Why is my territory in a 2D anime art style?

Wang Zhen suddenly pulled out a short knife from his back. Strands of golden light appeared on his arm and instantly enveloped the short knife. He then slashed open the wound on the giant beast's back, easily slicing off all the broken scales.

Then, with a sudden thrust of the dagger near the heart, and a slight twist, it pulled out an Originium.

Wang Zhen reached out and took a look before tossing it to Sui An: "What a pity, it is indeed a level 2 source beast, and it felt like it was about to advance."

Sui An didn't care. Level 3 Originium was worth at most five or six Level 1 Originium on the market. After getting the spoils, this was just small change.

Moreover, if this big guy were really level 3, I might have been dead last night.

"How much will you pay for this big one?"

Wang Zhen pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "This kind of special source beast is not suitable for selling at the price of its meat. After all, its scales and bones are very valuable, and we haven't had much contact with them. We can only estimate the price based on the whole beast."

"But after all, it's not an adult and is only a level 2 source beast. I just roughly estimated that it weighs about 2500 jin. I estimate that alchemists in Jiangcheng would be willing to pay about 80 source stones to buy it. I can't guarantee any more than that."

"But our transport team takes a minimum cut of 30%, you know that."

"Let's go with 80 then. I'll sell it to you for 56 Originium, okay?"

After thinking about it for a moment, Sui An agreed to sell it. After all, he couldn't carry it to Jiangcheng, so he had to give up the middleman's profit margin, especially since the middleman was his good friend.

"Okay, let's go with this price."

Wang Zhen was also very straightforward. After confirming the price, he waved his hand, and the transport truck started moving, bypassing the territory and arriving on this side.

"Someone come down and carry this big guy up. It's heavy, so be careful."

Wang Zhen didn't do it himself; his men were all combat professionals, so moving something weighing over a ton into the truck bed was no problem for them.

One of the young men, with very short hair and almost a bald head, had a sudden realization; he seemed to have seen such a giant beast before.

"That's a Dark Breath Silver Scale Beast, right, boss?"

Wang Zhen nodded, said nothing more, and walked towards the front of the car.

The bald man touched the silver-white scales with a sigh: "Wow, bro, your territory is really fierce. Even a level 1 territory can kill such a ferocious beast."

As he spoke, he glanced at Sui An, his eyes filled with undisguised envy.

"Stop nagging!" A tall, somewhat stern-looking man kicked the bald man, his tone slightly disdainful.

"Go lend a hand and lift it up. Once we're in the car, you can touch it however you want!"

"Here it comes~ Here it comes~"

The bald man wasn't angry at being kicked; he just happily ran behind the giant beast, hugged one of its legs, while the big guy stayed on the other end.

With a sudden lift, the giant beast that Sui An couldn't even turn over was lifted up and shakily carried into the truck bed.

Wang Zhen took a box from the car, counted out 56 Origin Stones, put them in a bag, and handed it over.

"Try clicking it~"

Sui An reached out and took it, checked it over to make sure it was okay, then pulled Wang Zhen to the middle of the courtyard and spoke softly.

"Brother Zhen, this guy also got a loot item, a blue equipment blueprint. Can you help me estimate its value?"

"???"

Wang Zhen was stunned. What are you talking about?!

Blue loot?

You mean after everyone else sells dozens of Originium, you still have loot to collect?

Are you kidding me? It's so easy to get blue loot or equipment blueprints.

"Grass!"

After all these years, this was the first time Sui An had ever heard Wang Zhen curse in public, probably directed at him. He was both amused and exasperated.

The two entered the wooden house, and Sui An handed over the ball of light.

Wang Zhen glanced at it, his face flushed even more, and he immediately stuffed the ball of light back into Sui An's arms, turning his head away to force himself not to look at it.

"Hurry up and put it away, or I'll try to steal it from you!"

Sui An carefully placed the ball of light into the room. After the two walked to the door, Wang Zhen let out a long breath and then said softly.

"What are you thinking? Do you want to sell it or keep it?"

Sui An was a little puzzled for a moment: "If I don't keep it, it's the blacksmith's blueprint, what would I do with it...?"

Hearing Sui An's answer, Wang Zhen was not surprised, but he shook his head.

"If you want to develop your territory, you must recruit people from all professions to help you. This is the fastest way to develop with the least cost. Blacksmiths are one of the core ones."

"If you want your subordinates to help you expand your territory and resources, you'll need to provide them with equipment. You can't rely solely on buying it; you must have your own blacksmiths. So, what makes you capable of recruiting blacksmiths?"

"Relying on Originium? Established blacksmiths all have employers, and they've all been nurtured step by step; you can't steal them away."

"So you can only use rare resources to attract newly awakened blacksmiths and then train them yourself. What blacksmiths lack most is high-quality blueprints. If your equipment blueprint has good effects, the market won't be bad. Once your territory is upgraded, you'll have a good chance of attracting people over."

"Otherwise, why do you almost never see blue blueprints on the market?"

"As soon as it appears, those big lords will snatch it up first."

"Anyway, my advice is, unless you urgently need the resources, don't sell it."

Sui An fell into deep thought. It wasn't that he didn't understand; he just hadn't thought of it at first.

Wang Zhen, being from the largest trading company in Jiangcheng, had far more knowledge in this area than I did, and his thinking was much faster.

If it weren't for the fact that we've known each other since childhood, he wouldn't have bothered to talk to me much; he would have just given me a price and taken me away, making a fortune.

However, Sui An's situation is different from that of a typical lord. He is severely lacking in cash flow. After all, he has a lot of building blueprints in reserve, which he can directly purchase with money as long as he has the funds.

Each additional high-quality building means your territory becomes stronger, more resilient to future risks, faster to upgrade, and even higher in income.

Moreover, he still had a bunch of blueprint modules that he hadn't unlocked, and Sui An suspected that those pools might be purple or even gold.

As for why it hasn't been unlocked, given the nature of gacha games, it's most likely because you haven't spent enough money.

Thinking of this, Sui An cleared his throat and solemnly replied.

"Brother Zhen, I understand what you're saying. But I still want to ask about the price first, so I have a better idea of ​​whether it's worth selling to improve myself."

"After all, training blacksmiths is still a long way off. It would be a real shame if we couldn't get past this hurdle now."

"Okay!" Wang Zhen nodded without trying to dissuade him. "However, I can't give you this price. I'll go back and ask around to see if there are any other buyers who can offer more."

"How does your caravan take a cut of the blueprints?" Sui An asked curiously.

"It depends~" Wang Zhen looked at Sui An with a smile, suddenly feeling that Xiao Anzi was really his lucky star, having gained so much in just a few days.

"If the Chamber of Commerce itself wants the product, they won't take a cut, but they will include the transaction price in my performance score. If it's someone outside the Chamber of Commerce, they will usually take a 5% referral fee. This referral fee is received by the individual, but it's within the Chamber of Commerce, so it's negotiable."

"Oh, that's alright. No matter what, you won't lose out. I'll trouble you to find out for me. If it works out, I'll give you the benefits according to the rules you mentioned."

Sui An thought this allocation was acceptable, since blueprints were a hot commodity. If it were like selling meat, where they take a 30% cut, he certainly wouldn't sell them himself.

Meat will spoil if left out, and you won't be able to use it, but blueprints won't (spoil).

Wang Zhen nodded, then thought for a moment and specifically asked, "Okay, nothing else?"

"That's all, that's all." Sui An quickly shook his head.

"Alright, I'm outta here. There's a high chance of a blood moon tonight, so you'd better take care of yourself!"

Wang Zhen gave a brief instruction, then turned and got back into his car, waved, and left.