Chapter 643: Section 430: Sanda’s Ideal
Sanda, being the squad leader of the Mercenary Group, was now staying in Snowbird Port and was secretly overseeing the operations of the division effectively.
But at the same time, his insights also had many limitations.
His mercenary group was not previously of a high level, nor was it large in scale; it had never handled such a huge amount of financial expenditure.
In this regard, Fat Tongue far surpassed him.
Although Fat Tongue was just an ordinary person, he had long been an elder in the Purple Vine Guild, and he had seen and dealt with much more money than Sanda.
He also stayed in Snowbird Port and did not follow Zi Di to the Ice Sculpture Royal Capital.
His main job was to oversee Zi Di’s business plan. Snowbird Port, as the production location for the Dragon Power Riding Potion, was the engine of the business plan and needed someone with business abilities to guard it.
However, Fat Tongue’s situation was similar to Sanda’s, where both were held back by their own combat abilities, with capabilities greater than the Extraordinary Level.
Sanda operated behind the scenes, while on the surface, Chi Lai and Menshi took charge. Fat Tongue’s situation was even worse; as a mere mortal tasked with pushing forward business plans and implementing certain business strategies, he could only do so through Sanda.
Seeing Sanda still frowning deeply, Fat Tongue sighed internally and felt compelled to continue persuading.
If Fat Tongue had sufficient Extraordinary Power, there would be no need to go through Sanda for his strategies to be implemented— he could execute them alone. But the reality was different; he needed to influence a more powerful figure to ensure the business-plan would not be compromised.
Fat Tongue said, “You have seen how popular our Dragon Power Riding Magic Potion is in Snowbird Port. So, this potion will also sell well in other parts of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom.”
“Thanks to Mage Bu Quan’s improvements in the production process, our output of Magic Potion has also increased manifold.”
“Our cooperation with the Lijian family has spared us the early stages of setting up shops, and their help has been enormously beneficial!”
“Now, we just need to wait for the first batch of capital to return, then we can achieve a positive cash flow.”
“As for the sudden additional cost of purchasing Alchemy Puppets, there’s no need to worry. This expense is entirely within our capabilities. Based on my market observations and knowledge of the prices of Alchemy Puppets, the capital we need to spend is less than one-tenth of our total gold.”
The Alchemy Puppet purchased this time was for Zi Di alone.
She also had many ghosts to manage, so she couldn’t control too many Alchemy Puppets.
Despite Fat Tongue’s reassurances, Sanda remained worried.
For a goblin, what Fat Tongue talked about had not happened; it was merely a plan, not a reality.
Fat Tongue, perceptive to the mood, felt helpless about the situation.
He had done his utmost to persuade Sanda, but to limited effect.
Fat Tongue, with his extensive life experience, knew that people like Sanda, who were practical and had hands-on experience as successful Mercenary Group leaders, were shaped by their achievements. However, these same experiences also troubled and constrained him, limiting his vision and preventing him from easily trusting others.
Fat Tongue did not put further effort into persuading. He knew, for someone like Sanda, good persuasion means letting reality speak for itself!
As long as future developments proved Fat Tongue’s accurate predictions, Sanda would understand.
Fat Tongue took his leave, leaving Sanda still with a frown.
However, contrary to his expression here, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Group was thriving!
The division of the Mercenary Group in Snowbird Port had, in this short period, advanced another level; their completion rate for tasks was at 100%, with a satisfaction rate equally at 100%!
Such performance could be said to be quite exaggerated.
But a closer look at the tasks they completed would explain it: they were very “minor.” Minor tasks such as helping in house moving, furniture repairs, finding cats, slaughtering chickens, and so forth.
Though these tasks were “simple,” the compensation was extremely generous, and the division thus gained a significant income.
“All of this is thanks to the squad leader,” Sanda knew very well that all of this was due to the Dragon-man youth.
Ever since the Dragon-man youth publicly killed the Golden Level Teng Donglang in a valiant duel, the situation for the Dragon Lion Mercenary Group was completely turned around.
Following this battle, the Saber Gang was also directly obliterated by the City Lord of Snowbird Port, causing a multitude of forces to express goodwill towards the Dragon Lion Mercenary Group.
Many forces actively issued mercenary tasks specifically requesting the Dragon Lion Mercenary Group. These tasks were very easy, but the rewards were extraordinarily wealthy.
With only some Low-level Transcendents, the division easily completed these tasks.
Not only earning a significant reward, but the Mercenary Group level was also raised.
“We may be considered a small power, but because our squad leader can slay Golden Level, the external forces view us highly.”
Sanda understood that such treatment was quite rare.
Having served as a squad leader of a Mercenary Group for many years, diligently and never receiving such favors, he had not seen other Mercenary Groups receive such treatment either.
It wasn’t that there were no powerhouses in the Mercenary Groups of the Holy Bright Empire.
But it was indeed rare for someone at Silver Level to overcome a Golden Level, like what the Dragon-man youth accomplished.
Another crucial point was that the Dragon-man youth defeated the leader of the Saber Gang under the banner of justice prevailing over evil! This justification made it easier for the public to accept.
The name of the Dragon-man youth became well-known throughout the Ice Sculpture Royal Capital not just for his impressive feats, but also due to the public approval garnered by his righteous actions.
As Sanda became the person actually behind the scenes in controlling the Dragon Lion Mercenary Group division, and with such favorable conditions from the start, his enthusiasm was fully mobilized.
Originally, he was a squad leader of a Mercenary Group, and in his heart, he had always harbored the ambitious desire to lead the Mercenary Group to greater heights.
The Dragon Lion Mercenary Group had reached the same level as the one he once led.
Endless successes made Sanda extremely passionate about his work; he was brimming with energy every day. At night when trying to sleep, his thoughts overflowed with reflections and aspirations: Could he ever have imagined that his childhood dream would be realized in such a miraculous way in a foreign land?
Thus, when Sanda saw such a massive expenditure of funds, he was not only shocked but also immensely worried.
He did not want to see this great situation collapse on his watch!
On one hand, it was his sense of duty. He had been placed in charge of a subdivision of the mercenary group and, of course, did not want to mess it up. On the other hand, it was his… one could say, life’s dream. He truly hoped his mercenary group could reach the pinnacle.
Of course, he knew his own limits when it came to his bloodline. So, managing the Snowbird Port subdivision, he was looking forward to achieving his dream in an unconventional, indirect way.
Sanda was very anxious.
Even after extensive discussions and explanations by Fat Tongue.
Sanda of course knew of Fat Tongue’s identity and had learned about his business acumen.
“But what if he made a mistake?”
“One isn’t afraid of ten thousand possibilities, just the one possibility, no matter how small!”
“No, I must do something about it, even if it has no effect, I must take some action.”
Sanda knew he couldn’t just sit back; he had to engage in some work to relieve his anxiety.
But making money… was never his strong suit.
He thought hard: “To secure funds, it boils down to increasing income and reducing expenses.”
“In terms of increasing income, naturally that means taking on more mercenary missions.”
“As for reducing expenses…” Sanda turned his gaze to the ledger that recorded nearly all the financial flows of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Group.
Currently, the biggest expenditure was procurement.
The Dragon Lion Mercenary Group was continuously purchasing alchemy materials, in large volumes, from many channels. Mainly from the six major guilds, as well as connections through the Snowbird Port City Lord.
Among these, the spending on purchasing parts of dragon-beasts and sub-dragons was the greatest.
Sanda didn’t know they were meant for the Dragon-man youth to absorb bloodlines. With zero alchemy skill, he failed to see the specifics, genuinely thinking they were for making magic potions.
“Of course, these can’t be tampered with.” Sanda looked towards the second largest expense.
This part of the funding was used for procurement of equipment and accessories.
The Dragon Lion Mercenary Group had money now, and training in transcendence usually wasn’t sudden but needed time to accumulate, so acquiring a piece of quality equipment could lead to a dramatic increase in battle power.
Before the duel with Teng Donglang started, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Group had already begun purchasing equipment heavily.
After the duel, the purchasing momentum didn’t decrease but increased further with the hot-sale of the Dragon Power Riding Potions.
The survivors really needed high-end equipment.
The Ice Sculpture Kingdom was also the capital for alchemists, with a highly developed alchemy industry. Here, survivors could more easily purchase cost-effective equipment and accessories.
“This kind of expenditure is really a bit too much, it can be reduced a bit,” analyzed Sanda, forming a different opinion.
In his view, the equipment level they were purchasing was mainly concentrated at the Silver Level, which was generally too high for the survivors.
Because, there were not many in the Dragon Lion Mercenary Group who were at the Silver Level. Among the real core members, there were only the Dragon-man youth and Zong Ge.
“Purchasing so much Silver Level equipment is unnecessary. Moreover, there’s mage equipment here too. Among our own, the two mages are Undead Mages, and this equipment isn’t suitable for them.”
“Also, do we really need to collect Golden Level equipment and accessories? We already have a lot of Gold Level equipment, and the real defensive Gold Equipment we need can’t be bought.”
“I’ll write a letter about this opinion… later.”
Then came the procurement of alchemy arrows, bullets, and so forth.
Sanda had no complaints about this.
He had experienced the escape battle against the leaders of the Saber Gang, where the Dragon Lion Mercenary Group had suffered quite a bit. At that time, their flagship Triangular Love Ship had already been sent for repairs for several days.
Sanda continued looking down.
The third significant area was everyday expenses.
The main part was meal expenses!
The Dragon Lion Mercenary Group was purchasing a large number of extraordinary materials, employing many Magic Chefs to produce extraordinary dishes.
The subdivision had a numerous population of transcendent beings, and many of the newly recruited Snow Elves possessed magical abilities. The two combat teams currently being trained had rigorous daily sessions, and these nutritious meals ensured they wouldn’t be worn out by the training.
“Wait, what’s going on here?”
“The meal expenses for Big Guy alone are comparable to that of Fast Blade’s squad?”
Sanda stared, somewhat baffled.
“This Big Fool is eating a bit too much, isn’t he?”
“I remember, his appetite wasn’t this big. Could someone be embezzling?”
Sanda couldn’t sit still any longer, he immediately took action to investigate personally.