Chapter 248 - Rattlesnake
Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Jun
The arrival of Tan Xiaoli and Meng Feifei was only a little spindrift in the ocean in the life of the great lord of Shanhai.
With the identity and status he had now, Ouyang Shuo need not entertain the others. He acted and moved according to his own will; every decision made was well-directed without the slightest distractions from external elements.
The Dongli Sword Sect was given to Song Jia with full authority, so Ouyang Shuo would not intervene in it. He believed that Song Jia had the ability to handle matters well.
On the second day, the cousin brother of Cui Yingyu, Cui Shouren, sent Ouyang Shuo a parcel of gratitude. Based on Ouyang Shuo’s conjecture, the Cui Chamber of Commerce had made a fortune during the food crisis.
The Cui Chamber of Commerce was grateful for Ouyang Shuo’s help, and was thinking of ways to repay the debt. As gold and silver were too common as reparations, they had prepared a special gift.
Ouyang Shuo opened the parcel; a book laid quietly in it. He picked it up and inspected the properties of the book.
: After use, grants the user the knowledge of pearls cultivation technology.
According to the historical studies, the ancient Chinese pearls cultivation technology had started to embark during the Song Dynasty. As time flowed, the pearls cultivation technology was nearly fully matured during the late Ming Dynasty, and it held a certain economic value.
The raw materials were mainly the ‘Tridacnidae’ or more commonly known as the giant clam. However, ordinary calms could be used too. The pearls cultivation technology was relatively simple, the pearls’ cultivating cycle ranged from months to a year.
Ouyang Shuo was still thinking on how to develop Xila lake, and this gift was just the timely aid he needed. If the cultivation of pearls were implemented on a large scale in Xila lake, it would then turn into another industry with a bright future.
Ouyang Shuo called over Yingyu to explain his plan for the cultivation of pearls. According to Ouyang Shuo, the cultured pearls would be placed under the jurisdiction of the Industry Division of Finance Department, while Tian Feng City would be in charge of the cultivating operations. Ouyang Shuo would assign 1000 gold to support the establishment of the cultured pearls industry.
Cui Yingyu was in joy after listening.
After the discussion, Ouyang Shuo called over the secretary Bai Nanpu and handed over a black-iron village creation token, the , and 1000 gold to him. Bai Nanpu was instructed to deliver the items through official couriers to the Tian Feng City. The city magistrate, Zhao Dewang, would then take over and be in charge of matters.
The village creation token he handed to Bai Nanpu had been merged with the [Token of Territory Merging], so it could be directly used without Ouyang Shuo having to present himself on the spot.
As the 3 black-iron village creation tokens were merged with the [Token of Territory Merging], the token had disappeared into thin air in a flash of white light.
Along with the items was attached a letter handwritten by Ouyang Shuo. In the letter, Ouyang Shuo explained his plan of the pearl cultivation industry, and he instructed Zhao Dewang to revive the potential of Tian Feng City with the token. After the revival of the city, the refugees spawned would have to be sent to work on the cultivation of pearls. It was purposed to develop it as the core industry of Tian Feng City.
Other than that, Ouyang Shuo did not forget to send Yishui City a village creation token. As the cousin brother of Cui Yingyu, Cui Shousi had been sent there to act as the city magistrate. Ouyang Shuo believed that he could decently maximize the use of the token.
As for the last village creation token, Ouyang Shuo kept it in his storage bag, leaving it for another use.
After everything was settled, Ouyang Shuo went over to the relay station and sent his little aunt 5000 gold, and he requested her to purchase a premium shipyard building blueprint. In the letter to his little aunt, he also stated that he would like to ask her to put up a bridge and contact the Rattlesnake mercenary group, as there wassome cooperation he would like to discuss about.
The Rattlesnake mercenary group, although not listed in the top ten list of mercenary groups, were still very famous as they were true mercenaries in the real world.
However, the Rattlesnake mercenary group was still low key, and only a few knew of their background. Thanks to his past life, Ouyang Shuo had some understandings about them.
The cooperation he mentioned was that he would like to hire the members of Rattlesnake as the instructors of Shanhai’s military. Their job would be to help the Shanhai military by providing training to the scouts and special forces.
In regards to this matter, Ouyang Shuo could not work along with Zhan Lang, who was supported by the military. Hence, his only shot was the mercenaries.
Ouyang Shuo requested his little aunt to act as the middleman. As his little aunt and the Rattlesnakes were all adventurers, they could communicate with each other better. If Ouyang Shuo had approached the Rattlesnake mercenary group in person, it would seem a little odd.
Jian Ye, Base of the Snow-War Rose Mercenary Group
Lin Jing frowned upon receiving Ouyang Shuo’s letter; she mumbled to herself, “What sort of business does this brat have with the Rattlesnake mercenary group, how did he come by this name?!”
“Jingjing, what are you mumbling about?” Xie Siyun who was beside her asked.
Lin Jing raised her head and said awkwardly, “Siyun, do you have any contacts with the Rattlesnake mercenary group?”
“The Rattlesnakes?” Xie Siyun frowned. “From what I know, they’re also based are in Jian Ye. I had seen their leader once, Black Mamba, during the gathering of heads of Jian Ye. I heard that they’re keeping an unusually low profile, why do you ask?”
“Little Ouyang Shuo wants us to put up a bridge between him and the Black Mamba. It seems like he have intentions to cooperate with the Rattlesnakes, but he had not specified what.”
“Cooperation?” Xie Siyun lowered her head and pondered. She said slowly as she recalled, “From the clues and trails, the Rattlesnakes should be a fixed group in the real world; they don’t take in new members and remain around 500-600 in number, not even the size of a medium guild.”
As the president of the Jian Ye Overlord guild, Xie Siyun was familiar with each and every guild in the city, but there was an exception. She only knew a little about the Rattlesnake mercenary group.
Xie Siyun shook her head and also shaking her thoughts away, she said with a wry smile. “What a mysterious nephew you have, thousands of miles away and yet he is still so familiar with the mercenaries in Jian Ye. Since he mentioned it, he must have his own reasons. Alright, I will contact the leader Black Mamba and see what does he has to say.”
“Alright.” Although Lin Jing grumbled about Ouyang Shuo, his requests weren’t taken lightly.
The base of Rattlesnake mercenary group was situated in a humble courtyard in the city of Jian Ye. If Snow-War Rose wasn’t a large party in the city, they might’ve not been able to find it at all.
Xie Siyun and Lin Jing had decided to personally visit the Rattlesnakes.
“Who are you?” The guard were alert.
In a situation like this, it was always handled by Xie Siyun. She answered their doubts with a smile. “We are from the Snow-War Rose; we have something for your leader. Please pass the words.”
To the adventure players in Jian Ye, how could they not know the name of Snow-War Rose? The guard of course knew who they were. His heart skipped for a beat, but he remained calm on the surface, “This way please!”
Xie Siyun and Lin Jing glanced at each other, both of their eyes filled with surprise. The quality of the members of Rattlesnakes were so high. Even an ordinary guard was so calm and steady; the Rattlesnakes were deeply hidden, and must not be underestimated.
Xie Siyun was even more surprised. There exists such an elite mercenary group in Jian Ye and yet she was clueless about it. It seemed like she had to reevaluate the Rattlesnake mercenary groups.
It was also one of the reasons why Ouyang Shuo requested Lin Jing to act as middleman. Other than the fact adventurers communicate better with their own, he also wanted to tell them that the Rattlesnake mercenary group was not as simple as they thought it was.
The mercenary Rattlesnakes’ main businesses were assassination contract, kidnap, assault and any other requests by their employer. They were a bunch of dangerous men.
The guard led the two ladies into the meeting room, and he said, “Please wait for a moment, I will now report to the leader.”
Xie Siyun nodded and answered, “Thank you.”
A short moment later, laughter came from outside of the meeting room. The man wasn’t there but the sound had reached them.
“Haha, guests of importance, welcome welcome!” The sound was like the bright and sunny sun, clear of gloomy dark atmospheres, warming the hearts of those around.
A man walked into the meeting room. He was dark-skinned, had a strong physique, was tall and buff with an army of hair, giving off an aura of masculinity.
Xie Siyun and Lin Jing stood up, their hearts filled with doubts. The black mamba snake was venomous and insidious, but the man who stood before them was nowhere close to that even though he carried the name of Black Mamba.
“We are sorry for the sudden visit.” Xie Siyun said.
Black Mamba nodded. He sat down, smiled and said, “It is an honor for the two great leaders of the Snow-War Rose to pay me a visit.” In actual fact, he was also surprised and curious about the sudden visit.
The two parties had simple greetings and Xie Siyun went straight into the topic, so she said, “We are here today for two reasons. The first is to enhance the relationship between the two mercenary groups, and the second is that we were requested to do so by someone.”
His sights congealed and his aura changed. The warm bright man was no more and the atmosphere was stagnated; it could almost suffocate the weak. Black Mamba was astonished. They kept a low profile but in the end they were still noticed by someone.
“Who is it?” in a solemn voice Black Mamba asked.
Xie Siyun was shocked. Her heart trembled, but she was no ordinary woman either, she stayed calm and said, “Lord of Shanhai City, Lian Zhou Marquis Qiyue Wuyi.”
“What a man of high prestige, no wonder he can instruct the two of you.” Black Mamba gazed carefully at the two ladies. His sights were filled with questions, wanting to know what was the relation between the Snow-War Rose and Shanhai City.
Xie Siyun ignored his wordless questions, and summarized the situation. “Lord Wuyi would like to have cooperation between Shanhai City and the Rattlesnake mercenary group, what do you think?”
“Cooperation? What kind of cooperation?” Black Mamba asked curiously. He felt that the Shanhai lord from thousands of miles away had his eyes on him. This feeling, to be honest, didn’t feel good.
Xie Siyun shook her head. “The details will be discussed between you and the Shanhai lord. But, with his high prestige, he will not say meaningless words.”
Again his sights congealed. Even without Xie Siyun saying so, he would still pay a visit to the legendary lord of the Chinese server. His heart would never rest at ease without knowing who the lord was and what business he had with the Rattlesnakes.
“Alright, Rattlesnake as a mercenary group will naturally not decline business. May the President of the War Rose pass the words to Lian Zhou Marquis, I will am always ready to pay Shanhai City a visit.” Black Mamba reverted back to his usual image of a bright and warm gentleman, and answered like a businessman.
Xie Siyun nodded; she stood up and left with Lin Jing.