Who said this card is outrageous?

With family help to pull some strings, I'll be more confident when I get promoted in the future!

Yu Xingye paused for a moment, then continued, "The profits from the first batch of goods have already been received. It's a pity that Binhai City doesn't have the capacity to further process the star-patterned flint, otherwise we would definitely have earned even more."

Of course, this is just talk. A city's positioning is not something that can be changed so easily. Otherwise, if other types of extraordinary resources are discovered in the sea in the future, will the coastal city have to be changed again?

“Based on the current market rates, your share will be around this amount each month—” Yu Xingye held up three fingers and waved them in front of Zhang Che, but the movement was very small. “I’ll tell you the specific figures after the quarterly settlement.”

"Of course, you can also exchange it for physical goods of corresponding value. After accepting the materials, Flame City Port indicated that they could use some smelted finished ore to pay for it, and everyone agreed."

“I remember that the finished product of Star-patterned Flint is also a high-quality material for making fire-attribute cards, and if you need it, we can also try to trade with Flame City Port for some of their unique card recipes.”

Yu Xingye rattled off a long list of things, and Zhang Che's eyes lit up after listening. He immediately said he would follow the other party's suggestion and convert all his earnings into finished ores and card recipes.

Moreover, this way, Binhai City can also indirectly benefit, since other forces in the city can also obtain card recipes and make copies for themselves.

The only thing to consider is that once the mine is exhausted, some card crafting materials will need to be purchased from other places.

However, it wasn't a difficult task. This time, thanks to the federal government's matchmaking, Binhai City and Yancheng Port in the Northwest Province established contact. Subsequently, they exchanged information and resources, which also solved part of the material sourcing problem.

……

Yu Xingye ultimately declined Zhang Che's invitation to dine together, saying that he had been dealing with a mountain of work lately, as the mayor of Binhai City.

He had specifically set aside some time to meet with Zhang Che this time, and now that the matter was resolved, he had to go back to deal with other things.

Putting everything else aside, just the distribution of benefits in the resource-based fissures that Zhang Che and his team are going to explore this time will require him, the mayor, to negotiate with people from other cities.

Of course, Yu Xingye was also enjoying it. After all, at his current status, what he feared was never being busy, but rather not being busy at all.

Because the latter means that he is unlikely to make any further progress and will be stuck in the same place for a long time to come.

Fu Xing watched his father's hurried departure and couldn't help but sigh. Then he explained to Zhang Che and the other two, "You all know my family's situation. Although my mother and maternal grandparents have never looked down on him, outsiders can't always keep quiet."

"What's more, some of my mother's former suitors still harbor resentment about her ultimately choosing my father."

"In short, he has been under a lot of pressure all these years. As far back as I can remember, he has always been very busy, as if he never needs to rest."

At this point, Fu Xing sighed again: "So I've always wondered if my mother's decision to make me take her surname provoked my father, which is why he suddenly became so desperate to prove himself."

Chapter 237 The Squad Gathers

Zhang Che and the other two did not respond; they simply sat there quietly and listened.

Even the most upright official finds it difficult to settle family disputes; in such situations, all they need to do is listen.

Fu Xing quickly realized he might have said too much, so he patted his face and returned to his usual carefree and playful demeanor.

"Look at the mess this has made, everyone has to laugh at us."

The only response he received were the kind smiles of Zhang Che and the other two.

……

Time passed slowly, and more and more teams began to arrive in the provincial capital.

A dozen or so mid-level extraordinary beings with considerable strength suddenly gathered in this city, causing quite a stir.

Fortunately, everyone was well aware that there was more than one high-ranking transcendent being stationed in the provincial capital, so they all behaved very restrained and obediently went to their assigned accommodations in the city to await further instructions.

The remaining two members of Zhang Che's team finally arrived, but they were both a little confused after hearing where they were to meet.

The two were not clueless; they had inquired about the temporary accommodations arranged for these visiting teams in the provincial capital as soon as they arrived in the city.

Although there was no deliberate targeting, it was impossible to arrange for them to be in a particularly good place, at least not in the core area of ​​the provincial capital, where ordinary teams simply have no connections.

Only a city of Yunzhou's caliber could afford to provide accommodation for its team members in the core area.

Even so, the place they lived in was not on the same level as Lin Jiming's villa.

……

Pan Tingting is considered a representative of the city hall, so the other two can only be chosen from the other two factions.

Song Ruolan is the dean of the Law School of Hezhou University and also the deputy captain of the joint team sent by Hezhou City as a mid-level extraordinary being.

She was wearing a dark gray mage's robe, her hair was tied in a low ponytail, and a few stray strands fell across her face.

He was rather thin, with slightly hunched shoulders and a somewhat stooped posture, giving him the appearance of someone who didn't want to cause trouble for others.

He was carrying a small wooden box with copper plating around the edges, on which were engraved several lines of shockproof runes.

Li Yao is a Tier 3 Ranger belonging to the Adventurers' Guild. She wears a close-fitting leather armor, with a short bow and a dagger hanging at her waist, and has a well-proportioned figure.

Because of her upright posture, she looked a full half a head taller than Song Ruolan.

The reason for this combination was that Pan Yue and his team considered that Hezhou University had just moved into the city, so they offered the position of a mid-level extraordinary being as a greeting gift.

Although exploring new rifts carries certain risks, the benefits are substantial if you manage to emerge alive.

Not to mention that this time we are exploring a resource-based fissure, and if the final results are good, the participants will be able to share even more benefits.

To put it more seriously, the final result of this exploration could even determine the relative strength of the three major powers in Hezhou and the city for some time to come.

However, there are not many intermediate-level extraordinary individuals in Hezhou University nowadays. Apart from the president and Zhang Wenhe, there are only the dean of the School of Mage and the dean of the School of Extraordinary Biology Research.

Zhang Wenhe didn't get along with the principal, and recently he had been engrossed in researching his alchemical tools, so he had no intention of coming over and was naturally excluded.

The principal is a fifth-order transcendent being, which does not meet the requirements; the dean of the Transcendent Biology Research Institute is the principal's confidant and is responsible for communication with the harpies, so he also cannot come.

In the end, they had no choice but to send the dean of the magic academy.

As for the Adventurers' Guild representative, everyone originally wanted Zhang Che's brother-in-law to come, so as to further strengthen the relationship between the two sides.

However, since the other candidate was confirmed to be a woman, they had to abandon this idea and instead chose Li Yao, who had also performed well in the previous war.

……

The streets in the core area of ​​Qi'an City were noticeably quieter than those in the outer city.

Song Ruolan and Li Yao sat in the car arranged for them in the city, taking in the sights around them.

Compared to the residential areas in the outer city, the buildings on both sides of the core area are significantly lower in height, mostly three- or four-story detached houses.

There weren't many pedestrians, and occasionally a car would drive by, its engine trailing a deep echo on the street.

Song Ruolan sat on the side closest to the curb, her gaze falling on the house numbers along the road to confirm her location, but she spent most of her time observing the distribution of the surrounding buildings and the layout of the intersection.

During the journey, I would deliberately take a second look at the signs at several intersections.

Li Yao sat next to her, her attention mainly focused on the pedestrians passing by, only occasionally glancing at Song Ruolan unintentionally, her mind filled with things Zhu Yunge had told her before she left:

The Law School of Hezhou University is currently under the president's sphere of influence. In order to better control the school, when the university alliance sent someone to serve as dean, he used his connections to have this easy-to-bully guy sent over.

However, being timid has its advantages; at the very least, this vice-captain is unlikely to compete with Zhang Che for the right to speak within the team.

Meanwhile, each with their own thoughts, the two looked at the luxurious villas passing by and were secretly alarmed.

Song Ruolan was alright; she had seen similar villas when she was studying in other cities before. But don't forget, this is the provincial capital. Even when the Pan family was at the height of their power, they didn't have the ability to build a villa in this area.

However, a fourth-tier card maker who had only recently advanced in rank and had no powerful backing actually had such connections.

It seems that some important figure or powerful organization must have invested in advance.

Song Ruolan secretly guessed what was going on, but on the surface she remained calm and still looked weak and timid.

As for Li Yao, she acted rather simply, completely like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world.

After another ten minutes or so, the two finally arrived at their destination and saw Pan Tingting standing at the door to greet them in the distance.

"You must be tired from the journey, please come in."

The little girl greeted the two of them with a smile.

They were representatives from the same city, but because they had hardly ever met before, Pan Tingting was even less familiar with the two of them than Fu Xing and Ruan Ruoshi.

There was naturally no warmth or enthusiasm in their conversation.

Led by Pan Tingting, Song Ruolan carried the wooden box across the threshold. As she entered, her gaze quickly swept over the layout of the courtyard before she looked away and followed her toward the main building.

Li Yao followed behind them, making sure to close the door behind him.

Pan Tingting walked at the front and said that the owner of the villa was not there, so she could not arrange a room for the two of them. After the meeting, they would be asked to stay in another house.

It's the one that the Pan family prepared for Pan Tingting before.

Although it's not in the core area, it's still a good place, so it's not unfair to the two of them.

Take one day off at the beginning of the month

as the title

Chapter 238 Arcane Schools

In the living room of the main house of the villa, Zhang Che's team finally gathered together.

"I'm so sorry, we ran into some trouble on the way and kept you all waiting for so long." Song Ruolan's tone was gentle, and coupled with her pitiful appearance, it was impossible to be angry with her at all.

It wasn't anything serious; the two girls were trying to get to the provincial capital as quickly as possible and, while taking a shortcut, they unexpectedly encountered several powerful fourth-tier extraordinary creatures.

Fortunately, Song Ruolan was a mid-level extraordinary being, ensuring her combat strength; and Li Yao was an experienced ranger with rich experience in wilderness survival, which ultimately allowed them to escape alive.

Even so, in order to avoid the places where those high-level extraordinary creatures gathered, the two of them were still forced to take a long detour.

In a sense, it was a case of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead.

After hearing their stories, Zhang Che didn't know what expression to make, and could only smile and say that it was good that they were alright.

What intrigued him, however, was how Song Ruolan, a fourth-tier mage, could have such a timid personality.

Of course, people's personalities are diverse, and an outsider has no right to judge them arbitrarily.

Moreover, this is not a bad thing for him. At least an easy-going vice-captain is better than someone who wants to compete with him for power.

After exchanging pleasantries, Zhang Che, as the team leader, still needed to let everyone in the team know the basic information of their teammates so that they could cooperate better after entering the rift.

"Let me go first," Zhang Che said, taking the initiative to introduce himself.

There's no need to elaborate on things like being a Tier 4 Card Maker; almost everyone present already knows that. He mainly introduced some of the cards he possessed and their actual combat power.

"...In short, with the Black Rhino Armor, I can probably unleash combat power at a mid-to-high level of the fourth tier."

"Moreover, the Black Rhino Armor is primarily defensive. Once I put it on, it will be very difficult for it to cause me any effective damage unless I encounter a fifth-tier enemy."