It's the cyber age now, and you're still playing traditional villains?

Anyway, I must have found the right place - the previous gift had worked, and the other party had already sent someone to greet them at the door, "Please follow me, both of you."

After passing through the waterside pavilion, we came to a quiet room. Cheng Gujian was standing upright in front of a painting. He turned around after hearing the noise, "Envoy Xu, Madam Xu, welcome."

"Meet Grand Duke Gu Jian."

Xu Shi bowed symbolically and said a few polite words, "I saw the Duke standing tall and handsome in the daytime. I didn't expect that he likes elegant people."

Indeed, although this house looks inconspicuous from the outside, the decoration inside is very luxurious - it has all kinds of ornaments and paintings, and even the legs of the tables are decorated with gems. Even if we don't know how much they are worth, we think they are the work of a master of the Hualan Empire.

The same goes for the waterside courtyard that we passed through when we came here. It is lifelike and it is obvious that a lot of effort has been put into it.

Xia Wuyou glanced at him and thought, you’re right... How do you know so much?

Anyway, there is no such rule in the Night Sin City. No matter the previous "Refraction" or the current "Snake Ring", they are all very magnificent from the inside out, otherwise she would not have such complaints.

Xu Shi blinked. In his previous life, he had a good brother... If he hadn't told him where he lived, he would have thought it was a slum. But when he walked in, he could see the floor was made of gold. From then on, he understood this routine...

Of course, this is just a small episode and not the main topic of today.

"No, I'm just a warrior, trying to show off my knowledge."

Cheng Gujian was also polite, and then he showed them a seat, and pointed directly to the box in the quiet room, "Emissary Xu, this gift is not small. So you came to visit us so late at night, so I guess it must be something very important?"

"It's mainly for trade."

Xu Shi said bluntly, "I don't want to cause trouble to the royal family... Instead of letting them discuss it endlessly, why not just finalize it with you directly? I think your attitude towards this kind of thing is everyone's attitude."

"Emissary Xu is too kind."

Cheng Gujian waved his hand gently, "The thunder and rain are all the emperor's grace. I am just assisting Her Majesty at the request of the late emperor before his death... Her Majesty is still young and immature in handling many things. When she grows up, she will have to repay them."

At first glance, these words sound very humble, but his expression does not suggest this at all. Instead, there is a sense of "Young man, you have found the right person, you are very knowledgeable."

Grand Duke Gu Jian even turned sideways without leaving a trace, revealing the painting behind him - it was the painting of him and the former emperor of the empire standing side by side, as could be seen from the same crown.

Oh my, this is so pretentious.

Xu Shi secretly complained, and you still say you are not a powerful official? This behavior is no worse than ruling from behind the curtain...

The main reason is that he is very familiar with this feeling. My status in Night Crime City is similar to yours. That's fine.

Even his villain radar was activated uncontrollably. This guy is most likely an early to mid-game boss, right?

After all, this is very much like Aobai's script - in the early stage, he was so powerful that he overshadowed his master, and then he was taken down by the developed protagonist with a sword, and at the same time he captured the heart of the empress while clearing the court...

Who made Dongfang Xiao really a girl? And a blonde with blue eyes and white silk stockings... It was hard for him not to think about this plot direction.

Oh my god, it's such a clichéd script. I don't know what kind of people are responsible for designing the experimental fields in "Tianli".

"At least Her Majesty is still practicing the way of being a monarch, right?"

However, there was no way to make this clear, so Xu Shi just roughly pointed out the subtext of Cheng Gujian's words, "Then I'll have to trouble you to take care of it... We can't just go back home like this, right? The governor will scold me if he knows."

"That makes sense. It shows that Envoy Xu and his party have an important mission."

Cheng Gujian nodded slightly, his eyes sharper, "Otherwise you wouldn't have done that in the daytime... Your ability is very interesting, is it to stir up other people's emotions?"

"This is just a trivial trick, it cannot be hidden from your discerning eyes."

Xu Shi did not deny it, and smiled with narrowed eyes, "Your Excellency is not affected, I am afraid your strength is above mine."

These words were a bit self-deprecating - to be honest, Xu Shi was now at least an A+ grade "Upgrader", or in the words of the Hualan Empire, a "Chosen One" of the "Zhongyue" class who was picked from thousands of miles away. How could the penetrating power of "Evil Thoughts Entropy Increase" be so easily resisted?

The fact is that at least 80% of the people present at the time were seriously affected. Cheng Gujian was one of the few who was basically unaffected. This alone shows that no matter to which side, he is a strong opponent, not a powerful official with a mere appearance. He cannot be a powerful official with a mere appearance.

In addition, there is one person he cannot defeat, and that is Dongfang Xiao himself.

However, he did have some understanding of this. When he came here, he heard Pan Cheng and Xiaomei talk about it. The imperial family of the empire has a common lineage, and the abilities of each generation of descendants are almost the same. It is called "Holy Light."

This is an ability that can be used for both offense and defense. The passive effect is that it can offset most of the so-called "unclean things", such as mental shocks or physical poisons. When the level of the ability is raised, the so-called "holy light" can be materialized, and things like lightsabers and light shields will appear.

That's why we saw that the little queen was as normal... This ability is similar to Xie Qingyan's "ability invalidation" in a sense, but the difference is quite big when you break it down.

For example, his inability to influence a bitch is equivalent to the other party being a barren woman, so he can't get in. Dongfang Xiao will just cut off most of it, leaving at most a root. It's not that it will not work at all, but the effect will be greatly reduced. If you really want to force it, you can squeeze it in, but it won't be satisfying.

This "Holy Light" is more like a specialization for the dark system. It cannot do what Xie Qingyan does, where anyone's account will be banned if he touches it... In general, each has its own merits.

The imperial royal family has a long history, and this is no secret to everyone. When Xu Shi heard it, he even complained a few words.

First, he also discovered that the people of the Hualan Empire mostly had abilities that had a bit of fantasy magic - the holy light, the sword formation, and Fan Shigui's fire element ability... This kind of ability is rare in the City of Night Sin, and even if it exists, it is not particularly popular. Our country has advanced technology, so it is not too difficult to restrain these abilities.

Just like when Xie Qingyan was implanting superpowers before, whenever he encountered water or fire powers, he would just use them as experimental subjects and didn't find them strange at all.

Secondly, is there an ability that can be passed down from generation to generation? This is also extremely rare in the Night Sin City. At that time, everyone was joking and said that even if the queen was an old woman, you should still capture her and study her...

All in all, although the two city-states are both under the same "rust fog", there are quite a few differences between them.

"Envoy Xu is being modest."

Cheng Gujian smiled, but there was no sign of relaxation on his face. Instead, he became more alert because of this topic.

Because he also knew very well that Xu Shi’s ability was by no means a “trivial skill”; on the contrary, his ability was quite powerful.

The reason why he was able to withstand this kind of mental shock was entirely due to an accessory on his body - the former emperor of the empire had used a secret method to bless it with "holy light", which made him fearless when facing these moves. His own abilities had nothing to do with this aspect.

But he was not at ease when resisting Xu Shi's mental attack. Afterwards, he saw that there were cracks on the accessories? This alone made him know that the young man wearing glasses in front of him was definitely not simple, and was definitely a smiling tiger.

Not to mention that there was no sign at all when he activated his ability, and many people were caught off guard and fell into his trap... He could release such a large-scale mental shock in an instant, so anyone who thought he was a weakling was a fool.

But he couldn't say this either. If he did, wouldn't that be like showing his weakness?

Both are thousand-year-old foxes. Both Xu Shi and Cheng Gujian know that the other party is hiding something in his hand. Pretending to be ignorant is the best option.

"In fact, you don't need to be so anxious. The strength of your Night Sin City is clearly seen by all the ministers present today."

After calming down a little, Cheng Gujian spoke in a deep voice and continued to pull, "Your Majesty is also very interested in this. Even if you don't come to me, it's only a matter of time before we build a transportation business between our two states."

"It's better to be faster than slower."

Xu Shi smiled and said, "Besides, since everyone has seen it, I hope this process can be simpler."

Trade is essentially a transaction. Now that we know it is a transaction, everyone knows that there is a tactic of procrastination that can be used.

Anyway, Xu Shi didn't want to delay. On the one hand, he had other things to do, and on the other hand, if he delayed too long, the people of the Hualan Empire would wake up...

The move he used today has a scientific name, called a blow to the head. It is essentially the same as yelling for no reason before a fight. It can indeed scare people for a short time, but if you think about it carefully over a long period of time, are you really that scary? I'm afraid not.

Because the Hualan Empire was not a soft persimmon that he could manipulate. Today, Fan Shigui was killed, but his strength was not that strong... How could such a big empire really have no foundation? Of course it had.

At least Xu Shi had heard that the Vatican had a so-called killer weapon, and the royal family also had a top-secret treasure. Combined with their focus on the "Rust Mist" itself, the power of these objects must be quite large. Otherwise, why would "Heavenly Law" create such a test field? Playing house? It can't be underestimated.

But once someone brings up these issues, the situation will no longer be as one-sided as it was during the day, and it will be full of unnecessary trouble.

That's why Xu Shi turned around and had a private chat with Cheng Gujian to finalize everything as quickly as possible. It would be too late to say anything else, and there would be a lot more room for maneuver.

"Emissary Xu is right. I have broadened my horizons today."

Cheng Gujian smiled faintly and pointed at the gift Xu Shi had given him earlier. "So, is this your mental shock to me?"

"How can that be? This is at most a door-to-door gift for making friends."

Xu Shi also smiled, "I don't know what you need, so I can only be so vulgar... As for entrusting you with help, there is naturally another price."

As he spoke, he winked at Xia Wuyou who was standing beside him. The other party understood and opened the suitcase he brought.

"The weapons and medicine samples here are more effective than those displayed during the day."

Xu Shi explained with a smile, "If you need it, I can guarantee that these will only exist in your hands."

This is the real end of the argument and getting to the point. If you ask Cheng Gujian for help, or if you want to establish this kind of private cooperative relationship with him unilaterally, then of course you have to come up with something extra.

Of course, the gold and silver they had before were not enough. A great duke would not lack such valuable things, just like he never had to worry about money in the Night Sin City. At most, it was just used to show an attitude, or to put it more nicely, to call it a stepping stone.

And Cheng Gujian's words just now also hinted that he has not been as shocked as others - he himself has not been affected much by his own abilities, so he naturally recovers faster.

Xu Shi had anticipated this. In the situation during the day, it would be enough to intimidate 70% to 80% of the people. It was unrealistic to expect to do this to every single person, so he had already made arrangements for a backup plan, which was also the real condition he offered.

Providing better weapons only to Cheng Gujian is undoubtedly sending a signal - no matter how much the transportation between Night Sin City and Hualan Empire is built, the influx of new weapons will not affect your status, because I will give you better things to improve your private armed forces.

Chips with higher value are often only reserved for more important people.

Neither of them took the initiative to bring up this matter, but Xu Shi knew very well that Cheng Gujian's power was so great that he must have private armies and that was one of the foundations of his position as a powerful official.

Anyway, don't say "I am a minister who is devoted to the country and has no selfish motives". If you really want to do that, you won't even let me in the door. If you let me in and still say such dirty words, then you're just being hypocritical.

The weapons he brought were essentially aimed at this market. A serious high-level "Upgrader" might not need these things. When have you ever seen Mr. Wen care about these things? Even Xia Wuyou's level has always used alloy battle blades, and he relies on them, but not much.

But for non-"upgraded" and low-level "upgraded", the improvement brought by equipment is obvious. These people are also the largest combat force of a city-state or a country.

So, based on this premise, what Xu Shi promised him might not necessarily help maintain his status, and it’s even hard to say whether it could further enhance his status.

"…How much can you give me?"

Cheng Gujian paused, and began to speak frankly. His subconscious lip biting also showed that he was moved.

"That depends on how much you need."

Xu Shi crossed his arms and smiled, "Even when the diplomatic routes are fully opened in the future, I can guarantee that your people will have a higher priority."

"Then what do you want?"

Cheng Gujian pondered.

"What I want is very simple."

Xu Shi nodded and said, "In addition to direct trade with the royal family, I hope to obtain a license to open a trading post. These trading posts have only one requirement: our Night Sin City is run independently, and no one else, whether the royal family or the Church, has the right to interfere."

"Of course, you will get a share of the profits. The specific amount is... 80% to 20%?"

Cheng Gujian nodded, motioning him to continue.

"As for the goods we hope to obtain... here is a list. Would you like to take a look at it first?"

Cheng Gujian took the list and glanced at it with some curiosity, "Is this all you want?"

The things above are common to their Hualan Empire. They are all natural items that contain a lot of "divine energy", such as silver pine wood... If you want to say that there are rare things, they are just some minerals, but the empire's reserves in this regard are by no means small.

"To be more precise, is it this direction?"

Xu Shi smiled and said, "I made this list in a hurry. There may be some changes in the future. I can adjust it then. How about it?"

The so-called transaction is to exchange what you have. These things are not only for Cheng Gujian, but Xiaomei also had a similar reaction when she saw them. However, the Night Sin City lacks these diverse plants and animals that naturally contain "rust mist".

The means used by the major consortiums to extract "rust mist" are instead limited, either ore or seawater, and the species diversity is not as rich as that of the Hualan Empire.

The saying "everything has its own merits and demerits" is reflected here. These things are of great value to Xu Shi and his team, especially at this critical moment of researching superpower transplantation. They can provide a lot of unexpected research value. Just look at how much interest Jiang Chengcheng and Xie Qingyan have in them...

“…It makes sense.”