Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 294 The Abbot and the Auction Planning

After paying the deposit to the Imperial Engineering Master Francesca and the Dwarf Rune Master Torek, Su Li spent more than half an hour on the fifth underground floor of the Gray Market Trading Company, observing all the remaining cages.

Even in a gray market trading company, it is impossible for more than 100 champion-level slaves to be imprisoned there. In fact, Torek and the female vampire are among the only few champion slaves there.

Su Li did not count them in detail, but among the more than 100 slaves, there should be only 4 to 6 champion-level ones. And this is because the Gray Market Trading Company has gathered resources from all directions, from the empire to the border princes, from the Dark Ark to the Lustria rainforest, from the death place of the Vampire Count to the distant Araby coast, and captured captives of countless races and forces, to accumulate this scale.

Thinking about it this way, Su Li felt that he was actually quite strong. Under the grace of the Goddess of the Fiery Sun, a large number of powerful knights came to his territory from all directions, making the scale of his champion knights even far exceed that of some large forces in Maraisburg.

So he was in a good mood and spent some money on the remaining captives, spending 500 gold crowns to reserve 12 elite slaves, including 6 elite knights of the Hospitallers, 4 priests of the Church of the Dawn, and two respected abbots of the Church of the Sun Goddess.

The position of Abbot is a highly prestigious one, with only the oldest and wisest monks ultimately ascending to become the leaders of their respective monasteries. This position is typically held by high-ranking, elite priests, possessing extensive academic knowledge, a command of common sense, a strong will, and skilled orators, greatly accelerating the spread of doctrine.

One such example was the venerable Father Stephen Kurtz, who had previously served as abbot of a fortress on the edge of the barony. He was revered and beloved by the monks, and renowned for his wisdom throughout Maleburg and the surrounding lands.

During this time, he tirelessly tested his faith, sought the truth, and challenged unbelievers. Over the decades, he shared countless stories of his personal struggle and redemption, converting many to the faith of the Sun Goddess.

The incident happened during a disastrous adventure. An adventuring group from his fortress ventured into the forest without a guide familiar with the area and was ambushed by wild beastmen. Young men seeking help came to the monastery and pleaded with Stephen for assistance. Everyone at the monastery thought the rescue idea was a disaster.

But Dean Steve decided to use the wisdom and strategy of the goddess to rescue these lost and reckless young people, and he was very successful. With only two church knights from the monastery, he successfully attracted the attention of the beastmen and rescued these adventurers.

Hundreds of confused adventurers were inspired by the Sun Goddess's steadfast faith and determination to face danger. They joined the Church of the Sun Goddess and learned about Violet's faith from the dean.

However, before these reckless adventurers had time to learn the goddess' wisdom and tactics, their poor discipline led them to an ambush by a group of forest bandits.

In this critical moment, Dean Stephen decided to sacrifice himself to preserve more believers for the goddess. He ordered two church knights to take all the believers away, and like a towering hero, he charged alone, sword in hand, into the densely packed forest bandits. With courage, perseverance, and strength, he vindicated the glory of the Sun Goddess.

The forest bandits suffered heavy losses at his hands, but he also earned their respect. When the forest bandits found him lying on a pile of corpses, covered in blood, unconscious but not dead, the bandit leader was deeply shocked. He believed that this powerful old man would be sold at a high price to make up for his losses in this battle.

In fact, he was right. The price that this powerful dean, President Roger, sold to Su Li was as high as 430 gold crowns! This was far beyond the value of a normal elite knight.

As Guild President Roger put it, with such a powerful dean, Hessen County would be flooded with new knights. More importantly, this dean had already reached the pinnacle of high-ranking elite knights. As long as he survived battle, there was no telling whether he might experience a sudden enlightenment and break through to the rank of Champion Knight. (Although the probability of this happening was extremely low, many knights remained stuck at this bottleneck for their entire lives.)
To be honest, Su Li was attracted by this point and was willing to pay double the price to buy this powerful abbot.

Su Li has the assistance of the intelligence system. If Dean Stephen can really make a breakthrough, Su Li will have a great chance of helping him find an opportunity.

After viewing these slaves, Su Li decisively said goodbye to President Roger. Although the president tried hard to invite him to continue to visit other items and props in the Gray Market that were not suitable for open display, Su Li still firmly refused.

If he continued to watch, he would probably be unable to resist and continue to spend money recklessly.

Originally, he went to the Gray Market Trading Company with the intention of selling some forbidden items and making some money. Buying these slaves was a spur-of-the-moment decision, and when he couldn't help but buy some witchcraft props, it went completely against his original intention.

Su Li did not forget the purpose of his trip to Maleburg - to make a lot of wealth and go back to improve the finances of Hesse.

If he wants to buy these slaves now, he can just pay a deposit and wait for the Chamber of Commerce to deliver the goods to his door, but he can't buy props on credit, right?
When leaving the Gray Market, Su Li only brought Father Stephen out. He planned to see if he could buy Father Stephen a Pegasus mount. If that wasn't possible, he would let Fastrick and Father Stephen ride on the same Pegasus. Then he could give his Pegasus more good food so that it could carry two people and fly.

After leaving the Gray Market Trading Company, Father Stephen stretched his body and said to Su Li, "Thank you, Lord, for helping me escape and allowing me to return to the embrace of the Fiery Sun Goddess."

People feel refreshed when good things happen to them. After he was released, his mental state was much better than when he was in prison.

Su Li looked at the priest, whose beard was already gray but whose muscles were still muscular, and said, "You're welcome. I will be staying in Maleburg for about three days. You should rest well during these three days. After we arrive in Hessen Territory, I will give you a more comprehensive recovery so that you can continue to add luster to the glory of the Goddess."

Stephen waved his hand decisively and said, "There's no need to rest. Her Majesty Violet's knight is not that weak. I have a suggestion. If you'd like to stay in Maleburg for a few days, I can recommend that you visit the Blazing Sun Knights' headquarters in the Border Prince's Territory. This is the proper behavior for you as a follower of the Blazing Sun Goddess in Maleburg, and it's also in your best interest."

"Go to the headquarters of the Flame Sun Knights?" Su Li and the two knights behind him all had their eyes lit up at the same time!
This is something that all the believers of the Goddess of the Fiery Sun cannot resist. That place is one of the holy places for the believers of the Goddess in the entire Border Prince Territory.

If a knight who is exploring a knight territory comes here, he should indeed visit this magnificent and splendid headquarters.

Stephen nodded heavily and said, "The Blazing Sun Knights' headquarters in the Border Prince's Territory is located in the Cathedral of the Eternal Flame. This cathedral is also the largest and most luxurious temple outside of the Holy Sanctuary of the Blazing Sun Goddess."

"Every year on the summer solstice, this temple holds a grand Summer Solstice Burning Ceremony. On this day, the Knights parade the entire route in flaming chariots, lighting giant stone pillars of fire along the way. Then, the knights clash in front of the cathedral with unsharpened weapons coated in phosphorus powder. The winner's sword is ignited by holy fire, becoming the 'Goddess's Blade' in the ceremony. The Grand Master throws the Goddess's Blade onto the map. The territory where the blade's tip strikes is the 'Ashes Prophecy'. The Knights then issue a 'Holy Crusade Order,' and all believers of the Church of the Blazing Sun Goddess will gather in that direction to annihilate any monsters or evil orders in that territory."

Tsk~ Su Li couldn't help but sigh. The knight order in this wealthy city still has the atmosphere and sense of ritual of the Church of the Goddess of the Fiery Sun.

Luxury, martial arts competitions, and the goddess's favorite great expedition are all displayed here to the fullest.

Unlike Hesse, they still celebrated the Tal Festival on the summer solstice last year.

However, this summer solstice city burning festival was not originally a traditional festival of the church, but a way of celebration by the Knights of the Flaming Sun.

Su Li felt that this was just right to inspire the Heisen Territory. The Heisen Territory could also organize its own festivals. For example, the Lion Ring Competition after the harvest season could completely combine the style of the territory's focus on the Goddess of Dawn and the Goddess of the Fiery Sun to hold a glorious competition festival.

If possible, he felt that this trip would be a good opportunity to ask the Flame Sun Knights for some support.

So Su Li immediately replied: "No problem, we will prepare today and go to the Eternal Flame Cathedral to visit the headquarters of the Flame Sun Knights tomorrow."

As they were talking, Fastrick came up with several ministers and the Swan Knight. "Hehehe, Lord, why did you stay in there for so long? We thought they were plotting a murder against you, and we were considering whether to rush in and rescue you."

Looking at Fastrick's frivolous smile, Su Li knew that he must have had some wrong ideas. The underground secret room, a group of female slaves, and a large number of sexual torture props could easily make people think of things like imprisonment in a secret room.

This guy is unruly and dares to make fun of everything.

Su Li glared at him and said, "If they want to do something dirty, even Steward Hildre couldn't get me out, so how can we expect you to come to our rescue? We just watched the slaves in there for a while longer. Let me tell you, how are your business arrangements going?"

When it came to business, Fastrick and several ministers all looked serious and immediately reported, "We've found out that there are three largest auction houses in the city. Crankengarfield Auction House is indeed one of them, and they offer the lowest commission. The highest commission is 8%!"

"Oh, of course. Would I lie to you, my little brother? Would you believe me if I dug my heart out and showed it to you?"

A gentle voice echoed from a restaurant on the street. From the second-floor window, President Yi Li leaned out her lithe figure. Looking up, her full chest, folded in her arms, seemed even more pronounced. Her signature beauty mark accentuated her allure, and she winked at Su Li with a pair of shimmering eyes. "I've been waiting for you, brother, for over half an hour now," she said with a smile. "If you don't come up and have a drink with me, I'll be very sad."

Su Li raised his eyebrows and looked up at her fair cheeks. In fact, after a careful look, Su Li found that President Yi Li's appearance and facial features were only average, but when put together, there was a natural charm and enchantment, especially with the embellishment of that unique beauty mole. She felt more provocative than a sex addict, and people couldn't help but feel a violent emotion in their hearts, wanting to push her down on the table and ravage and ravage her madly.

"Why would Guild Master Yili wait for me here?"

"Of course. People with value always inspire others to be more enthusiastic about them, and your value, brother, is clearly incomparable to that of ordinary people."

"Besides, brother, are you really going to hold your head high and talk to me like this? I don't want our secret to be known by other auction houses."

Su Li thought about it and decided to go in and meet President Yi Li. After all, in Mar-a-Lago, she had helped him get tens or even hundreds of thousands of gold crowns just by asking for them.

So Su Li led his guards directly into the restaurant. What surprised Su Li was that only President Yi Li was in the private room on the second floor! He had thought that she was the only one standing by the window, and her entourage was in the room.

She was only wearing a thin shirt with the top three buttons unbuttoned. From the open position, one could see her delicate white skin and graceful curves.

Seeing so many people coming in, she pretended to be weak and hugged her body, saying: "Ah, my brother is really a nobleman, with such a grand ceremony and so many guards. Please don't bully a weak woman like me during the negotiation."

Fastrick was very perceptive and took the initiative to pull out a chair for Su Li, and then pulled out a chair for Hildreth next to it.

After Su Li and Hild sat down, they glanced at Guild President Yi Li, who was standing beside the table with her arms folded across her chest. She said, "Guild President Yi Li, there's no need to pretend. If I'm not mistaken, this restaurant is all yours. Otherwise, how could a guild president like you show up alone? Wouldn't you be robbed by robbers and thugs?"

President Yili personally poured Su Li a cup of black tea from the far eastern spice land, and patiently added another cup for Hildurde before replying gracefully, "As expected, nothing can be hidden from the chosen of the Fiery Sun Goddess. Your church is truly renowned for its wisdom."

Su Li took a sip of the exotic tea, feeling it was delicate and mellow, refreshing and even brightening his mood. He looked at President Yi Li and asked, "Your Lanod Church is no less capable. From the moment you entered this room, everything has been meticulously planned, right? Including this cup of tea?"

Guildmaster Yi Li smiled brightly as she raised her teacup. She tilted her fair neck back and drank the tea in one gulp. She said, "This is Maiqing high mountain black tea from Skyrim Province. It's grown by a snake woman in a tea garden over 1200 meters above sea level. The leaves are thick and plump, and after brewing, they exude a refreshing aroma of orchids and woods, relaxing and uplifting. If we all drink this black tea, it means both sides will be very favorable to each other in the upcoming negotiations."

"Snake girl?" It was the first time that Su Li heard this name. He had never seen this kind of slave in the underground secret room of the Gray Market Trading Company.

"They're a vassal race in the area ruled by the Tiger People, famous for their lithe bodies and tea-growing prowess. My Tiger Brother wouldn't be unaware of this, right? They're a power southeast of Cathay, occupying a large island. They're the Spice Kingdom. Dragons and tigers are the themes of the Eastern Dynasty. They're so far away from us, you might see their merchandise, but you'll almost never see their army. If you're powerful enough, you might even receive a visit from their diplomatic envoys."

A diplomatic envoy from Zhendan? Su Li had only heard of the mysterious Eastern envoys from Terrabheim. As a small frontier development territory, he had no way of contacting this level.

So he drank the tea in one gulp and asked, "Let's get back to business. Why did President Yili invite me up here?"

Seeing this, Guild Master Yi Li sat down beside the round table with satisfaction and said to Su Li, "My brother's knights have been visiting various auction houses, making such a big fuss. If I don't come, I'm afraid your treasure will be snatched up by other trading houses."

"Are you still so reserved towards me? Won't you show me your treasure?"

This woman really knows how to use her strengths! Showing her your treasure? This is too easy to trigger associations.

If Su Li answered the question in a formal manner directly when she asked with her charming eyes, he would appear to be very innocent and would be controlled by her.

So Su Li leaned back and asked calmly, "Which of my treasures does President Yi Li want to see?"

But Su Li really underestimated this woman. She climbed up the pole, biting her cherry lips lightly, leaning forward slightly, exposing her plump white breasts to Su Li. Even through the gap, he could vaguely see the bottomless ravine and the bright silver-red color. "I'm very interested in all of my brother's treasures. I heard that you knights have many... extraordinary treasures. Let's start with the purpose of your trip. For example, why did you visit so many auction houses?"

Everyone knew very well the purpose of Su Li's visit.

Seeing that she had returned to business, Su Li got straight to the point and said, "Of course I want to find a reputable auction house to sell my treasure for an ideal price."

Su Li waved to Hildurd, and Hildurd personally opened a small box he carried with him and displayed it on the table.

Guildmaster Yili's eyes suddenly lit up. She excitedly stood up and approached the treasure chest, completely ignoring the fact that her beautiful breasts were completely exposed. "The Kisser and the silk of Queen Anarek's giant spider? I can't believe it! How did you find so many precious treasures in just one year, Su Li? Just these two items alone can fetch over 5000 gold crowns."

"But you must hand them over to me immediately. You know, treasures like these require publicity to maximize their value. We need to spread the word and attract more noble ladies and wealthy merchants to come, so that they can become a hot commodity."

Su Li gently closed the treasure chest lid and took the fragrant treasure chest away from President Yi Li. Her eyes were fixed on the treasure chest, moving with it until they returned to Su Li.

"Five thousand gold crowns? I don't need to go to all that trouble. Any auction house can fetch that price." Su Li tapped the gem on the lid of the box with his fingers and said, "The other two items in here are the extraordinary spiritual fruit Star Dew Orange. Eating one can almost eliminate all long-standing illnesses and accumulated toxins. There are also 5000 bottles of Encounter Chengxi perfume. What I want is to get the highest price for them!"

The transaction with the Gray Market Trading Company gave Su Li a clearer sense of the wealth and prosperity of Maleburg. It simply couldn't be compared to the remote frontier development territories. Even without bargaining, Su Li easily increased the value of the 50-plus forbidden items by a third. If he had more time, the estimated price of 6000 gold coins might have doubled.

Therefore, Su Li must ensure that the next auction will push these props to the highest value.

As soon as Su Li finished speaking, President Yi Li understood what Su Li meant, which was to combine these items into a super set to give women unparalleled temptation.

She pondered for a moment and said, "If my brother is willing to give these treasures to us, we can use this as the theme and make the auction the day after tomorrow even more grand. To increase the appeal, our auction house will also add a batch of precious treasures. This is our reserve for the event we plan to hold at the end of the year."

After she finished speaking, she smiled and winked at Su Li: "This way, I, your sister, can also help my brother earn more wealth from that arrogant Roger."

For the same number of props, obviously higher quality treasures can be sold at a higher value per piece.

She also hinted from the details that she and Su Li were actually family. She was really like a caring sister helping her brother plan the most advantageous situation.

Su Li was still interested in their auction house's most valuable treasures, not to mention that Roger was helping him pay the bill, so Su Li said directly, "Then let's decide. I hope this set of four treasures can sell for more than 10000 gold crowns."

President Yi Li said confidently, "We'll start building momentum tonight. It won't be difficult to achieve this goal. Brother, do you have any other treasures? We can acquire them as well."

Su Li looked at Ariana and said, "Go and bring over the box of crimson pearls, burning pearls, dwarven jewels, and magic amulets."

(End of this chapter)