Chapter 175: Cooperation Once Again
“How could that be? I treated you as my dearest friend.”
Whether it was establishing a force, killing a Qi Family elder, or cooperating with the Han Family, none of it counted as a big deal for Scorpion-Lion, who came from the Duanmu Family.
Zhou Ming told the other party about these matters, not only to have Scorpion-Lion help with full effort, but also to take the opportunity to connect with him and establish cooperation.
Although Zhou Ming still did not know Scorpion-Lion’s exact status within the Duanmu Family, being able to have a Professional Beast Tamer serve as a servant meant that Scorpion-Lion was absolutely a core figure in the Duanmu Family.
The help the other party could provide far surpassed that of a small family like the Han Family.
However, when it came to the Sapphire Fish, Zhou Ming had no intention of telling the other party.
Yet Scorpion-Lion’s intuition was far too sharp, and he actually sensed that Zhou Ming was hiding something.
Regarding Zhou Ming’s answer, Scorpion-Lion sipped his red wine and silently stared at Zhou Ming, his face full of distrust.
“Alright then, can you have that Uncle Leng of yours step aside first?”
Zhou Ming silently pondered for a moment. Recalling Scorpion-Lion’s conduct during their previous cooperation, he ultimately chose to reveal the existence of the Sapphire Fish.
After all, if he wanted to advance to Transcendent Master, the resources he needed were far beyond what he could support on his own.
Just the various precious Beast Taming inheritance knowledge alone—at present, the only possible channel to obtain them was the Scorpion-Lion before his eyes.
However, this matter could only be known by Scorpion-Lion alone. Noticing Uncle Leng guarding outside the door, Zhou Ming immediately raised his request.
“Uncle Leng, you can step aside for now. Although he likes telling lies, he is still someone worth dealing with.”
Scorpion-Lion was not surprised at Uncle Leng’s appearance outside the door. Knowing that the other party was worried and thus stood guard outside the private room, he deliberately explained a bit.
“Yes, Young Master.”
Hearing Scorpion-Lion’s words, Zhou Ming immediately felt a bit dissatisfied inside. Was he really that kind of person?
Sensing that Uncle Leng had left from outside the private room, Zhou Ming did not say much more and immediately took out a glass container filled with water.
Inside the glass container, there was a piece of Life Stone.
Calling it a Life Stone was somewhat exaggerated. Its function was simply that after shattering, it could provide ample oxygen, helping hunters survive in special environments.
“Sapphire Fish.”
Seeing the semi-transparent blue little fish inside the glass container, Scorpion-Lion immediately sat upright, put down the red wine in his hand, and carefully examined it.
“You found the place where the Sapphire Fish live.”
The Sapphire Fish had extremely high requirements for their living environment. Once they left their habitat, at most they could only remain alive, and it was impossible to use them for artificial breeding.
The Sapphire Fish inside the glass container still had decent vitality, which indicated that it had left its habitat only recently.
Scorpion-Lion also used this to deduce that Zhou Ming had found the place where the Sapphire Fish lived.
“Not bad luck. I found a small Sapphire Fish group, just a bit over a hundred.”
Zhou Ming wore a smug expression, as if deliberately showing off.
“Impossible. At the very least, it’s a group of five hundred.”
Zhou Ming’s expression instantly stiffened again. How had he still failed to hide it?
When he first met Scorpion-Lion, he had been completely read through by the other party. Could this guy really be his nemesis?
“I’ve already laid all my cards on the table, yet you still doubt me. Don’t you think that makes me feel cold-hearted?”
Seeing this, Zhou Ming still tried to struggle a bit more.
“If it really were a Sapphire Fish group of only a hundred in scale, at most you would bring two for consumption. You wouldn’t possibly carry five with you at all times.”
“After all, Sapphire Fish have low fertility and slow growth. You wouldn’t do something like killing the chicken to get the eggs.”
“And besides, what you say is only worth believing halfway at most.”
Although he could not completely see through the Zhou Ming before him, through their brief contact during previous cooperation, Scorpion-Lion could roughly grasp him.
He had bottom lines, but not many. He was smooth and knew when to advance or retreat, yet when he struck, he was decisive and ruthless. He loved to lie, but he kept his promises.
When it involved matters of interest, one could not listen to the other party’s nonsense.
“You were willing to expose the existence of the Sapphire Fish. You should be trying to obtain the resources you want from me, right?”
After hearing Scorpion-Lion’s round of analysis and seeing him infer his purpose, Zhou Ming slowly sat upright and looked straight at the other party.
“Scorpion-Lion, you probably don’t have friends, right? Born noble, powerful in strength, and on top of that, you even have a pair of eyes that see through people’s hearts.”
This time, it was Scorpion-Lion’s turn to fall silent. Zhou Ming’s lips finally revealed a truly smug smile.
Being able to make the other party suffer a setback really felt like eating an ice-cold watermelon in summer—comfortable all over.
“What do you want?”
Scorpion-Lion did not bring up the previous topic again and instead asked what resources Zhou Ming wanted.
“I want to first know what your status in the Duanmu Family is like.”
Zhou Ming did not immediately put forward his conditions. Instead, he wanted to understand Scorpion-Lion’s situation within the Duanmu Family. After all, if his demands were too high and the other party could not meet them, there would be no point in raising them. It was also an opportunity to probe Scorpion-Lion’s background.
“My grandfather is the head of the Duanmu Family. The one who specifically manages family affairs is my father. I am the leader of the younger generation of the Duanmu Family. Is this answer satisfactory?”
“Pa, pa…”
The sound of applause immediately rang out.
“Extremely satisfactory. The young master of the Duanmu Family—I really didn’t expect that you dared to go alone to the Green Mist Jungle for training back then.”
“Stop talking nonsense and state your demands.”
Judging from Scorpion-Lion’s expression, it was obvious that something Zhou Ming had said earlier had touched a sore spot.
“Alright then. This cooperation is limited to the two of us. No one else can know of the Sapphire Fish’s existence, or rather, they cannot know of my existence.”
“Alright.”
After receiving Scorpion-Lion’s promise, Zhou Ming immediately put forward his conditions.
Beast Knight class advancement materials, high-level bloodline fusion technology, meditation research materials, three copies of low-tier Original Meditation Method, scientific research talents who could leave the base, as well as large quantities of Beast Tamer cultivation resources and various top-tier scientific research equipment…
Among them was also the guarantee that the Qi Family could not obtain high-tier Calming Spirit Potion, as well as the equipment required by the Snake Guard.
In short, he was opening his mouth like a lion.
“Don’t you think these conditions are very high? Are you willing to hand over the living place of the Sapphire Fish?”
“Impossible. And don’t even think about forcibly taking it. I’ve already instructed my subordinates to be ready to blow that place up at any time.”
To be safe, Zhou Ming directly stated the orders he had given to the Snake Guard.
“I’m not you.”
“But if you want these things, you must provide one hundred Sapphire Fish per year.”
Scorpion-Lion mocked Zhou Ming with a single sentence, then put forward his condition.
“You’re dreaming. One hundred Sapphire Fish a year—you’re trying to make my Sapphire Fish go extinct.”
“Five.”
Zhou Ming’s counteroffer was like chopping straight from the ankle.
“Ninety-five.”
“Six.”
“Ninety.”
“Seven.”
…
Inside the private room, Zhou Ming and Scorpion-Lion were like merchants who valued only利益, engaging in verbal sparring to negotiate a price acceptable to both sides.
In the end, this negotiation lasted until nightfall. Both of them ended up with dry mouths and parched tongues before finally settling the specific cooperation terms.
Zhou Ming would provide thirty Sapphire Fish each year as the price, in exchange for the resources he needed from Scorpion-Lion.
However, Scorpion-Lion would not provide all the various resources to Zhou Ming at once. Instead, they would be supplied in batches according to the results of their discussions.
This time, when the two met again, neither had expected to establish a long-term cooperative relationship.
As for the breeding of the Sapphire Fish group, Zhou Ming could only set aside considerations in that regard for the time being. After all, there would be no problems in the short term.