Survival Game: Call Me an Honest Businessman

Shadow: "I can only transform into the appearance of someone I'm familiar with. You'll get used to it."

Li Zhi: "Portrait fee, 1 gold coin per instance."

Ying handed back the gold coin that Li Zhi had just given her.

Li Zhi readily accepted it, found the Shadowmane Clan mask, and changed his face.

"Let's go."

The two walked along the streets of the lush green market towards the central trading area, where the teleportation array to Holy Shadow City was also located.

Ying found the two pockets of the cloak interesting, and kept her hands in them: "I've never tried a merchant's cloak before, and I didn't expect it to be so interesting. It feels like no one can see what I actually look like."

Li Zhi rolled her eyes: "Of course others can't see what you look like; all they see is my face."

The figure suddenly stopped, a look of realization dawning on its face: "That's right!"

Li Zhi: "Right about what?"

Ying pulled out ten gold coins: "I haven't gone out to play in a long time. I've been using Mingchun's face all this time, and now when other people see her face, they think it might be me. But no one recognizes your face! I can totally use your face to go out and play!"

Li Zhiye stopped and said seriously, "If you're just using my face to walk around in a safe place like the Green Market without offending anyone, I can authorize you for a portrait fee of 1 gold coin. But if you cause trouble everywhere, increase my bounty, or do something that makes me take the blame—"

"That depends on the situation."

Shadow: "If I used your face to deceive Celia, how much money would I have to pay you?"

Li Zhi: "100 gold."

Shadow: "What if I use your face to rob the Beast Alliance?"

Li Zhi: "One million gold coins."

Shadow: "Is Celia really that much different from the Beast Alliance?"

Li Zhi: "Celia can tell at a glance that it wasn't me. 100 gold is enough. You robbed an entire race. I don't care if you're from the Beast Alliance or the Feathered Spirit Clan. Taking such a huge blame on yourself is more than enough, even 100 million gold is too little."

Shadow: "What if I..."

The two chatted until they reached the teleportation array.

When Li Zhi entered the Holy Shadow City for the first time, he needed to register his identity.

The person registering was a descendant of the Saints. She glanced at the eyeshadow and then at Li Zhi: "Welcome to Saint Shadow City. Please register your race, rank, and occupation. We will issue you a tourist visa. The visit will last for 8 Apocalyptic Hours. Please come out before the end of your visit."

Just as Ying was about to enter the information, she heard the descendant of the saint say, "You are the businessman Li Zhi, right? You want to open a stock exchange in our Saint Shadow City, which will open in three days."

Ying glanced at Li Zhi and said, "It's me! I am Li Zhi!"

Saint Descendant: "Is your exchange still hiring? My sister is studying at Saint Shadow University and is also a businesswoman. She really likes you, and this year is a good time for her to gain experience. She would be very happy if she could work at your exchange."

Ying: "Well, that requires an assessment. Is your sister in business school? Who are her professors? If they aren't renowned professors—"

Li Zhi pushed aside Ying and took off his mask: "Students from Saint Shadow University are very welcome to work at the exchange. However, employees who are not registered residents of the Wei household do need to be assessed before they can be hired. You can have your sister register a day in advance."

When the Holy Descendant saw the two Li Zhis, he paused for a moment, glanced at Ying with suspicion, and said, "Please come into the identity verification magic circle."

Ying shrugged and went inside.

The runes forming the magic circle read: [Resident of Holy Shadow City, Darkborn]

Li Zhi also went inside, and the display above his head showed: [New Race, Merchant]

Saint's descendants looked at Ying with suspicion, but after registering, they were allowed to enter.

Emerging from the teleportation array in Holy Shadow City, one finds a massive golden platform.

The platform is surrounded by teleportation arrays of different colors, leading to the Phantom Train Station, the Flight Vehicle Parking Port, the Land Vehicle Parking Lot, and the Zero Gravity Skateboard Track, among others.

Ying snapped her fingers, and a zero-gravity skateboard painted with dark blue patterns and spewing sparks flew to her.

She jumped right up.

"There are skateboards for rent over there. Borrow one, and we can fly down faster."

Li Zhi: "When I was looking up at the Green Market before, I always longed for the Phantom Train. Are all its tracks magic circles? How is that possible? Can it reach my exchange?"

Shadow jumped down, tucking the skateboard under his arm: "The Phantom Train's tracks are made up of magic circles. The one in Holy Shadow City is number 1339, and it only operates within Holy Shadow City. However, connecting 1337 and 1338 will form a long train, which will also overlap to form a more complex magic circle, allowing it to travel between different cities in different Twin Moon Empires."

"Come on, let me show you to a seat."

As soon as Li Zhi and Ying got into the car, two beams of light swept over them.

"This is for identity verification. As long as you have a pass, you can ride for free."

Ying casually found a seat by the window, took off her hood, and pointed out the window, saying, "That's the Holy Monument."

Li Zhi looked in the direction she pointed and found that there was indeed a stone tablet emitting white light in the very center of the floating Saint Shadow City.

"The Shadow City beneath the Shadow Monument, along with the Holy Monument and the Shadow Monument, are the giant magical engines that keep the Holy Shadow City suspended in the sky..."

Ying described the scenery outside the window.

"That's the trading area. The place we're passing by is the council hall and the Holy City office. Mingchun is a councilor and also the staff member in charge of selling this land at the office. After you finalize the construction plan, you'll have to submit the design drawings to the office. Construction can only begin after they're approved."

The Phantom Train stopped at the entrance of the trading area.

As soon as Li Zhi and Ying got out of the car, they saw Ming Chun waiting downstairs.

Mingchun smiled and said, "I thought you would wait until the rankings came out and the beast tide had passed before opening, but I didn't expect you to be in such a hurry."

Li Zhi: "I actually preferred to wait until I reached level 5 before opening my business, but Yi Gang gave me a free promotion. Time is money, so opening now is the most cost-effective time."

Mingchun: "Why didn't Celia come?"

Li Zhi: "The teacher has something to do."

She had asked Celia beforehand if she wanted to come along, but Celia didn't reply for a long time. When she did reply, it was a direct refusal with just one word: "Busy."

Li Zhi: "Mingchun, do you know what my teacher is busy with?"

Shadow: "You might as well ask me instead of her. It's easy to guess what Celia has been busy with lately: a beast tide, a leaderboard, the opening of Black Iron Harbor, and her own life-extending item. But if you're looking for something that can keep her this busy, there's only one."

"In the political infighting within the Forging Clan royal family, the person who once headed the Commerce Department stepped down. Logically, it should have been Minister Celia's turn, but the First Prince's faction voted against it on the grounds that Celia was too old. They also said that she was a traitor and would rather take you, an outsider, as a student than train you within the Forging Clan. If it weren't for Celia's fortuitous success in obtaining the position of Merchant Head of Black Iron Port, even Black Iron Port would have been handed over to others."

Li Zhi: "So... I'm partly to blame?"

Shadow: "Of course, you have your reasons, but Lingqiu's appearance helped you and also helped Celia. The old king's health is failing, and he has been wanting to seek treatment from Lingqiu. I believe Celia will definitely make the most of this relationship."