Evolving by devouring from a young dragon

make a deal."

Grimm read through the parchment line by line.

Article 3: If Longjing is found, Shenmai Chamber of Commerce will have the right of first refusal to acquire it, and the price will be 30% higher than the market price.

Article 4: If the location cannot be found, a compensation fee of 20,000 ordinary magic crystals will be paid to the mining area.

Article 5: Exploration data shall be shared by both parties. The exploration period is one year, which shall automatically terminate upon expiration. Renewal shall be negotiated separately.

He took out the bronze seal of the Sunken Tribe from his pocket and stamped it firmly in the lower right corner. Vickers signed his name next to it and stamped it with the Deep Vein Merchant Guild's wax seal.

Two copies are to be made, each kept safe.

Of course, such decisions cannot be made personally; cooperation only takes place with Auduin's consent.

The formal contract will be signed by representatives from the Deep Pulse Chamber of Commerce in the Sunken Basin. The equipment will be delivered within one month of signing. "It's a pleasure doing business with them." Vickers stood up.

Grimm carefully folded the letter of intent and tucked it into his pocket.

The fire spirit flew back to his shoulder and chirped softly.

He patted his chest. The invitation, three business cards, a bronze token, a cocktail party brooch, the contract from the Anvil Department, the business route map of the Golden Finger family, and now there was another letter of intent from the Deep Pulse Chamber of Commerce.

Each piece is light and airy, but when put together, they are quite heavy.

"Twenty thousand ordinary magic crystals," he said to the Fire Spirit in a low voice, "enough for the Sunken Tribe to buy food for ten years and still have some left over."

In reality, 20,000 ordinary magic crystals are only equivalent to 200 top-grade magic crystals. This amount of magic crystals is not much money for wealthy goblins.

And this was entirely within Vickers' budget.

However, for Grimm, that was a huge sum of money.

Fire Spirit buried its head under its wing, adopting a "this is nothing" attitude.

Thousands of miles away, Alduin lay on a solitary peak, watching the entire negotiation through the Fire Spirit's senses.

He knew Vickers would agree because he was certain that there must be dragon crystals beneath the sunken basin.

Alduin's tail slid slowly across the rock, a smile curving his lips.

The equipment was provided by the Deeppulse Chamber of Commerce, the operation was carried out by orcs, and the technicians were kept outside the mine.

If he can't find the Dragon Crystal, he'll get a whole set of exploration equipment plus 20,000 Magic Crystals for free.

However, the Deep Pulse Chamber of Commerce will never be able to find the Dragon Crystal.

The sealed Void Skeleton Dragon, although sealed here, is not actually located in the Sunken Basin.

To be precise, it is not in the material plane.

Because what that seal actually sealed was a spatial rift. The dragon's true form was hidden on the other side of the spatial rift, in a negative energy plane called the Land of the Dead.

"Let them go find it."

Auduin muttered to himself, his tone icy, "Even if we search for three years and find nothing, we'll confiscate the equipment and the magic crystals. There was no penalty for breach of contract in the contract anyway, so we can just refuse to renew it."

……

On the evening of the fourth day, the party ended.

The magical chandelier in the domed banquet hall slowly lowered the brightness of its light core, and the star map changed from cool white to warm yellow.

As Grimm walked out of the middle corridor with his cane, he was stopped by two people on the suspended dock.

First was Norin from the anvil department.

He strode up and forcefully shoved a bag of high-level magic crystals into Grimm's hand, weighing about two thousand.

"This is a gift from the Anvil Department. Did you reach an agreement with DeepPulse? We can discuss further cooperation later."

After saying that, he left without looking back.

Then there's Durlom.

The chief appraiser of the Golden Finger family handed over a Golden Finger badge and a memorandum of passage for trade routes with a smile. The memorandum was already stamped.

"With this badge, you can skip the queues on the three eastern trade routes. Lord Grim, the doors of the Goldfinger family are always open. Please come and visit our branch when you have time."

Grimm accepted them one by one, put them away, and returned the gifts without saying anything more or making any promises.

He picked up the bag of magic crystals and weighed it in his hand; it was heavier than he had expected.

It was late at night when he returned to the luxury hotel arranged by the Chamber of Commerce. He stood in front of the counter, leaning on his cane, and carefully put all the items back into the old leather bag he carried with him.

The leather bag was brought out by him from the sunken tribe; its edges were worn white, which clashed with the gold and silver inlays inside.

Fire Spirit squatted on the windowsill, tilting its head to watch him tidy up, letting out a short chirp, as if urging him to go home.

A few days later, the magic train slowly came to a stop at the Silver Vein Outpost.

Grimm got off the car with his cane. The wind at the outpost was dry and hot, completely different from the constant temperature and humidity in the Dome City.

The last stretch from the outpost to the sinking basin had no tracks and could only be traversed on foot.

The orcs who had accompanied him earlier were all gone, but he didn't ask any questions. After all, those orcs were arranged by the great dragon, and naturally they had other purposes.

But the stone giant Blue remained outside the city.

Upon seeing Blue, the Fire Spirit immediately perched on his shoulder, buried its head in its feathers, and fell fast asleep.

Grimm smiled and continued walking.

By the time he trudged through the thorny fence surrounding the tribe, it was already late. He glanced around and saw the setting sun turning the entire basin a golden-red hue; it was already evening.

When he returned this time, he carried several times more things than when he left.

Upon his return, he immediately rushed to the Dragon's Nest.

Inside the dragon's lair, Alduin was resting, and he naturally used his sonic perception to detect Grimm's return.

He had a clear view of the goblins' golden banquet using the fire spirit's shared vision.

To be honest, the Golden Cocktail Party was indeed luxurious. However, after observing it, he also discovered that the party was actually a negotiation, courting, and trade fair among various forces.

He simply couldn't muster any interest.

He made that deal precisely because it was profitable.

Grimm arrived very quickly.

He knelt down below the platform, raised the letter of intent above his head with both hands, and reported everything that had happened at the reception.

He recounted in detail how Vickers set the price, how he countered, how the Anvil Department bought the ore, how the Gold Finger Family won over the Golden Finger Family, and how the Deep Vein Chamber of Commerce took the bait.

Finally, he took out the two thousand magic crystals from the Anvil Department as a congratulatory gift, along with the emblem and memorandum of the Golden Finger family, and placed them on the gravel ground in front of him.

On the high platform, Auduin picked up the letter of intent with two claws and held it up to his eyes.

After reading the five clauses, he casually tossed the letter of intent back in front of Grimm and lay down again.

Grimm knelt on the ground, hesitated for a moment, but still said, "Master, isn't the Deep Pulse Merchant Guild being too easy to talk to?"

Auduin glanced at him, his tone full of disdain, "Easy to talk to?"

"The Deep Pulse Chamber of Commerce isn't stupid," he continued. "You think this Vickers is a sucker? The reason he agreed to 20,000 magic crystals and allowed the equipment to be operated by orcs is because he's shrewder than anyone else."

He pointed at the third line with the tip of his claw.

"A right of first refusal, with a 30% premium over the market price, sounds very generous."

But think about it, who sets the 'market price'? There is no open market for dragon crystal in the Eastern Continent. The few transactions that exist are all secret transfers between empires and conglomerates.

They'll quote a 'market price' far below the actual value, then add another 30%, and it'll still be a bargain. The real meaning of this clause isn't a high-price acquisition, but rather that the pricing power belongs to Shenmai.