-11 and 12. It seemed that this Rosen Union had quite a bit of influence; perhaps he would have to talk to this fatty since he had no choice but to "work" with an influential union…

Of course, he had a slightly unorthodox method of "working" in mind…

"Don't waste too much time, Norfeller. "

"Yes!"

"Is this a joke…" At this point, Kaman seriously doubted the young man's ability to communicate; why else was it so difficult for them to do so? Don't waste too much time? Damn it, what has this got to do with wasting time?

And then, Kaman heard a terrible cry…

The shrill cry sounded like it came from the depths of hell, and the confused Kaman trembled before he saw blood spill, unusually vibrant in the afternoon sun. Then he heard the second cry, then the third…

It all happened too quickly for anyone to react to; only after the tenth cry did Kaman see that only half of his 30 men remained. The cause of their deaths was a black shadow weaving through the crowd.

The black-cloaked and pale-faced young man was taking lives like the Grim Reaper wielding a sickle.

Fear was sparked in his heart, and spread wildly like a plague. When Kaman came back to his senses, his round face was as white as a sheet of paper. Kaman was gripped in endless fear as his heart palpitated, causing him to pant. Never in his wildest dreams had he pictured such a horrifying creature that could kill more than half of his men in a split second without breaking a sweat. It looked as easy as picking up a pebble to him…

What really scared Kaman was the indifferent attitude of the young man—not a trace of sympathy or hesitation could be seen in his cold-blooded killing spree, just as if he had done it more times than he bothered to count. Kaman knew that this man would not consider the consequences of his actions, much less be concerned about the fact that Kaman was the president of Rosen Union. At this moment, Kaman thought he saw the shadow of death pressing in on him…

"Alright, Norfeller, that's enough…" At least 20 lives including that of Kaman had been spared at the young mage's command.

"Yes, Master." Norfeller had impaled the chest of the only mage just as he finished the sentence.

"God…" Kaman felt himself blacking out as he watched the mage fall. That was the only mage amongst his men, and he was a level-11 mage too. Kaman gave him an important position in the Rosen Union, and even he could not help but be polite whenever he gave him a task. In all honesty, the mage was deserving of this treatment, for Rosen Union might be the only one with such power, and the mage's presence guaranteed their protection from bandits and extortion. Without him, the Rosen Union would have to spend another 50,000 gold coins every year…

And now, this mage worth 50,000 gold coins was easily killed, his chest pierced through…

"Well, Mr. Kaman, I think we can talk now…"

Kaman felt himself shiver even though Lin Li smiled at him. It felt like he was being eyed by a venomous snake. He forced himself to speak with all his strength, but ended up trembling right after the first sentence. "W-what would you like to talk about?"

"Relax, President Kaman, you look too strung up… "

"…" Kaman almost blew up hearing this. If not for the monstrous pale-faced young man standing before him, Kaman would have cursed loudly. Relax? Damn it, it's easy for you to say that! Your monster of a man killed a dozen of my men in a flash, even my only mage…! Wouldn't you be strung up if it were you in my place?

Of course, he could not voice his anger, and he would never dare do it even if he had to. Not only that, he had to obediently nod his head and put up a casual front, but his cover was unfortunately blown by his pale face and trembling hands…

"I heard you are in the stone trade?"

"Ye-yes." Kaman gulped as he eyed Lin Li with fear and hesitation, wondering why this man was suddenly interested in his business. Damn it, is he eyeing the Rosen Council?

"Great…" Lin Li nodded with satisfaction as Kaman was torn between fear and hesitation. "Right, let me introduce myself. I'm Felic, a mage from Jarrosus, but I may be living in Doland for a while. I'm sure you'll welcome me?"

"Of course, welcome… welcome…" Kaman fought to squeeze out a smile, but due to his fear, it turned out worse than a grimace.

Lin Li was not concerned with that, since this gross fatty would never look anywhere near pleasant even if he tried. He was more concerned if this fatty would cooperate with him; the rest could be dealt with by Norfeller…

"Alright, President Kaman, I shall cut to the chase. Right now, I have a favor to ask of you. I'm sure you won't refuse me given your generosity?"

"Of course not…" Kaman eagerly agreed before Lin Li even finished his sentence.

Of course, he was not nearly as eager as he sounded. Kaman winced as he nodded; now that he was at the mercy of Lin Li, he would have to accede to any favor asked of him. He could not bear to imagine what this would cost him. Perhaps he would have to supply stones at way below their price, or maybe he would have to give him a share in the Rosen Union… Either way, Kaman could not help feeling like he would face an insufferable loss.

"It's very simple, I'm going to need stones soon, and even though it won't be much, I'm going to need quite a variety of them. I don't have the time to look for them myself, so I'll have to trouble you for that. I'll write you a list later, so keep a lookout for me if you have the time. Once you get them, bring them to Blackhills Town, and I'll buy them from you at the market price…"

"Huh?" Kaman thought he had heard wrongly when Lin Li said "market price" .

"Why, you think that's too low a price?"

"No, no, no…" Kaman hurriedly denied it in fear. Goodness, Lin Li held his life in his hands, so he would be lucky to cut his losses, much less earn a profit from making a sale at market price. Kaman did not dare imagine such luck. Why would he refuse it now?

After settling the terms briefly, Lin Li enquired about the stone market in Doland, and was satisfied to hear that rare stones could be found frequently due to Doland being situated at the borders of the Felan Kingdom and the Dwarf Kingdom. Besides that, the Breezy Plains was already rich in resources, which meant that most stones could be easily obtained on the market.

Then, Lin Li gave Kaman a list.

"…" Kaman felt himself getting cross-eyes looking at the list. Hell, is this guy playing a joke on me, there are at least 30 kinds of stones on the list, and each of them is a rare magical ore in small amounts. Is this a magical ingredient of some sort?

"Alright, President Kaman, if there is nothing else to say, I shall not delay you any further. However, I hope you will get the stones ready as soon as possible. I would hate to personally head down to Doland to rush you since this is our first time working together…"

This was a thinly veiled threat…

"I… I got it…"

As they watched Kaman leave, Herza whispered to Lin Li, "Felic, why do you need so much magical metal? This is not a small sum; if you need so much money, why not invest in building the tower first? You know as well as I do that the budget given by the Supreme Council is not very adequate…"

Lin Li, however, confidently said, "Haha, Mr Herza, the stones I'm buying will be used to build the tower…"

"What?"

"You'll see…" Lin Li answered mysteriously, his stare becoming mischievous as he watched Kaman leave. He was in luck. He had just reached Doland, but he had already got to know a businessman who monopolized the stone trade, and in such rare circumstances too. With this alone, he could get him to purchase stones for him as well as sell his finished products. A simple exchange like this would snowball his profits…