Chapter 176: Resource Mobilization
As night fell, Scorpion-Lion returned to the estate where the Duanmu Family resided with a faint smile on his face, but Zhou Ming’s expression did not look good.
This was because, under the pretext of verifying the effects of the Sapphire Fish, Scorpion-Lion had eaten two of the five Sapphire Fish inside Zhou Ming’s glass container.
If Zhou Ming had not retrieved the glass container in time, the remaining three would also have been difficult to preserve.
However, Zhou Ming did not suffer too great a loss. At the first opportunity, he called over the hotel attendant and opened the most expensive bottle of red wine.
It was not that expensive, only five hundred thousand Alliance Coins.
The bill was put on Young Master Duanmu’s account.
Carrying the red wine back to the guest room arranged by the hotel, Zhou Ming pondered for a long while before taking out a Sapphire Fish and directly preparing fish sashimi to eat with the red wine.
He was afraid that if he did not eat it himself soon, during the time he stayed at Yunhai Base, Scorpion-Lion would sooner or later empty out the remaining three Sapphire Fish.
At the same time, after returning to the estate, Scorpion-Lion went straight to his father’s study.
Scorpion-Lion’s father was named Duanmu Hengyue, a high-ranking Ferocious Beast Knight and a genius of the previous generation of the Duanmu Family.
He had a refined and scholarly temperament, filled with the charm of a mature man, and in his younger years had left behind quite a few romantic anecdotes.
Since several years ago, when Scorpion-Lion’s grandfather had relinquished power to focus wholeheartedly on preparing for advancement to War Knight, most of the Duanmu Family’s major and minor affairs had basically been handled by Scorpion-Lion’s father.
“I heard you met a friend today?”
He naturally had a clear grasp of his son’s movements, but he was still somewhat curious about what kind of friend his son had made.
After all, given his son’s abilities, there were not many people willing to associate with him.
“Mm.”
“This time, I want the authority to mobilize family resources.”
After responding simply, Scorpion-Lion directly stated his purpose. He then hesitated for several breaths before continuing.
“Starting this year, thirty Sapphire Fish will be delivered to me. I will keep ten, and the remaining twenty will be handed over to the family.”
The conditions Zhou Ming proposed were something ordinary forces simply could not satisfy. Even the Duanmu Family would have to pay no small price.
Although he had promised Zhou Ming not to divulge the matter of the Sapphire Fish, some things could not be completely kept secret, and he understood his father’s style of conduct.
“Thirty Sapphire Fish? It seems the friend you know is no ordinary person.”
In response to Duanmu Hengyue’s words, Scorpion-Lion did not answer, merely waiting silently at the side for his reply.
“Since you’ve already made your decision, then handle it as you see fit.”
Although granting his son the authority to mobilize resources would attract dissatisfaction within the family, twenty Sapphire Fish were enough to stop their mouths.
A single Sapphire Fish was not particularly precious, but once the quantity increased and could be supplied continuously, even the Duanmu Family could not ignore it.
The lack of drug resistance, along with the effect of helping Professional Beast Tamers enhance their Spiritual Power, was enough to strengthen many families.
After obtaining the authority for resource mobilization, Scorpion-Lion did not remain in the study. After bidding farewell to his father, he began preparing the resources Zhou Ming required.
“Master, should we…”
After Scorpion-Lion left, inside Duanmu Hengyue’s study, a middle-aged burly man emerged from the shadows.
“No need. It’s only Sapphire Fish. It’s still not worth more than the Duanmu Family’s credibility. This matter stops with you.”
Duanmu Hengyue revealed a stern expression, no longer showing the refined demeanor from before, and issued his command in a deep voice.
That the Duanmu Family had been able to pass down its legacy since the establishment of the Alliance could be seen from Duanmu Hengyue’s way of handling matters—it did not rely solely on the family’s strength.
After all, there were quite a few examples of powerful families disappearing in the history of the Alliance.
“Yes.”
The burly man did not raise further objections and immediately retreated back into the shadows to await further orders.
The next day, Scorpion-Lion once again arrived at the Grand Courtyard Restaurant and brought along part of the resources Zhou Ming needed.
“Thirty Thunder Type-2 Revolvers, three thousand specialized bullets, thirty of the latest Blood Hunter Type-3 Handguns. The bullets are universal, so I didn’t prepare anything special for you.”
“Thirty sets of Saint Elephant Type-2 Protective Suits. They’re enough to withstand most firearm fire, but the kinetic energy of bullets can only be partially absorbed. If the wearer’s physique isn’t up to par, they’ll still be injured when facing high-powered firearms.”
Inside the guest room, Scorpion-Lion laid out the firearms and combat suits across the living room floor, as if conducting an arms deal.
The base’s weapon control regulations imposed no restrictions on the two of them.
“Not bad. All brand-new gear. You didn’t try to fool me.”
Zhou Ming casually picked up a Thunder Type-2 Revolver to inspect it before giving a positive evaluation.
After hearing this, Scorpion-Lion ignored him entirely. Did the Duanmu Family need to pull such tricks?
“There’s more, right? It can’t be just this little.”
“Money and goods are exchanged fairly. You haven’t taken out anything yet, and you still want more?”
Scorpion-Lion stared coldly at Zhou Ming, his meaning self-evident.
“With just this one Sapphire Fish, take it or leave it. If you don’t want it, I’ll eat it myself.”
Zhou Ming’s guess was correct. After tasting the benefits brought by the Sapphire Fish yesterday, Scorpion-Lion had naturally set his sights on the remaining three.
Seeing Zhou Ming take out a dagger, retrieve ice cubes and a plate from the guest room refrigerator, and begin preparing sashimi, Scorpion-Lion finally took out three ancient-looking scrolls.
The three scrolls were respectively the Ferocious Beast Knight class advancement ritual Zhou Ming wanted, one low-tier Original Meditation Method, and an advanced bloodline fusion technology.
Because Original Meditation Methods were extremely rare, and their cultivation difficulty was high and accompanied by certain dangers, the Duanmu Family did not have many in their collection.
However, Original Meditation Methods had one advantage: their conceptual foundation was lofty, and their potential immense.
Zhou Ming knew that even if the Duanmu Family possessed high-tier meditation methods, they would still be core inheritances among core inheritances and absolutely impossible to exchange.
Thus, he had proposed three low-tier Original Meditation Methods, intending to comprehend them and then integrate them into the White Bone Body Meditation Method.
He could also take this opportunity to create a meditation method fully compatible with the Ruler profession.
The Ferocious Beast Knight class advancement was naturally prepared for Su Mei, while the advanced bloodline fusion technology was meant for the future development of the Ironthread Snake swarm.
Low-tier and high-tier Ferocious Beasts lacked intelligence. Even Ferocious Beasts above the lord rank relied on inherited bloodline power rather than actively learning like humans.
Deep within Ferocious Beast bloodlines existed a form of soul consciousness. Besides recording information about bloodline power, it also formed a bloodline will that functioned like shackles.
It was extremely difficult for humans to obtain this bloodline power, but when Ferocious Beasts fused bloodlines with one another, they could rely on their own bloodline will to eliminate the effects brought by conflicting bloodline wills.
Therefore, if the Ironthread Snake swarm wanted to continue developing, Zhou Ming naturally had to prepare for fusing other snake bloodlines into the Ironthread Snakes.
These three scrolls, together with the equipment for the Snake Guards, were the resources Scorpion-Lion had prepared in advance for Zhou Ming.
As for subsequent resources, Scorpion-Lion would only continue providing the corresponding supplies after Zhou Ming delivered thirty Sapphire Fish.
Hearing Scorpion-Lion’s brief introduction, Zhou Ming noticeably sped up the processing of the Sapphire Fish. He was also someone who would not release the hawk until he saw the rabbit.