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

Cheng Gujian said seriously, "In my opinion, the price of Sea God Stone may not keep rising, but normal price fluctuations are inevitable. Even the prices of cattle, sheep and grain traded among ordinary people change every day, don't they?"

"Then I'm just going to ignore it?"

These words dispelled many of the little empress's concerns, and her brows finally relaxed.

Of course, there's another layer of meaning to this: you'll be responsible if something goes wrong, right?

Cheng Gujian nodded slightly, tacitly agreeing to this.

"That's fine."

Dongfang Xiao nodded, "As expected, you are still the most reliable person, Grand Duke... By the way, I asked you to send a letter to Xu Shi asking to see him, why haven't you received a response yet?"

"Your Majesty, Xu Shi's reply only arrived two days ago. I have been busy with official duties lately and forgot about it for a while."

Grand Duke Gu Jian paused for a moment, then took out a document and handed it over. "The letter says that his injuries have healed and he must come to see His Majesty. He will probably set off in the next couple of days."

"Okay, he certainly has a big ego."

The young empress's tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction. After all, she was the ruler of a country. Even if you were a stranger, I wanted to see you, and you were taking so long to do so. It was disrespectful of me.

"Then you should keep a close eye on him, Your Excellency. When he arrives in the main city, make sure he comes to see me immediately."

"Yes, then I shall take my leave."

After the daily interview ended, Cheng Gujian stood up, bowed, and strode away.

Dongfang Xiao remained seated at the desk in the study, his right hand clenched tightly, so tightly it even trembled slightly.

The truth is, it wasn't that she "felt there was a problem and couldn't understand it," but rather that she had already vaguely thought of a possibility.

The price of Neptune Stone fluctuates, which is understandable.

But what if the drop is too big... what will be the consequences?

This seems to be a problem that no one pays attention to, and no one will pay attention to it. The market is booming right now, and saying things that are detrimental to trading will get you attacked.

What's the point of saying that? Are you just being sour because you can't afford the Poseidon Stone? Enough already.

Even though she was aware of this, she didn't seem to intend to stop it.

Because if that's really the case, perhaps...

This is the only chance she will ever have in her life.

She's going to take a gamble.

……

Silver Pine Island.

Xu Shi was in a good mood today, or rather, he had been in a good mood for the past few days.

After all, Silver Pine Island is thriving. With the endorsement and promotion of Pan Cheng, the island's owner, the islanders have also accepted the circuit renovation, and the daily facilities of every household are now moving towards electrification.

This is quite an interesting story. To avoid unnecessary trouble, the construction of the signal tower and the laying of circuits were done in a very discreet manner, especially the area behind the mountain, which was completely sealed off. Many islanders had no idea that such things existed.

When everything was finally completed, everyone was still confused, and it naturally became shrouded in mystery... So when Pan Cheng issued the order to modify the circuit, many people were still somewhat resistant, or rather, they retained a natural fear of the unknown.

But after experiencing the convenience of electrification, all concerns vanished.

This is all so convenient, and it's free—Xu Shi had no intention of charging them extra for electricity. With the widespread adoption of the power system, batteries are basically unnecessary, and power generation is also powered by water. This can be considered a free aid to Pan Cheng, the elder brother.

In the City of Night Sin, Su Lin and her team have also arranged manpower, and talent support is ready to arrive at any time.

There is a vibrant, flourishing beauty, where all things compete and thrive.

He was playing games with his sweet daughter right now—he didn't know where Xia Ke'an got the idea to suddenly suggest going to the beach with him, so as her father, he couldn't refuse.

"You've really regressed to the age of ten, haven't you...?"

Even so, seeing the old lady there excitedly building sandcastles, he couldn't help but want to complain.

"What are you talking about?"

The white-haired girl rolled her eyes at him, but her hands kept moving. "You stinky daddy said he'd take me to the amusement park, didn't he? Did we go? Did we go?"

"I knew you brought Su Lin with you! You big, untrustworthy liar!"

The thought of this inexplicably made Xia Ke'an angry, so she grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at him.

Xu Shi guiltily dodged away; he really couldn't refute this...

"Next time, definitely next time."

"Who needs you to promise next time? Hurry up and come help me build my castle!"

The older woman pursed her lips, not really blaming him, "I'm a magnanimous person and won't hold it against you, at least you should have had some fun with me today."

"Good good."

Xu Shi smiled and walked over to her with practiced ease, then hugged her. "Here, I've prepared some soapy water for you. Do you want to blow bubbles?"

"want!"

The white-haired little girl smiled, took the tools, and played with them happily.

Look how easily Xiao Ke'an is satisfied. Where can you find such a wonderful daughter?

Even a good daughter cares about her bad dad. As she chatted, she couldn't help but ask, "Speaking of which, did that little queen you like send you a letter? Can't wait to meet her, right?"

"What do you mean by 'my favorite little empress'?"

Xu Shi was sweating profusely. "Is it itchy again?"

"Isn't that right? She's exactly the type you're hoping for."

Xia Ke'an made a face, "You don't need to hide it, I'm not jealous... Hey, don't play with my hair!"

"Let's play, let's play."

Xu Shi took a strand of her hair, made a loop, dipped it in soapy water, and started blowing bubbles. "Who cares if you're jealous or not? What kind of daughter is jealous of her father?"

"No? Isn't there an old saying that a daughter is her father's 'Q' from a past life... what was it again?"

The older woman realized she had said something inappropriate, but instead of trying to make amends, she continued talking.

"If that's what you're saying, then I'll really eat it. Just give me a straight answer, what do you want?"

"We definitely need to meet."

Xu Shi scratched her face with her hair and answered evasively, "Otherwise, what have you been busy with all this time?"

As he spoke, he blew another bubble and then gently touched it with his hand.

boom.

The fragile bubble burst instantly, and the beautiful light it reflected vanished without a trace.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 255 Stop! No more comparing how bad it is!

2023-09-04

The next day, morning.

For the citizens of the imperial capital, the first thing they do every morning is to shout... no, I mean, to check the Poseidon Stone market and see what the prices are like.

After all, this aspect was still quite primitive, so there was only one way for people to check prices: to go to various trading stations to see the listings. Originally, some tabloids planned to add this section, but later they found that people were faster than newspapers, so they had to give up in disappointment.

however.

When the citizens flocked to the trading post opened by the City of Night Sin, they were all dumbfounded.

"Inferior Sea God Stone...forty silver coins per hundred grams?!"

People stared wide-eyed at the prices listed.

Yesterday it was fifty silver coins a gram! How could it have plummeted so much in just one day?!

This is a reduction of more than a hundredfold! It's not even comparable to the initial price of the Sea God Stone trading!

In other words, even if you bought Poseidon Stone on the first day of trading and did nothing afterward, you would still have lost 20% by now!

To be fair, a loss of 20% is not a small amount, especially considering it's only the special case of the "first day of trading".

The price of Neptune Stone is soaring every day. If you enter the market even one day later, the amount of money you have to pay will be much higher, so the amount of loss will only be greater.

This drop in status is akin to jumping off a cliff. Who among the citizens who were dreaming of getting rich yesterday could accept it?

The price drop was the same for both medium and high-grade Neptune stones.

It was a mass diving!

"Is there something wrong with your brand name? Is it spelled wrong?"

Someone snapped out of their daze and hurriedly confirmed it.

If it were forty silver coins per gram, or four thousand silver coins per hundred grams, it might seem a little more normal. Although it was still much cheaper than yesterday, it was still acceptable, wasn't it?

Did you omit or add a few zeros? Did you omit or add a few zeros? Did you omit or add a few zeros?

"Um...no."

The same expressionless manager carefully examined the price list, then shook his head seriously, "This is the price, absolutely no mistake."

That's right, the Bull Demon King is offering special deals!

The crowd erupted in uproar; had they gone mad?!

Many people's first reaction is that the despicable outsider has gone mad, and that he wants to use this method to buy up a large quantity of goods, and then pull the price back up tomorrow to make a huge profit.

Dream your dreams!

Given this situation, no one would want to continue trading here, and they left in twos and threes, cursing and swearing.

It's not like you're the only trading platform. There are also the royal family and the Papacy! And if all else fails, there are plenty of smaller trading platforms; you don't have to buy or sell through your platform!

just.

Even after arriving at the new station, the situation remained unchanged.

Regardless of the trading station, the prices offered were exactly the same as those in Night City.

There might be a slight difference of two or three copper coins? But with such a sharp drop, that amount is practically negligible.