Survival Game: Call Me an Honest Businessman

"Junior Emerald! You are absolutely my favorite senior! Without a doubt!"

After reviewing the mind-reading information, Li Zhi was radiant, practically dancing on the stone.

Although she had already stacked up all the buffs before this, it once again proved that Emerald was truly helpful, giving people a great sense of security!

Li Zhi carefully put away the mind-reading device. Instead of rushing to Yu Ling Avenue, he spent 200 points from the official store to buy 10 bottles of high-level energy potions and added all the remaining 16 attribute points to his spirit.

[Spirit: 47.5 (Equipment attributes +12.5; Restores 1 Spirit every 3 hours)]

One bottle of premium energy potion can replenish 50 points of spirit, so apart from the previous emergency, Li Zhi mainly used the baby version of energy potion that only adds 10 points of spirit.

But not this time.

A couple of days ago, whether she was playing the role of a level 5 merchant or going herself, no one would have found it strange that she was drinking water from a cup, because the person she was going to meet didn't know her or the level 5 merchant she was playing.

But today she's playing the role of Ao.

Everyone on Yuling Avenue knows Ao.

But she didn't understand Ao.

This undoubtedly increases the difficulty.

The best we can do is avoid doing anything unfamiliar and avoid giving away clues through subtle details.

Of course, there's something even more important: she won't be playing in her real body.

This is the main reason why Li Zhi put all his attribute points into his Spirit.

If she were to be exposed on the Feathered Spirit Avenue and caught red-handed by the Feathered Spirit Clan, even Celia wouldn't be able to save her.

She wouldn't dare take that risk.

After Li Zhi used the clone card to deduct 3 points of mental energy, he drank a bottle of baby-sized energy potion to fully restore his mental energy. Only then did he manipulate his clone to take out the golden feather and activate the item [Learner].

[The scholarly genius has been activated. Countdown: 46:29]

Fortunately, the scholar was able to lock in a bit of his mental energy, and the clone was close enough that Li Zhi's mental energy was not instantly wiped out.

She drank a bottle of high-grade energy potion to fully restore her mental energy before using the teleportation stone to send her clone, which had transformed into Ao's appearance, to the Feather Spirit Avenue.

"Your Highness."

The moment all the Feathered Spirits saw Li Zhi, they immediately turned to the side and bowed to him.

Li Zhi raised his chin, completely ignoring the group of people.

They walked with unparalleled arrogance along the very center of Feather Spirit Avenue.

Wherever it went, the Feathered Spirit Clan and foreign merchants automatically gave way.

Li Zhi remained expressionless and walked straight towards the house on Yuling Avenue.

—The address is in the information of the shadow.

No one suspected anything along the way.

Upon arriving at the gate of the mansion, the guards all stepped aside and bowed their heads to open the gate for her.

Li Zhi's gaze swept over the guards, lingering for a couple more seconds on the one with the brightest smile, the Feather Spirit Guard, before he swaggered into Ao's residence.

I don’t know, I’m scared.

This house is even larger than Yi's leaf house before, and it stretches as far as the eye can see. The tables and chairs are all cloud-like, completely simulating a scene of the sky.

Li Zhi glanced down.

The height of several thousand meters is quite realistic.

Fortunately, she had a flight pass.

Fortunately, Ao's thoughts are quite simple and straightforward.

Aside from the tables, chairs, and beds, the most eye-catching piece of furniture in the cloud shape is the cloud chair in the very center, a one-to-one replica of the Feather Spirit Emperor's throne.

Li Zhi spread his wings and flew to the throne at the very center, the highest point.

Imitating Ao's manner, he looked down disdainfully while activating his voice changer:

"Has Li Zhi arrived yet?"

She didn't actually know what Ao usually asked, but she needed to find a reason to call someone in in order to start a conversation.

In the past, every time, Ao and Yi were able to find her trail immediately, most likely because they had sent someone to keep an eye on her.

The Feather Spirit Guards standing outside the door were taken aback.

The group exchanged glances, and before the others could react, one of them rushed in and reported in a low voice, "Your Highness, the guards at the port have not yet spotted the new race."

Li Zhi felt a chill run down his spine.

Following the example set by those above, Ao should usually refer to her as "that new race" instead of by her name.

Fortunately, it was just a minor mistake.

If you occasionally change the way you address someone, these Feather Spirit Guards won't think much of it.

Especially this Feather Spirit Guard in front of him; Li Zhizhao could tell at a glance that he had a lot on his mind.

Li Zhi deliberately turned cold and stopped speaking, but continued to stare at the Feather Spirit Guard.

The Feather Guard's wandering gaze instantly returned, and he stood cautiously in place, not daring to leave.

Under the intense gaze, the Feathered Guard was already covered in cold sweat in less than half a minute.

He prostrated himself deeply on the ground: "Your Highness, the men Captain Lan sent to District 15 only found ruins... Li Zhi isn't there, but we captured several newborn race members still there! Should we bring them over?"

Li Zhi: "A new race?"

Yu Lingwei breathed a sigh of relief: "That's right! Those newly formed races must all know Li Zhi! We can get information about Li Zhi from them!"

Li Zhi and Ao spoke in identical tones, turning cold and annoyed: "A few newly emerged races, do they even deserve to stand before me and be questioned? What use are you to me then?"

Cold sweat instantly broke out on the back of the Feather Spirit Guard.

He was trembling all over, his head bowed, lying face down on the ground, not daring to utter another word.

"Tell me about the exchange."

Upon hearing her speak again, Yu Lingwei was greatly surprised and immediately said, "The Earl has finalized the design plans, and construction will begin this afternoon. Guard Captain Lan is unable to leave his post, so he sent someone to inquire whether you wish to set the opening date for the day before the celebration."

Li Zhi: "The day before the celebration?"

The trade fair lasts for seven days, today is the fourth day, and the celebration is the last day.

In other words, Yi plans to open his business the day after tomorrow.

If Li Zhi remembered correctly, the tribute that the Beast Alliance offered to the Feathered Spirit Clan was also delivered on this day.

What a coincidence!

Li Zhi mimicked Ao's arrogant tone and said, "I think the opening day of the celebration is the most appropriate. Our Feathered Spirit Clan's exchange is worthy of celebration by merchants of all races."

Feathered Spirit Guard: "Should I immediately relay a message to Captain Blue, and have him inform the Earl?"

He glanced at Li Zhi tentatively.

Li Zhi frowned.

Chief Guard Lan was the guard Ao trusted the most.

He is not at Ao's house at the moment.

She went straight to Ao's residence, actually hoping to find her.

Fortune favors the bold.

Even though she knew that the guard who knew Ao best was also the easiest to expose her, it was precisely because she was Ao's most trusted guard that she was able to get the most information from her.

Anyway, this is just a clone.

If you're discovered, just disappear immediately.

If you don't get caught, you can gather the most information in the shortest amount of time, saving you at least a few bottles of high-grade energy potion.

In fact, if Yi hadn't been so shrewd and cunning, he might have noticed the clues at first glance, and Li Zhi would have preferred to find Yi directly to extract information.

She looked down at the Feathered Guards, lost in thought.

This guard seems to have a special relationship with Ao.

Otherwise, they would never dare to look up at Ao again and again.

Moreover, his words seemed to indicate some hostility towards Lan.

A sudden, incredibly crazy idea popped into Li Zhi's mind.

"Lan is only one person and can't do everything for me. Now I have another matter that requires someone trustworthy to help me. Who do you think is the most suitable?"

Li Zhi was unsure whether Ao would say such a thing.

However, it is clear that the Feathered Guard below has taken the bait.

He suddenly looked up at Li Zhi: "Your Highness, please allow me to go! I will certainly handle the matter well!"

*

When his clone teleported to Feather Spirit Avenue, Li Zhi upgraded his cloak to level 3 and went to the Beast Market via the teleportation array.

The shantytown was quiet, with occasional people passing by, but not aimlessly; their steps were hurried.

The safe trading zone is directly ahead.

At the edge of the barrier, there were quite a few orcs whose clothes were relatively neat.

The orcs accepted the items handed over by the merchant from within the barrier, exchanging money for goods.

Previously, the shops that only occupied the north entrance of the barrier have now filled the entire northern edge in a short period of time.

There are a total of 128 stalls.

Each time a stall is added, a notification pops up on the profession panel, and the task amount keeps increasing. 78 of these stalls have paid a stall fee of 5 silver coins.

Some other businessmen are on their way.

Each time you enter the safe zone, you can only stay for a maximum of 24 hours after purchasing a ticket. If these merchants want to stay longer, they can only renew their tickets. With the addition of medical treatments and weapon sales, completing the career path quest is only a matter of time.

Li Zhi did not approach the barrier, but instead followed the same path he had taken the first time and entered a much quieter alley.

As she passed Sister Big Pancake's shop, she turned her head and glanced inside; there was no one there.

However, Big Pancake Sister's shop was not her destination.

Her destination was a smaller, more remote county.

Crossing the barren grassland, Li Zhi stepped into this county town where the aerial railroad was only half-built.

The orcs here are much more spirited than those in the shantytowns, and there are many shops on the streets, with all sorts of people passing by.

Li Zhi overheard people discussing the hospital she ran in the shantytown.

"Are there really doctors?"

"It's absolutely true! The North District Elder took a lot of orcs for treatment the day before yesterday! I personally saw the lame sheep-orc walk like the wind!"

"Then what do you think that businessman is after? If he wants to open a hospital, why doesn't he open it here? Our place is much better than that."

Li Zhi didn't listen much and hurried past, arriving at the foot of a tenement building.

Looking up, the roof of the small building was directly crossed by an overhead rail.

She went straight in.

As I climbed the stairs, the scene of seeing geese returning for the first time flashed before my eyes.

"Yan Gui, I need you to do something now. Find businessmen from other districts who are interested in my hospital in the North District, especially the high-ranking ones. Do everything you can to make these businessmen believe that you have inside information."

"Businessmen are all shrewd; why would they trust me?"

"...I will teach you. The first piece of information is that the level 5 merchant is a Shadowmane Clan merchant. He secretly took orders from the Feathered Spirit Clan. He seems to be here to open a shop, but he is actually here to monitor the Beast Alliance."

Li Zhi knocked on the door of room 701.

dong dong dong.

Boom, boom.

Three long and two short.

The door creaked open, and a cloaked figure blocked out all the light inside, speaking in a low voice: "East, South, West, North."

Li Zhi: "West."

After hearing the reply, the merchant opened the door completely.

Besides the merchant who opened the door, there were five other merchants wearing cloaks sitting inside.

Three level 3 individuals, all orcs; two level 4 individuals, one tall and one short, their races unknown.

As soon as Li Zhi sat down with the merchants who opened the door, he heard the shorter, level 4 merchant say, "I have received accurate information that the orcs will send tribute to the Feathered Spirit Clan the day before the festival, starting from the border between the West and North Districts. We must ambush them there in advance. Gentlemen, have you thought this through?"

"Senior, are you sure the news is true?"

"Absolutely true, and the tribute supplied to the Feathered Spirit Clan by the Beast Alliance is worth at least 50 gold!"

Upon hearing this, many gasps were heard from those around.

She gasped, "Wow!"

The level 4 merchant said, "As long as we obtain the designated goods, we can change our fate! Orc merchants have always been suppressed, their professional levels are stuck at level 3 and 4, unable to advance. Don't you all have grievances? Don't you want to achieve something great and become a level 10 or higher merchant?"

A level 3 merchant said, "We'd like to, but those are tributes to the Feathered Spirit Clan. It's obvious the Beast Alliance will send their strongest warriors to transport them. We're just a group of merchants; how can we possibly rob such a powerful force?"

Level 4 Short Merchant: "We have an inside man in the team. We can work together from the inside and outside, grab the goods and run away. We might not even be discovered. If it weren't for the fact that the item can't be put into a spatial backpack or a merchant's backpack, I would never let anyone else get a share."

"Then you have to tell us what exactly you want to take."

"Yeah, I've never seen anything that can't fit in a backpack."

"Only those who have confirmed their participation in this operation and signed the contract will know the objective of this operation."

After hesitating for a while, several level 3 merchants chose to sign the contract one after another.

In the end, only Li Zhishi remained, and everyone looked at her.

Li Zhi hesitated, "Senior, you said that as long as we hand over what we took, we'll get a reward of 500 gold coins. Is that true?"

"Take one for 100, five for 500."

"What if we don't get any?"

"No money if you don't get it."

Li Zhi: "You're not going to make me pay compensation, are you?"

"There's no penalty for not receiving the money, but you must participate in the operation and cannot disclose any information related to this mission."

"I know, keeping secrets is my specialty."

Li Zhi signed the contract.

The tall merchant immediately put away the contract and said, "Now, I'll send you the location and time. Remember, if you don't come, you'll have to pay me a penalty of 1000 gold coins."

"And there's a penalty for breach of contract?!"

"How come I didn't see it just now?"

"It's in the contract."

"The font is so small! And there's no translation at all!"

"The contract has been signed. No matter what, you must be there on time tomorrow, or you will have to pay a penalty for breach of contract."

As the orcs on the seventh floor argued, Li Zhi's clone looked down at the kneeling Feather Spirit Guards, his tone inscrutable:

"Li Zhi will be heading north with the orc caravan the day after tomorrow to complete her career path quest. What I need you to do is stop that caravan from heading north and ruin Li Zhi's career quest."

"I'll allow you to use any means necessary to stop that orc army."

"The last mission failed because someone close to me leaked the information, which is why I entrusted the mission to you. Remember, from now until the mission is completed, you are not allowed to mention this mission to anyone until you return victorious."

"yes!"