“Ugh…” Caius gagged twice like he’d drunk too much.

  The two merchants beside him quickly patted his back, pretending to be concerned. “Take it easy, brother, breathe easy, breathe~”

  “Thanks.” Caius raised a hand, seeming to recover a little.

  At that moment, the balding merchant leaned in and asked, “Brother, is it true you have connections with the Wolf Queen of the Wargs Gang?”

  “Of course. Rog bought me drinks just a few days ago,” Caius said, bobbing his head with a smirk.

  “And soon, I’m thinking of switching gears a bit—start tinkering with Magitech Devices. Isn’t that more profitable than Magitech ships?”

  As he spoke, Caius swung his arm with pride, and a Magitech Sniper Cannon over three meters long appeared in his hand, drawing gasps from the surrounding merchants.

  “Take a look—this is Wargs Gang’s signature craftsmanship. Isn’t it gorgeous?”

  “My guys have already picked up some of the techniques. Once we refine the process, the Hiromus Chamber of Commerce will be nothing compared to us!”

  “Hey, don’t touch! This is a prototype—I had a hard time getting it from Rog. Gotta take it apart and study it!” Caius slapped away a merchant’s reaching hand.

  The merchant chuckled awkwardly, then said excitedly, “Brother, this is good work. Bleeds you and feeds you—plus it’s got a future!”

  “Exactly!” Caius laughed heartily, brimming with arrogance.

  “Bro, that line of business… can’t you spare a bit for your little brother here?” the balding merchant asked with a fawning smile.

  What a sight—an old man in his fifties calling a brawny sixteen-year-old “bro.” Absolutely shameless.

  “For you?” Caius raised an eyebrow and glanced at him, then waved dismissively. “Not happening.”

  “Don’t be so quick to say no, let’s talk it over…” The balding man stuffed something into Caius’s pocket as he spoke.

  Caius glanced sideways—well, well—a sapphire that big? Must be worth at least ten thousand gold. Guy’s desperate enough to bleed cash. Interesting.

  So Caius casually closed his pocket and put on a thoughtful look.

  Seeing this, the other merchants quickly followed suit, each slipping something into his pockets.

  In no time, the once-empty pockets were bulging.

  Kiki, whom Caius had positioned nearby to observe in secret, almost burst out laughing.

  “Ahem. Alright, that’s enough. Let’s keep things low-key,” Caius said as he pressed down on his pockets.

  The merchants chuckled sheepishly, then stared at Caius with anticipation. “So about that deal…”

  Caius gave a slight shake of his head as if to clear it, then after a moment of silence, he straightened up with a serious expression.

  “I can get you in, but you can't go directly to the Wargs Gang. You’ll have to go through me.”

  “You know how it is—Wargs Gang only does business with familiar faces.”

  “Got it, got it, totally understood!” The group nodded eagerly.

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  After all, they’d tried approaching the Wargs Gang before and got kicked out with nothing to show for it.

  “And another thing—you better bring enough juice. If you’re only offering one or two small boats, forget the Wargs Gang—I won’t even bother!”

  “How much juice are we talking?” one merchant asked tentatively.

  “At least twenty mid-sized ships, each worth over thirty thousand gold. Best if it's bundled with a shipyard,” Caius said.

  “That’s…” The merchants hesitated.

  Bundling ships with a shipyard? Impossible. The shipyards were their entire foundation. There was no way they’d risk everything based on Caius’s words.

  But Caius didn’t want their shipyards—he wanted their ships.

  Seeing their hesitation, Caius said, “But I’ve got an idea. Anyone got a bottle of Sober-Up Potion?”

  “I need to clear my head a bit.”

  One of the merchants immediately summoned a retainer, who returned with a potion.

  Caius drank it down and spoke earnestly, “You don’t want to bundle your shipyards—I get it. That’s your lifeblood. I didn’t want to either. If I hadn’t been driven to the brink, I wouldn’t have gambled everything.”

  “But I got lucky. My gamble paid off.”

  “If you don’t want to take that kind of risk, you can team up. Form a single unit.”

  “Each of you contributes a few ships, give me the order, and I’ll present it to Rog as if it’s from one factory. That way, he’ll be more inclined to take the deal.”

  “After all, a pie cobbled together is still a big pie, right?”

  The merchants’ eyes lit up.

  That made sense. Risk was spread out, and it was something they could work with.

  “Of course,” Caius continued, “I’m on good terms with Rog—I’m not about to help you rip him off. So you’ll need to lower your prices. Undercut the market a little, or I won’t be able to make it work.”

  “I need to earn something too, right?”

  You can’t play the ‘trust’ card with merchants. But sometimes, brutal honesty gets better results.

  Because merchants crave “trust” more than anyone. Ironic, isn’t it?

  The merchants exchanged glances, then nodded. “Alright!”

  “So, how many ships can each of you spare? And how much can you cut the price?”

  “Six each!” they replied after a quick discussion.

  Right now, it wasn’t about profit—it was about recovering losses. They needed cash flow. Without it, they wouldn’t survive the month, let alone benefit from any aftermath between two warring factions. Come payday, they'd all be hanging from rafters.

  Five merchants. Six ships each. Thirty ships total.

  And after negotiations, they agreed to sell them at thirty percent below market price. They’d still make a tiny profit after costs.

  No physical handover was needed for the transaction—just temporary trade orders issued by the Merchant Guild.

  Once they held the trade orders, it was considered secured cargo, protected by the Merchant Guild’s commercial rights.

  Of course, when it came time to deliver the goods, they’d still have to pay up—or the order would be voided.

  What Caius had to do now was take these trade orders—worth thirty ships—and use them to land even more lucrative deals.

  And earn a “margin” in the process.

  That margin could be gold coins—or in something even better.

  “I’m heading over to find Rog,” Caius said. “I just spotted some of the Wargs Gang over here.”

  “Go on then, brother, we’re counting on your good news!” a group of merchants said eagerly.

  Caius chuckled, taking the thick stack of transaction forms with him as he strode confidently toward the Wargs Gang’s exhibition zone.

  Before long, he arrived at the Wargs’ turf.

  Unlike most others, the Wargs Gang wasn’t selling ships. Their main wares were Magitech Devices. Some were small tools for daily use, while others were heavy-duty pieces of equipment—like the formidable Magitech Sniper Cannons.

  For some reason, though, their booth wasn’t open yet. The section was closed off, leaving many prospective buyers of the Wargs' gear standing around outside, unable to enter.

  Caius, however, was not like the others. With the little cat perched on his shoulder, he stepped right over the barrier and walked into the Wargs’ section without hesitation.

  “Yo, brothers. Rog around?” Caius asked as he pulled out a lighter and offered cigarettes.

  Some of the Wargs present were familiar faces to him—he’d met them before.

  They didn’t turn him away. Instead, they greeted him with grins and gladly took the offered smokes, striking up a casual chat.

  After all, they knew their boss got along well with this burly mercenary—the same guy who’d recently stirred up quite the storm in Ocean City.

  “Boss is over at the Merchants’ Guild applying for a license to sell Magitech Devices,” one of the gang members explained. “But sounds like there’s a snag. Not enough permits available. He’s in the middle of a dispute over it—no idea if he’ll secure one.”

  Caius nodded thoughtfully. Under-the-table deals for weapons were nothing new. But this? This wasn’t some back-alley trade. The scale of Magitech sales they were planning—entire truckloads—meant an official license was absolutely required.

  He wasn’t in a rush. With a cigarette in hand, he chatted casually with the younger Wargs, skillfully drawing information out of them to see if there were any opportunities worth seizing.

  Not far off, several merchants who had been watching Caius closely saw him mingling so comfortably with the Wargs Gang and became visibly excited.

  To them, it was clear now—Caius hadn’t been bluffing!