After a lengthy and spirited discussion, the gathered hunters finally departed.
Zani stood at the main gates, offering respectful farewells until the last man disappeared down the dusty street.
“Brother Zani, won’t they simply abandon us the moment their wings harden and they reap the initial benefits?” Bai, who had stood silently like a towering guardian deity throughout the entire event, finally voiced the doubts lingering in his mind as Zani pushed the heavy gates shut.
“Why would they?” Zani asked, not even turning his head as he firmly secured the iron latch.
“I mean, the only thing we are giving them in advance is our guaranteed favor.
In return, they must sell us every beast and medicinal herb they pull from the mountains at a flat rate,” Bai pressed, his thick eyebrows knitting together in concern.
Zani turned around, meeting his gaze with a placid, unbothered expression.
“Do you really think our favor is something minor?” “No, what I am worried about is their cunning,” Bai explained as they began walking back across the courtyard.
“They will use our favor to stabilize themselves for a few months, and then actively seek loopholes to break their partnership with us.
“During the discussion, everyone was far too eager to put forth suggestions, and you casually accepted most of them!
Things like entry criteria for latecomers, or minimum monthly quotas…
I cannot help but feel that some proposals you approved was deliberately designed by them as an exit route.” Talking leisurely, the two men arrived at the makeshift meeting hall and took their seats.
Bai continued to barrage Zani with endless, strategic questions regarding the contract’s vulnerabilities.
To this, Zani simply hummed noncommittally.
Moving with patience, he smoothly poured two cups of steaming herbal tea, acting as if he hadn’t a single care in the world.
“Are you even listening to me, Brother Zani?” Bai frowned.
“Uh-huh.” Taking a slow sip and gently setting his cup down on the wooden table, Zani smiled faintly.
“Brother Bai, sometimes you appear as cold and aloof as a towering mountain.
Other times, you worry like an anxious old mother.
Just relax and drink your tea.” Bai, who had been talking endlessly until now, finally quieted down, offering a stiff, rugged nod.
However, deep inside the hollow space of the puppet, Little Leo was practically stomping her feet in unrestrained fury.
He didn’t hear a single word I just said, did he?!
This arrogant mortal peasant!
“The thing is,” Zani continued, his tone naturally shifting into something far more serious and calculated, “although the help I offer them holds little value now, in the future, its worth will skyrocket alongside our growth.
Currently, it is a favor from a mere mortal.
Tomorrow, it will be a favor from a Martial Artist.
And someday…
it might just be a favor from a Cultivator.” Hearing this, a heavy silence fell over the room.
This…
this, this…
To think this mortal peasant possessed such heaven-defying ambitions!
Little Leo had known for a while that Zani plotted to elevate his gym into an official dojo, but she never imagined his greed reached the heavens themselves.
I wonder just how far you will go.
Hehehe.
Yet, there were still details that did not sit right with Little Leo’s mind.
Seeing that Zani had no intention of elaborating further, she used Bai’s gruff voice to ask, “Brother Zani, that is a grand vision, but what if we lose all the hunters before such a time comes?” “That will never happen.” “Why?” “Because not everybody requires me to explain how terrifyingly useful this favor truly is,” Zani said, his eyes flashing with a sharp, unfathomable confidence.
“The smart ones have already figured it out.” What does he mean by that?!
Unable to contain her mounting annoyance at his cryptic half-answers, Bai suddenly stood up, offered a stiff, rugged excuse about checking on the disciples, and abruptly marched out of the meeting hall.
Left entirely alone, Zani took another sip of tea and rolled his eyes inwardly.
Why does Brother Bai behave like a petulant child sometimes?
Or is it just my imagination?
Musing over Bai’s questions, Zani knew there were, of course, chances of the hunters betraying him.
But such a collapse would only happen if some powerful external force intervened.
Furthermore, local hunters valued their reputation immensely; swaying an entire network to act so shamelessly, would require an exorbitant amount of silver from a rival faction.
So, for the time being, his supply chain was as stable as Mount Tai.
Now that the hunters were secured, it was only a matter of time before one of them brought him the exact whereabouts of a Mud Boar.
Then, he could finally venture out to hunt – or better yet, capture it.
Along with the network, he now has a stable, affordable supply of herbs, meat, and animal parts flowing directly into his domain.
The next logical step for the Gym would be to hire chefs and officially open a kitchen.
This would save him a massive amount of copper on daily eating expenses, while simultaneously allowing him to open a premium food service for the outer disciples to bleed more silver from them.
But there was a severe bottleneck: he was currently short on loose capital.
He currently holds exactly 58 silver and 40 coppers.
While this was a mountain of wealth for a mortal, and starting a basic kitchen operation only cost around 10 silver, Zani despised quick, low-quality fixes.
He wanted to forge a kitchen foundation that could accompany his gym until it was promoted to at least a true Sect.
And to achieve that, the most important factor wasn’t the iron stoves, but the chef operating them.
He wants to hire the absolute best, someone at least on the level of the tavern’s head chef who currently cooks his daily meals.
Spending heavy silver to build a kitchen only to eat sub-par meals, which are not even as good as what they currently have, would be a profound disgrace.
Both to him and gym’s prestige.
The reality is, that head chef has a hefty salary of 5 silver a month, and wouldn’t easily abandon his post due to his blood ties.
Five silver…
Zani’s fist tightened around his teacup as a dark memory surfaced.
I sold my entire ancestral courtyard for that exact amount.
“Damn that Sythe,” Zani muttered, his eyes narrowing.
“Although we act like sworn brothers now, I will absolutely not forget that the old fox scammed me in the beginning.” Regardless, to hire a superior chef, Zani currently has a plan slowly brewing in his mind.
But the timing isn’t right yet.
“First, I need to prepare for the immediate possibility.
I must build a secure holding pen for when I capture the Mud Boar alive…” Muttering his plans aloud, Zani stood up and exited the meeting hall.
Out in the main hall, the inner disciples, led by Elisi, are already removing the heavy curtains and rearranging the equipment for the evening training session.
An hour later, inside the Mayor’s Manor in Grains City.
Standing rigidly before the massive wooden desk, Chaao was meticulously recounting everything the undercover hunter had reported from Zani’s gathering.
After he finished, Chaao watched his father-in-law sink into deep, calculating thought.
Unable to hold his tongue, Chaao finally muttered, “Mayor, with this aggressive monopoly on the local hunters, the Iron Core Gym has gained quite a terrible reputation among the city’s meat and herb merchants.” “No,” Mayor Salam interrupted immediately, raising a hand before Chaao could continue.
“The merchants you speak of are small-time bottom-feeders who scrape by on minor price differences.
There is absolutely no need to worry on that front.
They possess neither the strength nor the courage to cause a true ripple.” Salam leaned forward, his eyes burning with a sharp, profound light as he stared at the intelligence reports scattered across his desk.
“What I am thinking is…” Salam murmured, tapping his fingers rhythmically against the wood.
“If this Gym is truly consolidating such a vast resource network…
can the Mayor’s Manor also gain some kind of partnership with them?” “Huh?” Chaao’s jaw dropped, entirely failing to comprehend the Mayor’s sudden shift in strategy.
________________________________________ [Author Note: Thank you for all the amazing reviews!
This bonus chapter (and the last one) is my way of saying thanks.
Your support keeps me motivated and writing with a smile.
I’m currently working on freeing up more time to write, with the goal of increasing our release schedule from 5 days a week to a full 7 days.
As always, if you have any questions about the story, the world, or why something was written a certain way, don’t hesitate to ask in the comments.