Chapter 257

Chapter 244: Early Advantage

As the sun set and the moon rose, the night once again enveloped Tivyán. Under the new moon, rows of lights stretched out to the horizon.

In a certain high-rise building in this vast city, on a balcony, stood a young man. He wore black trousers and a white shirt, with his short brown-black hair neatly combed back. His face was fair and handsome.

The young man stood on the balcony, admiring the night view of the city. In his hand, he held a tall glass with a small amount of bright red liquid, his gaze serious as he looked at the city below.

Behind him was a luxurious, well-lit living room. On the carpet of the living room, a man wearing casual clothes and a mask knelt on one knee.

“You’re back so soon? Have you already settled things with the White Stone Craftsmen Guild? They agreed so quickly?”

Turning slightly, the young man asked the masked man kneeling on the ground behind him, who answered nervously.

“No… There’s a big problem with the White Stone Craftsmen Guild! It’s an unbelievable problem! Sir Berlit, those merchants have gone mad!”

The masked man said excitedly, his voice trembling. Hearing this, Berlit frowned and then asked seriously.

“Explain clearly. What exactly happened? Did those unscrupulous merchants raise prices because we bought too much?”

“No, it’s not about raising prices. The price was already exorbitant from the beginning. You wouldn’t know, Sir Berlit. When we asked them for the price, they immediately quoted 3800 pounds for one ‘Enlightenment,’ and they refused to negotiate!”

As soon as the masked man finished speaking, a sharp “crack” echoed through the space. Looking closely, it was clear that the highball glass in Berlit’s hand had cracked under pressure, and a shadow of gloom spread across his face.

“3800 pounds… How could the price be so high? According to the previous intelligence, the price of the ‘Enlightenment’ storage items from the White Stone Craftsmen Guild should have been very low, reportedly less than 2000 pounds.”

Turning around directly, Berlit spoke sternly to the masked man kneeling on one knee, his demeanor and tone becoming serious.

“Did you make a mistake somewhere? Or do you have something to hide from me?” Berlit’s voice carried a hint of danger, and his eyes revealed a trace of ruthlessness. Clearly, encountering such an unusual situation made him suspect that his subordinates might be engaging in some private operations to profit from the society’s funds.

“There’s absolutely no such thing, Sir! I guarantee that I only conveyed the information from the Craftsmen Guild truthfully! If you don’t believe me, you can ask the Craftsmen Guild anytime!”

Listening to Berlit’s words, the masked man was frightened into kneeling on both knees, trembling as he spoke to Berlit, his voice filled with obvious fear.

Facing the terrified masked man, Berlit glared at him. Their eyes met for a moment, and as a faint light flashed in Berlit’s eyes, the masked man’s trembling instantly ceased, and his eyes behind the mask became blank.

“Tell me in detail how the outrageous price of ‘Enlightenment’ from the Craftsmen Guild came about.”

Facing the masked man who had been hypnotized instantly, Berlit spoke straightforwardly. In his hypnotized state, the masked man could not lie or conceal anything.

“We’re not quite sure either. When we went to talk to them, they were already quoting this high price. We asked them for the reason, but they refused to respond to any commercial information.

“From other extraordinary beings at the scene, we learned that the price of the ‘Enlightenment’ storage items from the Craftsmen Guild suddenly skyrocketed in the evening. In addition, it is said that they sent people to purchase sporadic ‘Enlightenment’ storage items from other places in the city, causing the available ‘Enlightenment’ storage items in Tivyán to converge towards the Craftsmen Guild, driving up the prices.

“When I left the Golden Contract Bank, the price of ‘Enlightenment’ was 3800 pounds. Now, it might have risen above 4000 pounds.”

The masked man narrated in a dazed voice, and as he spoke, Berlit’s frown deepened.

‘The price suddenly skyrocketed in the evening, even before we had a chance to buy… This is not normal. The White Stone Craftsmen Guild usually doesn’t experience such drastic price fluctuations. There must be a reason for what is happening now…’

Berlit pondered, and soon he recalled the divination battle he had with an unknown mysterious society earlier that afternoon.

‘To understand the details of the mysterious society that killed Claudius and destroyed the Enlightenment Ceremony Grounds at the Crown University, we conducted a divination battle. Unexpectedly, that mysterious society was not a minor player; they had unexpectedly abundant anti-divination resources… Both sides consumed a large amount of ‘Enlightenment’ during the divination battle. And the price increase of the White Stone Craftsmen Guild occurred shortly after… Could it be…’

In his thoughts, Berlit immediately identified the key point and continued to think.

‘Could it be that the society, to replenish their depleted anti-divination resources, purchased a large amount of ‘Enlightenment’ storage items from the White Stone Craftsmen Guild, thus driving up the prices? Did their people go to the Craftsmen Guild to buy things less than half an hour after the divination battle? So quickly?’

Thinking of this most likely possibility, Berlit was shocked. He was amazed by the speed of that mysterious society.

Berlit and his team decided to go to the White Stone Craftsmen Guild to replenish ‘Enlightenment’ storage items just half an hour after the divination battle. This decision and action speed were already quite fast, but he did not expect that the other side was even faster, reaching the Craftsmen Guild first to place a large order.

The Eight Pinnacle Nest had a base in East Tivyán. It wasn’t far from there to the Golden Contract Bank. They were beaten to it. Could those guys have a base next door to the Golden Contract Bank?!

Berlit thought to himself. It was worth noting that due to the relatively low frequency of extraordinary transactions compared to mundane ones, the White Stone Craftsmen Guild would not set up quick telegraph order services like some mundane businesses. Everyone needed to trade at the Craftsmen Guild’s base, the Golden Contract Bank.

If a society encountered a rare situation requiring urgent purchases, having a nearby base close to the Golden Contract Bank would naturally be beneficial if there were no extraordinary abilities to accelerate the process.

Berlit had considered this situation initially, but since he believed his decision-making speed was fast and they had a nearby base to the Golden Contract Bank, he didn’t worry too much. However, he hadn’t expected that they would still be beaten to it. Now, because the other side had placed a large order with the Craftsmen Guild first, driving up the prices, their current situation was not optimistic.

‘Oh no, we were too slow. Now, a lot of ‘Enlightenment’ has been bought by those guys, pushing the price up to nearly 4000 pounds. Who knows how many ‘Enlightenment’ items they have now. If they use the newly bought ‘Enlightenment’ to counterattack, our remaining anti-divination resources…’

Berlit worried as he thought, when suddenly a slight pain shot through his arm. Berlit paused slightly and then rolled up his sleeve, revealing an arm crawling with a spider covered in intricate patterns. It was this spider that had bitten him.

Looking at the spider on his arm, Berlit showed no reaction. He reached out and stroked the spider’s back, and the complex patterns on the spider’s back began to twist, gradually transforming into a distorted human face. The eyes of the face looked at Berlit, and then a shrill voice spoke.

“Berlit, how is your procurement of ‘Enlightenment’ going? The spirituality of the total anti-divination array has just shown signs of depletion. We’ve been divined! The Priest of the King Bug has ordered that we must immediately raise the anti-divination resources to a safe level!”