Chapter 549: Information Trading and Invitation
As soon as the girl who called herself Xing Anlei arrived, I could clearly see Daphne let out a sigh of relief, as if she had found a supporting backbone.
The purpose of this girl, who called herself the Vice President of the All-purpose Association, was also easy to discern. She didn’t hide it; she mainly came to test my situation. After all, the All-purpose Association and I had little interaction, but my current identity was worth her attention.
Moreover, after communicating with her, I learned that they had actually tried to find me for some time. Their main goal was to facilitate communication between teaching assistants, but the process didn’t go smoothly, and I wasn’t even aware of this!
Thinking back, it’s understandable. According to my previous daily habits, I used teleportation magic wherever I went, or I would stay in the underground laboratory; there was no way I would casually wander around the Witch Academy. This led to their visits being quite normal for me, as I had no idea they had come.
None of those Witch Sisters had mentioned this to me; perhaps… they thought it wasn’t important for me.
However… interacting with the All-purpose Association wasn’t particularly important to me. After all, even if something did arise, it could be addressed when the time came. Why bother to force an interaction, right?
But when she asked what my plans were next, I didn’t hide it. I planned to leave the Witch Academy to investigate and contact those players from before.
Of course, these “players” were referred to as… invaders on their end. It seemed that the All-purpose Association’s intelligence-gathering capabilities were even more impressive than I had expected.
“Teacher Xiao Han is not surprised by this description at all. Do you know more information?” After she referred to my description of those “folk extraordinary terrorists” as “invaders from outside the world,” Xing Anlei had been observing my expression closely.
“I know a little. I assume you obtained this information from having contacted those guys, right?” I said, directing my gaze towards Qiu Ruxin, who was quietly sitting nearby. Qiu Ruxin had joined the All-purpose Association for some time now, and it seemed she hadn’t mentioned the concept of players to them.
“There has indeed been some contact. Those special groups are not numerous and are spread across the globe. Moreover, they’ve been much lower profile lately. This change seems to have begun when you saved Tan Han and Shali. You must know more about it than we do… To be honest, we have contacted Tan Han and the others, but they are unwilling to share more information.”
“I suppose that’s natural, right? After all, according to their accounts of what happened, you All-purpose Association could be seen as the trigger?” I replied, smiling.
After all, if this incident hadn’t involved the All-purpose Association and the store manager, it might never have happened. But this unfortunate event would have occurred eventually; it could have been Tan Han and Shali or someone else.
“That’s just a joke, Teacher Xiao Han. I hope you don’t hold any bias against our All-purpose Association because of this matter. None of us wish for this to happen…”
“I understand. There’s always going to be a big loser involved; it would either be them or someone else.”
“Thank you for your understanding. We can discuss Tan Han’s matter later. I wonder if Teacher Xiao Han would be willing to share intelligence regarding those invaders? Better understanding them would be beneficial for all of us. We personally feel that this matter cannot be ignored, but the mentors…”
“The mentors won’t care, right?” I interjected.
“Yes, the mentors would scoff at our worst suspicions. However, this matter may be far worse than they anticipate. I know they have the absolute power to deal with invaders from outside the world, but the outside society can’t withstand this kind of turmoil.”
“So, the thought of your All-purpose Association is that even with the mentors backing you, you still want to steer everything in a more correct direction, right?”
“Exactly, so I sincerely hope that Teacher Xiao Han will accept our proposal for information sharing.”
“I remember your All-purpose Association mentioning that even information has its corresponding value.” Given the nature of their statements, I naturally wouldn’t play the fool. While I wasn’t interested in money, upholding the principle of only taking what was necessary, I wouldn’t give away this information for free.
Even if I were to give away the Great Knowledge Seed, I wouldn’t just casually spill all the information.
Giving away the Great Knowledge Seed was something I planned for additional uses later, but I had no further plans regarding the information on these players and no schemes against the All-purpose Association for the time being. This meant that it wouldn’t concern me later, so I naturally wouldn’t be foolish enough to earn some trivial reputation for free.
Xing Anlei didn’t seem surprised by my response. After all, the prior exchanges had already set the groundwork, and she had only extracted some trivial information. If the other party truly didn’t care about this information or didn’t mind its dissemination, they wouldn’t be so difficult to deal with.
However, regarding purchasing information… money didn’t matter; they simply needed a faster opportunity to obtain intelligence. Knowing certain details earlier was incredibly valuable, beyond any amount of money.
Sometimes, the truth itself is so enticing that its perceived value far exceeds its actual worth.
“Of course! We respect the value of every piece of information and will offer a satisfactory price. May I ask how you would like to settle this?”
“What methods of settlement do you offer?” I inquired.
“The most common would be regular currency. Just provide us with your card number, and we will deposit directly to it. Of course, we can also settle using Red Copper coins. For Secret Silver and Aoqin coins, due to their barriers to entry, the actual value received might differ. If you insist on settling with those currencies, you might be at a disadvantage. Additionally, due to the inventory issues of these precious extraordinary materials, normally, we do not support this method of settlement. However, for you, Teacher Xiao Han, we are willing to take a little loss. Also… if you would like to exchange for magical sources or spellbooks, we can support that too.”
“Then let’s go with Red Copper,” I decided.
After all, since she had made it so clear, I naturally wouldn’t choose the most worthless ordinary currency. Given that she mentioned Secret Silver and Aoqin coins, asking for those would be akin to giving away a favor. Although none of this was explicitly stated, taking advantage of someone and then demanding nothing in return would make me a fool.
My goal was never about money; it just stemmed from not wanting to let the other party get something for nothing. If I had to be precise about it, I wouldn’t waste my energy haggling over such a minor matter.
“Okay!” Upon hearing my choice, Xing Anlei appeared genuinely delighted, “Then… shall we get to the main topic now?”
“Um.”
I nodded. Since I had agreed to the transaction, I would naturally share the information they wanted to know.
Originally, I had come to the All-purpose Association hoping to gather information about their understanding of the players, while also checking for any quests related to those players to earn some side income. However, who would have thought that the other party would elevate my status to such a level that I felt embarrassed competing with students for tasks? So, I simply adapted to the situation and changed my approach.
This information trade proceeded as I provided a comprehensive outline of the relevant information, after which the other party posed targeted questions based on what I shared.
The content I discussed was largely similar to what I had previously told Tan Han and the others. However, I glossed over the part about my initial acquaintance with the players; they didn’t inquire further. Instead, they focused on the strength of those individuals, what means they possessed, and so on—practical inquiries.
Among the questions they asked was why those individuals were fixated on Tan Han. They had already speculated somewhat about those individuals targeting “Extraordinary Knowledge,” so ultimately, they sought confirmation of the accuracy of that speculation from me.
Of course, they also learned about the concept of “players” from me. Sooner or later, they would have known about it, and I had mentioned it to Tan Han, so I wouldn’t hide it.
As for why I was being vague about my initial acquaintance with those players… it was to prevent them from developing any peculiar fantasies about me. After all, knowing or not knowing about that matter wouldn’t significantly affect anything. If they kept nagging about this issue, it would be quite bothersome.
So, it was best not to create unnecessary problems for myself.
After a while, the related matters concluded, and Xing Anlei appeared visibly cheerful, clearly having gained quite a bit.
God knows how much effort it would take for their people to gather this information. While she was curious about the fact that many pieces of information were clearly not obtainable through just one or two interactions, she attributed it to the other party knowing far more than she did, perhaps having heard it from some witch mentor.
However, it was evident that they lacked adequate knowledge about those individuals. Especially in this inquiry-focused exchange method, they didn’t know some key concepts, which meant they couldn’t continue relying on normal means to acquire more information.
It was as if there was a mountain of gold in front of them, yet they wouldn’t know how to mine the most crucial parts.
Xing Anlei believed that Yang Yuelan must know some key information, but they didn’t even know how to frame their questions. If they asked broadly, the other party could easily deflect, saying, “How do I know what you want to ask?” This left them feeling a bit anxious underneath.
Ultimately, they could only maintain future information sharing with a proposal for continued cooperation.
Even for the potential intelligence they were unaware of, the compensation they offered this time couldn’t be low. Otherwise, if the other party found it insincere, they might directly sever the intention for future cooperation.
“Thank you so much for the information you provided for our All-purpose Association. I will swiftly assess the value of this information, and for the subsequent reward… shall we mail it to your current villa?”
“Yes, that will be fine.” I nodded in agreement.
Once I finished my side of the conversation, the few others similarly came to a halt.
“President, have you finished your discussions?”
“Yes.” Xing Anlei nodded, indicating that things had temporarily wrapped up.
Then her gaze shifted to the two individuals beside her. The girl named Luxien was of course familiar to her, as was the other, who was similarly so. Despite being around the same age, they were light-years apart from the currently present Teacher Xiao Han in comparison.
Because of this, the members of the All-purpose Association were even more convinced that some people in this world could indeed transcend the rules of fate, implying that fortune alone didn’t define everything; it simply showed that this person was worth the investment.
However, the recent unfortunate d*ath case made it clear to them that even the Child of Fortune wasn’t an absolute guarantee of profit.
Nevertheless, she quickly adjusted her mentality. After all, they must establish a good relationship with this Teacher Xiao Han. Even if it wasn’t just for the accomplishments they found hard to believe, the ties she had with so many extraordinary mentors were already worth fostering a relationship.
If the Witch Academy were to undertake any major actions, being a mere ordinary student without connections would make it impossible to know anything. Thus, relationships with extraordinary witches were crucial; even inadvertently shared information could hint at significant developmental directions.
“What plans does Teacher Xiao Han have for the upcoming period?”
“My upcoming plans… well, I haven’t thought it through yet, but I plan to leave the academy to investigate some things I’m curious about. Nothing has been concretely set… oh, but I do have something I need to do now.” As I spoke, I took something out with one hand.
The Great Knowledge Seed.
I was supposed to give one to Qiu Ruxin earlier, and in the flow of conversation, I almost forgot.
After all, the predecessor of the Great Knowledge Seed had once belonged to her. Even if… she couldn’t fully grasp it and ultimately gave it back to me, I didn’t mind granting her an opportunity.
Qiu Ruxin had joined the academy late and had missed out on so much knowledge compared to her peers. Plus, the Great Knowledge Seed likely wouldn’t flow into students’ hands on a large scale for some time, essentially giving Qiu Ruxin a “beta testing qualification.”
“This is… the Great Knowledge Seed!” Clearly, Xing Anlei recognized this item.
They had heard before that this thing originated from Yang Yuelan. As for how much of it was true, they held reservations.
However, they had managed to procure quite a few of these seeds and even prepared one for Luxien, which Daphne had handed over this time.
“I see you know. I intend to give this Great Knowledge Seed to Qiu Ruxin.”
“So that’s it…” Xing Anlei immediately chimed in with a smile, “We’ve secured several of these from our mentor, and we’ve even set aside one for Luxien.”
“Luxien has one too?” I turned my head suspiciously towards Luxien. I remembered I had initially used Luxien as a test subject, right?
If there were beta testers, Luxien was probably among the very first batch.
“President…” At this moment, Daphne quickly rose. She retrieved a crystal block containing another Great Knowledge Seed from her storage equipment and quietly leaned closer to her, saying, “Luxien accepted Teacher Xiao Han’s gift earlier, so… I wanted to mention this just now, but I didn’t get the chance…”
“That’s fine. I forgot to inform you in advance. It seems Luxien didn’t disclose this to you. This isn’t her fault either; after all, when I approached her, the Great Knowledge Seed hadn’t been officially promoted yet. It looks like this inadvertently saved you a slot.” Seeing their expressions, I figured I should explain.
“I see. In that case, let me express my belated gratitude on behalf of Luxien, Teacher Xiao Han.” Xing Anlei immediately said, lightly placing her hand on Daphne’s hand, which held the seed. She took it for herself and eventually stored it in her storage equipment.
“Just a small matter.” I waved my hand. I wouldn’t interfere in how they distributed this item; if they managed to obtain it, that was their skill.
“By the way, I have something else here. I wonder if Teacher Xiao Han is interested in an exhibition?” At that moment, she seemed to suddenly remember something and spoke again, “This is an invitation letter for an exhibition. Some of the exhibits at this exhibition will serve as a prelude to a future auction. After the auction, there will also be a gala. If we can invite esteemed guests like you, it would be an honor for this exhibition. I wonder if Teacher Xiao Han would consider attending this gathering?”
“Alright… sounds good. I have some free time lately.” I pondered for a moment and then smiled and agreed.
I reached out to take the exquisite invitation letter, and as this letter changed hands, a ripple of fortune began to stir the direction of the script.
I turned my gaze towards the simple fortune observation technique only I could see. The aura of fortune on this invitation letter was so strong it was impossible for me to ignore. At that moment, the fortune began to turn like the gears of fate.
It seemed this item was the true unexpected delight of this trip.
