Chapter 1210: Just As He Wished
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Lin Li was puzzled. There were no unowned seas here, and the entire sea territory belonged to the Gilded Kingdom. The Mermaid couldn’t possibly sail all the way outside the Gilded Kingdom’s seas.
“Master Felic, the Secret Merchant Market is about to open, let’s go over together.” Donald was a regular customer of the market too. When he saw the ships moving over, he immediately walked up to Lin Li, and gave him a reminder.
Lin Li nodded, and took Connoris and Angelano with him to follow Donald and Prince Tory towards the ships. While walking, he asked, “Master Donald, those ships should belong to the secret merchants, right?”
“Yes, they are secret merchants who dare to sell anything. Sometimes, they even have the guts to move marine beasts to this market. However, ships like these are usually used to carry trafficked slaves or precious marine creatures,” Donald explained to Lin Li while leading the way at the front.
Although The Mermaid was large enough, it was just a place for trading, and it was impossible to load any goods directly onto it. In particular, the items that Donald mentioned, such as slaves, sea creatures, or anything that would easily cause a big commotion, were usually prohibited on board. If one wanted to purchase those items, they would have to go through the Secret Merchants Alliance, which would send someone to supervise the handover of goods to ensure the interests of the customers after the deal was confirmed.
Under Donald’s guidance, Lin Li and others soon arrived in the cabin of The Mermaid, which was rather spacious. At this moment, the secret merchants there had already set up their goods in their respective spots.
Putting aside all the other factors, this scene alone reminded Lin Li of the farmers’ markets that he would visit in his previous life before transmigrating, except that it was, of course, much more orderly and organized than the rowdy farmers’ markets. Be it the customers or secret merchants, they were all extremely quiet while browsing through the goods, and waiting for customers to show up.
There were probably nearly 100 stalls in the entire cabin, each with a width of about two meters. According to Donald’s introduction, those secret merchants who owned stalls were of the lowest level. In order to gain access to the truly superior-grade fine goods, they would have to go through the door at the end of the cabin.
However, for Lin Li, it didn’t matter if the goods were fine and exquisite or not, because the key was that they had to be useful to him. Only things that he could put to use were the most valuable. Even if he possessed a unique item that was one of its kind in the world, it would still be useless if he didn’t need it. Besides, the quality of the goods sold by the secret merchants here definitely wouldn’t be too bad, since they could run their stall here at the Secret Merchant Market.
Hence, when Donald intended to bring Lin Li and the others upstairs to the next floor above, Lin Li politely declined. “Thank you, Master Donald, but please go ahead with Prince Tory. I intend to take my servants for a tour around here.”
Donald also knew that everyone had their own secrets, and he had already done enough by bringing Lin Li and the others there. If he followed them everywhere they went, he would come off as annoying. The purpose of most patrons of the Secret Merchant Market was to find and buy some treasures. No one would be willing to let others find out which treasures they had gotten immediately after they bought them.
Hence, after Lin Li turned him down, Donald didn’t seem too disappointed, and instead politely said, “Alright then, take your time, Master Felic. Tory and I will not disturb you anymore, I hope you can find something that you like.”
Donald and Tory soon left, while Lin Li brought Connoris and Angelano to start browsing slowly through the goods available at each store owned by a secret merchant. The Secret Merchant Market was much different from the Gift of the Sea, where there was basically a variety of resources available for sale. The goods peddled at the Secret Merchant Market were usually rare items.
However, one point to note was that the authenticity of the goods at the Secret Merchant Market was not guaranteed or regulated, so one would have to have a discerning eye in order to purchase authentic goods. If one were to buy a counterfeit item, they would have to blame it on their bad luck. The secret merchant would not offer a refund, nor would the Secret Merchants Alliance entertain such matters.
For instance, Lin Li saw a replica of the Titan Dragon Gun at a stall owned by a secret merchant which had an identical appearance to the true Titan Dragon Gun’s according to the myths and legends. It also contained some power of lightning. However, the most fake detail about it was that its size was only twice or thrice of that of an ordinary spear used by humans. For the Titans, it was probably only akin to a toothpick.
There were also some who sold treasure maps that were claimed to be of the mausoleum of the Great Monarch of the Sea Clan. Although Lin Li wasn’t certain that the map was fake, he reckoned that no one would dare to unearth the mausoleum of the Great Monarch of the Sea Clan even if it was authentic, because the Sea Clan wasn’t extinct yet! Besides, even if the map was true, the secret merchants could have gone to explore the mausoleum themselves as that would bring them more money than selling the map.
Simply put, the Secret Merchant Market was like an antique market where the goods might be authentic or not. If one ended up buying a counterfeit item, they could only blame it on their poor judgment. However, on the other hand, the secret merchants would tend to make mistakes at times too. Hence, it could be said that it was all up to the discretion of the buyer and seller. Even if they suffered a loss, they shouldn’t blame anyone for it.
Of course, there were only very few counterfeit goods. Even though the secret merchants were all wearing masks, and weren’t afraid that their reputation would be ruined, the Secret Merchants Alliance wasn’t willing to tarnish theirs because of the counterfeit goods. Although the Secret Merchants Alliance did not make it mandatory for the secret merchants to sell only authentic goods, they had a standard evaluation criteria of their own. If the secret merchants went overboard, being kicked out of the alliance would be considered a light consequence.
For example, there were definitely no counterfeit goods in the cabin on the second floor where Donald and Prince Tory went to, as the goods peddled there were obviously of superior quality compared to those outside. The secret merchants who were allowed to set up their stalls on the second floor were not only capable, but more importantly, they were credible and trustworthy to a certain extent.
This time, there was quite a large number of guests who were invited to the Secret Merchant Market; there were about a few thousand of them. Some of them headed straight to the cabin of the second floor as soon as they entered, just like Donald and the others. However, most of them started browsing slowly on the first floor, just like Lin Li. Fortunately, the hall on the first floor was extremely wide and spacious, thus providing ample room to prevent overcrowding. Besides, they were all figures of status, so they wouldn’t be so disgraceful as to wander around indiscriminately and squeeze their way through the crowd.
Among the guests, some of them were naturally Lin Li’s acquaintances, such as Prince Johnathan of the Felan Kingdom, Prince Jeremiah of the Ledin Kingdom, Archbishop Englos of the Brilliance Shrine, and High Priest Sendros of the Darkness Shrine. Unlike Lin Li, who had only been in Anril for a few years, they were all bigwigs of high status who had attended the Sea Market several times before. Hence, it wasn’t strange for them to become the regular guests of the Secret Merchants Alliance.
Even the representatives of the forces of the Breezy Plains like Joseph and Claus were no strangers to the Secret Merchant Market, what more those bigwigs. After all, the Secret Merchant Market was not held only in the Gilded Kingdom, as similar markets were also held regularly on the mainland, though of a lower standard.
Although Lin Li saw some acquaintances, he did not go over to greet them, nor did they approach him. They merely nodded at each other in greeting. They all knew that the Secret Merchant Market would be open for six or seven hours at most, so they might not have enough time to really browse through everything there. Thus, they didn’t want to waste their own and others’ time exchanging pleasantries, which could be done at other occasions.
“Hey, President Felic, you’re here too!” However, not everyone was self-aware enough to understand that logic. Since it was the Sea Merchant Market, of course the famous Cantory from the Gilded Kingdom had to be present. There was also another person whom Lin Li was familiar with standing next to Cantory, and that was Harquess of the Octopus Clan, who had previously tried to compete with Lin Li in inscription.
The last time Cantory met Lin Li in the market, he claimed it to be a coincidence, but actually, it was all part of his premeditated plan. Otherwise, how could he have possibly met Lin Li by coincidence in such a large market? Unfortunately, Cantory did not achieve the outcome that he wanted the other time, because he didn’t expect Harquess to keep his cool even after having his mageweath marred by Lin Li’s ink.
However, it was truly a coincidence this time because Cantory really did not expect to actually meet Lin Li again in the Secret Merchant Market. Although he wanted to use the power of the Octopus Clan to deal with Lin Li, he knew that it wouldn’t be a good idea to make his plan and animosity too obvious. Just as he was fretting over how he could look for Lin Li again, he stumbled upon Lin Li by coincidence, which truly made him overjoyed.
Hence, when Cantory saw Lin Li, he immediately came over with Harquess. In his opinion, Harquess chose not to settle scores with Lin Li previously only because Lin Li left too soon. He reckoned that Harquess would probably lose his temper this time.
However, Cantory only focused on creating trouble for Lin Li now, and thus didn’t notice the paleness of Harquess’ face.
Harquess was now extremely terrified of meeting Lin Li, and it was as if the admonishments of his father and the elders were still ringing in his ears. However, he could not bring himself to suck up to Lin Li, and thus merely hoped to live each day as it passed, and avoid Lin Li as much as possible. However, given the relationship between him and Lin Li, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow Cantory.
“Oh, I heard that there is a Secret Merchant Market here, so I came to take a look.” After taking a quick glance at Cantory, Lin Li replied to him indifferently, and then turned around to look at the items sold at the stores at the side.
In Cantory’s opinion, he was smart to have never genuinely fallen out with Lin Li. Although they were both aware of the animosity between them, they wouldn’t behave like archenemies until they really fell out with each other. That way, he could continue to approach Lin Li, and then look for opportunities to make Lin Li fall into his traps. He wouldn’t behave like Delano, who had gone against Lin Li as soon as they met. Now, Delano didn’t even dare to appear in front of Lin Li.
Although Lin Li did not deal with Cantory, it was merely because he didn’t take Cantory seriously at all. However, that also meant that Cantory’s strategy was still somewhat a bit useful. If Delano had been the one who came over to talk to Lin Li, he would have already been thrown far away.
Seeing that Lin Li did not pay attention to him, Cantory was resentful and infuriated, but he didn’t show it. Instead, he sounded a little regretful as he said, “President Felic, you probably do not know this, but you ruined a Master-level mageweath with the ink that you splashed the other time. It’s such a pity. If you had simply admitted defeat at that time, you might have been able to befriend Harquess, and Harquess probably wouldn’t have minded giving that Master-level mageweath to you.”
On the one hand, Cantory was accusing Lin Li of being a sore loser, and on the other hand, he was telling Lin Li that he had missed an opportunity to befriend Harquess. Of course, he was not feeling sorry for Lin Li, but rather he wanted to see Lin Li’s remorseful expression. Although he had no way to make the Gilded Kingdom and the Tower of Dusk go to war or trample all over Lin Li, he could use such a method to deal a blow to his enemy, and at least get some happiness out of doing so.
In Anril, there were very few Inscribers apart from the Octopus Clan. Masters of Inscription were even rarer. Hence, for every individual and force, getting to know a true Master of Inscription was an extremely rare opportunity.
Cantory had been to the Breezy Plains as a special envoy; hence, he knew that the Tower of Dusk had only been established for a few years now. A newly established force like theirs would be able to save a few years of struggling if they had the help of a Master of Inscription. He reckoned that Lin Li would definitely be filled with remorse and regret if he knew that he had missed the opportunity to get acquainted with a Master of Inscription.
However, after hearing Cantory’s words, Harquess felt incredibly ashamed and started blushing before Lin Li even reacted. Yes, even the Octopus Clan would tend to feel embarrassed at times. Harquess was well aware that even the Grand Elder Hayes was in awe of Lin Li’s attainments in inscription. Hence, Harquess was actually far inferior.
Harquess still remembered his father’s and the elder’s admonishments. Missed the opportunity to befriend me? The Octopus Clan is desperately trying to befriend President Felic!
However, on the one hand, Harquess did not want to embarrass his friend Cantory, and on the other hand, he really could not swallow his pride to say something nice to Lin Li. Harquess was not that thick-skinned to agree with Cantory, but he also couldn’t bring himself to suck up to Lin Li.
Therefore, when Cantory was about to say something else, Harquess secretly pulled his good friend Cantory over in hopes that he would not say anything embarrassing again.
Unfortunately, Cantory did not know that the ink, which did not seem to mean much to him, had actually shocked the Octopus Clan, which was one of the seven hegemonies. Feeling Harquess tugging at him, Cantory thought that Harquess was intending to teach Lin Li a lesson himself, which was exactly what he wanted.