The Crystal Palace Plan of the Sinner Lord

Life here is peaceful and tranquil.

No one would panic because the surrounding villages and towns were attacked by demons. Before the flames reached their eyebrows, everyone stayed out of it and treated it as unimportant.

Irene was wearing a robe and holding a staff in her hand.

Shana and Sophia were dressed casually.

They covered their faces with veils, leaving only their eyes exposed.

Stayed with Caesar for a long time.

Instead, they feel that human territory is more dangerous.

The last time they came to Black Tower City to collect intelligence, they did not wear veils and encountered all kinds of prying eyes along the way, which made them feel very uncomfortable. They were still more comfortable in Hot Wind Highlands. None of the demons would look at them with obscene eyes, of course, except Caesar.

Milk can usually be bought at the market in Heita City.

Merchants usually push out a cart, set out wooden shelves, and place their goods on the shelves. Some will have prices marked on them, but there is usually no room for negotiation. Most will not have prices marked on them, so you can negotiate the price based on what you like, and if you are good at speaking, you can even bargain down a bit.

However, the price of milk is generally constant.

In Heita City, the uniform selling price is one silver coin per can, and 10 silver coins per jar. However, the quality of goods from different merchants is different, so you have to distinguish them carefully.

Sophia had brought Shana and Irene to seven or eight shops. The milk there was either stale or diluted with water. Some merchants even added lime to the milk to make it look whiter. Only the farmers couldn't tell the difference, but she could tell it clearly with just one sniff. The key point was that the price was not cheap.

"What are you ladies looking for?"

Just when Sophia was searching in vain.

A middle-aged man with a somewhat wretched face came over. He didn't have much hair on his head, and had a goatee and round-framed glasses. He pinched his beard with a friendly yet cunning smile on his face. Through the glasses, one could see the cunning and commercialism typical of a businessman in his eyes.

"We are looking for fresh milk, not diluted with water." Sophia was not wary of the merchants. She often dealt with merchants. She was not afraid of unscrupulous merchants, but she was afraid of not being able to buy good goods. After all, desserts have very high requirements for the quality of milk. She asked the merchant: "Do you have milk that meets the requirements?"

"Yes! Yes!" The merchant's eyes lit up and he said quickly, "Go ask around. Who doesn't know my name, Robert the Milk King? I'm not exaggerating. Half of the merchants in Black Tower City buy milk from me and then sell it to those who don't know anything about it by diluting it with water. If you want to buy fresh milk, just come to me!"

Sophia, Shana and Irene beside her looked at each other and nodded slightly.

Irene clenched her wand tightly. The merchant in front of her was just an ordinary person. She was confident that she could kill the merchant instantly with a fireball, so she was not afraid that the merchant would cause any trouble.

"Okay, then take us to see the milk you sell." Sophia said in a serious tone: "Don't play tricks on us. We come out to purchase milk frequently, and we will carefully check every jar of milk."

"Don't worry, don't worry, just follow me, I promise you will be satisfied."

Robert turned and led the way, a strange smile on his face.

The fish is hooked.

He had noticed the three girls as soon as they entered the market.

The three of them were led by the oldest woman in the middle. On the left was a petite girl who didn't look aggressive. On the right was a mage, but he looked alert and behaved carefully. Generally, such mages were either apprentices or first-level mages, so they were not worth worrying about. Which serious mage didn't walk with his eyes on his forehead? The more arrogant they were, the stronger they were.

As for why I targeted these three.

The main reason was that these three were dressed in bright and beautiful clothes, and their speech and behavior did not seem like those of peasant women and poor adventurers. Instead, they looked more like those ladies from merchants or noble families.

The older girl in the middle has a strong ability to distinguish milk, which shows that she comes from a wealthy family and both of her are fair-skinned and tender.

Now is the time when the human coalition and the demons are fighting fiercely.

All kinds of food and supplies were concentrated on the front line, and those who were still able to grow up with delicate skin and tender flesh were all from wealthy families.

And Robert, he was indeed a good milkman.

But this is only one of his identities; his deeper identity is a member of the Elf Slave Catching Team.

In the past, the entire gang made huge profits by hunting and selling elves.

Money comes quickly and naturally goes quickly. When the empire issued a ban, all elves were prohibited from being sold. Even the underground black market was dealt with. The elves in the nobles' homes were captured and released back into the forest. Gradually, no one bought elves anymore. After all, you could only play with them for a few days and the price was sky-high.

The slave-catching team saw that this was not a solution, as dozens of people under their command were waiting for food.

After thinking it over, they decided that this group of people were good at kidnapping, so they pointed their guns at the better-quality human women, such as the three in front of them, who were obviously not girls from poor families.

Although we can't see what they look like specifically, girls who have a good life and fair skin are generally not ugly.

Elves cannot be bought and sold, but there are no restrictions on human female slaves.

And as elves were banned, the price of human female slaves began to rise.

Robert has captured many girls with the help of his superficial identity as a milk merchant.

And today these three are his prey.

...

Robert brought Shana, Irene and Sophia to his own shelves.

Unlike other merchants, who sell all kinds of goods, Robert only sells various dairy products. In addition to jars of milk, there are also expensive snacks such as toffee and cheese. The entire carriage is filled with a rich milky aroma.

Just by smelling the aroma, Sophia was basically sure that the milk was fresh and not diluted with water.

"Yes, how much is a jar of milk here?"

"15 silver coins a jar." Robert took out a jar of milk and handed it to Sophia.

"You're selling it too expensive." Sophia frowned. "The standard price of milk is 10 silver coins, and you're selling it for 15?"

"It's not easy for everyone right now." Robert shook his head and smiled bitterly. "There's a war going on up there. How many young men have gone to the battlefield? Naturally, productivity is not as good as before. 15 silver coins is already a good deal. You can't find fresh milk cheaper than mine in the entire Black Tower City that's not diluted with water."

What he said was indeed true, and it is precisely because it is 70% truth and 30% lies that it is easier for people to believe.

However, his original intention was not to sell it for more money, but to judge the financial resources of the next three girls based on their reactions, and then confirm his previous speculation.

Of course, no matter what the verification results are, this net has been completely spread and it is impossible to take it back.

Chapter 222: Taking the Hook

Sophia thought about it and realized that she had not seen any merchant selling better milk along the way. Moreover, she was in a hurry to get back before dark. After leaving Black Tower City, she had to walk along the King's Road to reach the jungle area. This one-kilometer-long road was not very friendly at night.

Just buy it here and don't waste any more time.

So she nodded to the merchant and said, "15 silver coins a jar is too expensive. If we want a large quantity, can the price be lower?"

"How much do you want?" Robert raised his eyebrows.

Sophia: "We want 1000 jars."

One thousand jars of milk is 150 gold coins, which is considered a big business even in Black Tower City. If it were in the past, Robert would definitely be overjoyed to receive such a big business. However, since joining the slave-hunting team, 150 gold coins are just a small amount of money for Robert. It is difficult for him to have any psychological fluctuations, but it only deepened his judgment of the three girls.

Either she is the daughter of a wealthy businessman or she comes from a wealthy family.

This kind of female slave can be sold at a high price on the black market. If they meet a buyer they like, the price may be several thousand or even tens of thousands of gold coins.

He pretended to think for a while, but did not agree immediately. After a while, he nodded and said, "Since you want to buy so much, then 130 gold coins, this is the lowest price. If you want to bargain, please go back."

The girl in the middle had very high requirements for the quality of milk, and there was indeed no other merchant in the entire Black Tower City whose milk was better than his, nor did he have as much fresh stock as he did.

So he was not afraid at all that Sophia and the others would go somewhere else to ask.

"Okay, 130 gold coins."

Sophia nodded with satisfaction and took out five bags of gold coins and handed them to the merchant. These were packed by her in advance. Two of the bags contained 50 gold coins each, and the other three small bags contained 10 gold coins. When going out, it is best not to count the money when paying, as it is easy to be targeted by someone with ulterior motives. This is the experience she has accumulated.

Robert did not play any tricks. He took the three girls to the warehouse to get a thousand jars of milk. There were some workers wandering around the warehouse, some taking a nap against the wall, and some gathered in groups of three or five drinking and playing cards. When they saw Robert coming, everyone stood up and looked respectful.

"Everyone come and help load the milk onto the wagon!"

Following Robert's order, the workers hurried over to transport the goods, while Sophia, Shana and Irene watched from the side.

"I didn't expect this merchant to be so reliable. He even lent us his carriage..." Irene looked at the busy workers with curiosity. A thousand jars of milk could almost fill three carriages.

"You're overthinking it." Sophia rolled her eyes helplessly. "We have to pay to borrow the carriage, but they haven't asked us for it yet. Besides, they will only transport the milk to King's Road. We have to rely on ourselves from now on."

Robert remained silent when he heard Sophia's words.

After all the milk was loaded, he came over and said seriously, "The carriage rental fee is 10 silver coins per carriage, the price is uniform, but we can help you deliver it to your destination, provided it is not too far. The distance to Bona Town is the limit I can accept."

It takes half a day to travel from Heita City to Baona Town by galloping on horseback. This freight carriage moves slowly and takes almost a day. In this case, the rental fee of 10 silver coins is already quite cost-effective.

Robert was not planning to take action in the city.

The guys around the warehouse are also ordinary workers.

Because it would be easy to be traced if he took action in Black Tower City, but if the three girls and the carriage got into trouble in the wilderness outside Black Tower City, and he himself was still in Black Tower City and had an alibi, there would be no evidence and he could only assume that the three girls had been robbed, and he would have nothing to fear even if someone came to his door in the future.

Robert has done this kind of kidnapping more than a dozen times. He was relatively inexperienced before, but now he has become quite skilled and never makes any mistakes.

"I didn't expect you to be such a nice person." Irene smiled and said, "I always thought that businessmen were a group of profit-seeking guys, and you can't get a penny from them."

"Hahaha, those are just small businessmen." Robert said with a double meaning: "Big businessmen like us who strive to make big money must not be fussy about small matters. We are willing to give up some small profits for the sake of long-term cooperation."

After some negotiations, both the host and the guests were very happy.

Robert covered the cargo on the carriage with black cloth, and then ordered three coachmen to pull the cargo.

Before leaving, Robert hung a sign on the carriage.

It was an eagle soaring with a hare in its claws.

Seeing the suspicious looks of the three girls, he explained calmly:

"This is the badge of my Chamber of Commerce. With this badge, ordinary robbers will not dare to rob your carriages. After all, these carriages and drivers are also money. If they are robbed, I will be very distressed... Besides, if anything happens to you, it will also affect the reputation of my Chamber of Commerce."

Sophia heard this without any suspicion.

She took Irene and Shana into one of the carriages that had some empty seats.

The group left the Black Tower City.

The carriage creaked and swayed, and soon it was on the King's Avenue. Sophia and the others were relieved. Now they were in Caesar's camp, hostile to humans, and they felt a little scared to run to Black Tower City to do business.

"Miss, where are you shipping your goods? It's too far for us to go."

The driver's voice came from the front. This was not only a matter of money. They also had to return to Black Tower City before dark. The wilderness was not peaceful recently. Many caravans were robbed by ogres in the Sunset Mountains. Only a few escaped. The town of Bona in the west was attacked by demons again. It was said that there were heavy casualties. Now, almost no caravan dared to pass through the King's Road at night.

"Just send it to the woodland near the Tariu Mountains."

Sophia said, "My people will pick us up over there."

"Okay." The driver didn't ask any more questions.

It’s not far from the King’s Road to the territory near the Tariu Mountains, and we’ll be there in a moment.

As for whether this batch of goods would encounter robbers in the dangerous woods, that was none of their business.

...

In the carriage, Sophia and Shana speculated on how Caesar turned milk into yogurt.

Irene dozed off with her hands behind her head, leaning against a pile of milk jars.

It was still daytime. When she just left the city gate, Irene had carefully observed the surroundings. No one followed her, so she was not particularly alert at the moment. Little did she know that on a hilltop, a skinny man who looked like a bandit had noticed the carriage team.

His eyes fell on the sign hanging on the carriage in front, and a gleam of light suddenly flashed in his eyes.

"This is the signal from Robert." He murmured to himself: "Good, good, good, I've waited for so long, and finally a fish has taken the bait."

He looked around cautiously, then ducked into the bushes beside him.

Chapter 223: Black Hawk Slave Catchers

In a mountain stronghold near the top of the hill, the bandits had returned and were kneeling in front of a burly bandit leader, reporting excitedly.

"Boss, boss, time to work!"

"What are you yelling about? Are you howling?" The bandit leader half opened his eyes, looking like he was still sleepy.

A group of strong men were lying around in a mess. They had obviously just taken a nap and looked a little dazed.

There was a flag fluttering in the wind at the door, with a black eagle embroidered on it. It was almost the same as the black eagle on the sign Robert had hung up, except that it did not have prey in its claws. If you really want to compare the two logos, there is nothing wrong with it.

The Black Hawk Bandits, when the fish are not caught, they are a bandit group.

Once the fish are hooked, they become a slave-catching team.

However, they never robbed the caravans of Black Tower City. They only robbed caravans from small places preparing to enter Black Tower City. This not only ensured the basic supply of the mountain village, but also avoided provoking the Knights of Black Tower City. Of course, their main income came from kidnapping and slave auctions.

They have done more than a dozen orders since elves were completely banned in the Surien Empire.

This kind of business is not as simple as imagined. Not to mention the high risks, as more and more girls disappear inexplicably, everyone has gradually become cautious. In addition, the border has been unstable recently, and they have not kidnapped anyone for a week.

"Boss, I mean Robert gave the signal! A fish has taken the bait!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the bandit leader and a group of his followers around him instantly woke up.