In this cyberpunk era, why are you still playing the traditional villain?

They acquired Poseidon Stone at a high price.

"What is this?"

Soon, someone stopped and stared at the sign for a long time with a puzzled look. "I can't read, can you read it to me?"

"can."

The head of the trading post nodded, his tone calm but his voice loud, "We will buy Poseidon Stone at a high price."

"What exactly is the Poseidon Stone?"

The unassuming middle-aged man tilted his head.

"This is it."

The person in charge took out the samples. "I heard they are crystals formed when the sea god fell... Here, here are the specific prices. According to the standard of 100 grams per piece, this white one is worth 50 silver coins, the blue one is worth 5 gold coins, and this dark blue one is worth 50 gold coins."

"This little stone is worth that much money?!"

The middle-aged man's eyes widened when he heard this. Good heavens, this is no small sum!

The Hualan Empire uses gold, silver, and copper coins, with a standard simple conversion of 1 gold coin to 100 silver coins and 1000 copper coins. However, for ordinary people, a month's income is only around 10 silver coins, and gold coins are rarely seen in the middle and lower classes. They are usually only used more by the upper class.

So this price is really scary. Even the lowest grade of Poseidon Stone is worth almost half a year's income for them. If they really had a deep blue Poseidon Stone, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they could become rich overnight!

"Yes, that's the price."

The person in charge confirmed, and replied very seriously, "Of course we will weigh it, and we will also use some professional testing methods..."

The middle-aged man didn't hear a word he said after that; his mind was completely occupied with gold coins... Goodness, this kind of opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, isn't it?

The only problem is that he doesn't have the Poseidon Stone, ugh...

"What can this thing do? What do you plan to use it for?"

More and more people gathered around, and some of them, who were a little more clear-headed, asked the question out of curiosity.

"I'm not entirely sure about that either. We're just following orders from above."

The person in charge explained, "But I think it might be used to make handicrafts? I heard that many nobles in the empire like this kind of stone... Look."

As he spoke, he pointed to the shelf, where several ornaments made of sea god stone were displayed. They fit together perfectly and had a beautiful pale blue glow.

No one would find this explanation problematic; noblemen do indeed enjoy luxury, even adorning their carriage wheels with gold trim… They would actually pay for such ostentatious things.

With the logic remaining consistent, onlookers began to discuss it in small groups.

The most talked-about topic is, of course, where to get this Poseidon Stone... It sounds plausible, but nobody actually has it, so they can only watch and worry.

at this time.

"Make way! Make way!"

Someone squeezed through the crowd and pulled a stone from his pocket. "Hey buddy, is this it?"

The person in charge took the stone, turned around and went inside to examine it carefully before giving the answer, "Yes, this is the kind of sea god stone."

"However, yours isn't very big, and its condition isn't great either, so it's only worth 340 silver coins. Would you like to sell it to us?"

"No way, mine is clearly the same size as the one you showed!"

The man's face lit up with joy, but he was still somewhat persistent. "The color needs to be even darker... could you add some more to make it a round number, three hundred and fifty?"

"No, sir, we have clear regulations here... Oh well, never mind."

The person in charge looked embarrassed, but after seeing the crowd around him, he relented, "You're the first seller, so I'll take the initiative. I'll pay for it myself and give you an extra ten silver coins. But you can't do that next time."

"Okay, okay, thank you, thank you!"

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, the man stopped there, nodding repeatedly, and the deal was done.

Soon, a heavy cloth bag was handed to him, its opening slightly open, faintly emitting a silvery-white light.

This has made the onlookers even more agitated. If they had any concerns before, they are all gone now.

Other things might be fake, but can money be fake?

Forget about having them, most of these people have probably never seen so many silver coins before!

Some even went so far as to shamelessly approach the seller and start asking, "Brother, where did you get this stone?"

"I……"

The person pursed their lips, clearly not wanting to speak.

But under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he couldn't hold out for long and finally reluctantly gave in, saying, "This was given to me by the army."

"army?"

"Yeah, I'm a militiaman. I was called up when we were fighting the sea god. I survived by sheer luck. They said there would be a big reward, but in the end they just gave me a couple of coins and these broken stones..."

Speaking of this, the man couldn't help but complain, "At first I thought he was being dishonest, trying to fool us with this kind of stuff... Now at least we can make some money from it, so it's alright."

He didn't want to say anything more and quickly left before more people gathered around.

But everyone has heard the news—the Imperial soldiers should have the goods!

The armed forces of the Hualan Empire consisted of not only noble knights but also militia that could be summoned at any time. Of course, many knights, though nobles, were not necessarily wealthy; some even lived on meager rations despite their titles.

But in any case, now that they have received this information, they must take action. They may not be able to reach noble families, but for them, as long as they dig a little deeper, they can always find militia members who are related to them!

Now the task at hand is simple: before the news spreads, quickly get the Poseidon Stone from them!

"Gentlemen, please don't block the way here."

The person in charge also gave a timely reminder, "If you have a Poseidon Stone, we certainly welcome you, but if you don't, please don't stand here blocking the way."

Upon hearing this, everyone scattered like birds and beasts.

Of course! Why are we just standing here like idiots instead of hurrying up and getting some stones? What if we come too late and they don't want them anymore?

Of course, some people hold the opposite view.

"Sixth brother, I remember that your third aunt's sons are all in the army? They should have some of these stones too... Let's pool our money and buy as many as we can, but don't rush to sell them, let's wait and see."

"Of course you can buy it, I don't have that much money on hand... but why wait?"

"Are you stupid? I reckon the price of Poseidon Stone might not stay fixed. Maybe it hasn't even spread among the nobles yet... If they want more, the price might go up! Even if we sell, it's best to sell some first. If the price really goes up, we can make more money! Even if it doesn't go up, we can still sell more later!"

"That makes some sense... I'll listen to you, you bastard!"

……

"How's the situation?"

Looking at his earnest but foolish apprentice, Xu Shi, who was stationed on Silver Pine Island, asked with a smile.

"That's pretty much what you expected, Master."

Pan Ling replied seriously, "The price you offered is not low; some people have already started trading Poseidon Stones privately."

"now it's right."

Xu Shi nodded in satisfaction. The trading methods in the Hualan Empire were not very advanced, and the so-called stock market was not perfect either.

In this situation, the introduction of such a system would indeed cause considerable fluctuations.

"What's next?"

"I can't believe it," the foolish apprentice asked.

"Go with your plan. Go to your sister Xingchuan and get some Poseidon Stones, not too many. Then release them into the market little by little in proportion, so that they have more trading options."

Xu Shi took a sip of tea and said unhurriedly, "As for how to make this thing more popular in high society, you should have figured out a way by now, right?"

"Hmm... I was thinking that just making it into an ornament might not be very effective. Why not tell them that carrying the Poseidon Stone can increase their strength and prolong their lifespan?"

Pan Ling frowned her cute little brows and thought for a moment before tentatively offering an idea.

Xu Shi laughed even more heartily.

He can only say that the child is teachable. Since he said that Pan Ling should do this, he will not interfere too much, unless the foolish apprentice's behavior is too outrageous.

But when she showed him her proposal, Xu was honestly a little surprised, because it wasn't that different from his original idea!

As mentioned before, neither futures nor the stock market are mature concepts here, but Pan Ling's proposal is exactly that kind of plan... It has to be said that the seemingly foolish apprentice is not foolish at all; he has clearly thought about this for a long time.

In this situation, all he needs to do is polish it. As long as he perfects the details, it can be used directly without any problems.

For example, finding shills or something... We can obviously put more effort into this aspect. It would be a huge failure if it was obviously fake. Xu Shi even gave those actors special training, and the feedback he received was indeed good.

Pan Ling's strategy of opening up sales channels in high society was also excellent—since it was said to be a favorite of noble gentlemen, then of course they had to actually bring them in.

Achieving this is not difficult—after all, Silver Pine Island has some connections with the upper echelons. For example, with Miss Mei, she might not be able to reach nobles of very high rank due to her status, but she can easily reach barons and their servants, who are a dime a dozen.

As long as the word spreads from them, there will be no problem at all. Slogans like "prolong life" and "enhance strength" are indeed infallible for health products.

Not to mention that Poseidon stone itself is beautiful, and its high ductility and malleability make it easy to be shaped into various forms.

Of course, the best part was that the royal family chose to use this thing as a reward for the soldiers—they were overjoyed when they found out about it, because it would undoubtedly make the Poseidon Stone easier to circulate in the market, wouldn't it?

However, upon closer examination, the cause and effect become clear. It is evident that the Papacy and the Royal Family did indeed research this thing and certainly knew that it was somewhat useless, not entirely useless, so they simply made the most of it... This is the spoils of war from the battle against the Sea God, so what, you're not happy about using it as a reward?

What we need to do now is to increase the supply of goods on the market, otherwise it will be difficult to expand the market. As for the price, we should adjust it according to the situation of some conservative investors and raise the price.

Yes, it's all manipulated. Anyway, he's not short of gold and silver; he brought quite a bit with him when he came... If it's not enough, he can just transport more from Night City, where they're always on standby.

"Oh, right, I also set up some warehouses and pawnshops in the main city in advance to store the goods they bring to sell."

Pan Ling added another sentence.

As it turns out, her considerations were indeed thorough; where would the working class get so much cash?

Many people will definitely raise funds in pursuit of profit, such as by converting livestock or other things into cash... This part should, of course, be controlled by them.

"I feel like you're almost done with your apprenticeship, huh?"

Xu Shi was genuinely satisfied with Pan Ling's performance and praised her sincerely.

"No, it's all thanks to Master's excellent teaching..."

He praised her, and Xiaoling was naturally happy, smiling modestly as she replied.

However, if the master was a bad master, shouldn't we say that what he taught me was "bad"?

But that doesn't sound right... Oh well, just know the meaning, why worry about it so much?

"Since you know that, why don't you hurry up and give your teacher a shoulder massage?"