Destiny in Cinders

Chapter 216: Ocher Hill’s Bargain Deal

Manpower’s not worth much? Oh, right, Skysource has construction puppets and drones... It did make sense, but it still came as a shock to An Jing. ”Ah, no wonder. With this technology, towns can be built even in the badlands.”

For some reason, An Jing had a very strong intuition that housing prices should be much higher. But when he thought more about it, housing was merely shelter. In a world like Skysource, one could easily survive out there in the wilderness with enough power. Nothing was more valuable than strengthening oneself. What the ten thousand merits paid for was most likely the garrison stationed at Hilltwixt rather than stone buildings that cultivators could easily build themselves given enough time.

Naturally, An Jing and Huo Qing weren’t actually interested in that enclosed building compound. They were looking for simple, half-finished property that didn’t necessarily come with all living amenities such as warehouses. Huo Qing had just the listing to show him.

”There’s this company called Ocher Hill. They left behind a high-capacity warehouse!” Huo Qing mentioned a name that An Jing was familiar with and pointed at the waterscreen excitedly. ”It occupies around twenty mu of land, with more than ten thousand square meters of usable storage space! It was once used by Ocher Hill to store the goods they shipped in. But for some reason, they left the markets in the nearby regions and abandoned their warehouse.[1]

”I figured that the property would be for sale by now, so I went to check and here it is! It’s located at the border of Hilltwixt, rather far from the downtown. They also want this property off their hands urgently, so they’re only asking for a third of the market value, 5700 merits. The only annoying part is they want to be paid in spirit items, not merits, in a single transaction.”

Huo Qing went on to mention the terms of the deal, such as how Ocher Hill would not be responsible for the property after the transaction, including maintenance, which would make their asking price less than ideal. Then again, he supposed that An Jing’s tribe would come to defend the warehouse anyway so it wouldn’t be an issue.

”Heavens,” An Jing muttered quietly. ”What a coincidence. Ocher Hill...”

No, this was no coincidence. Ocher Hill and the True Talisman were linked. The sale of the warehouse for cheap was only a small part of the aftermath of the conflict between the Shouyang Group, Luofu Group and the Justice Restoration Army. Fortunately, An Jing was able to profit from this despite having once been dragged into the center of this conflict.

”This one it is. That’s just what I need.” He shook his head and smiled. While 5700 merits sounded like a lot, Nian Qin had left 7655 merits behind in the form of an unnamed cash card. That was more than enough to fund the warehouse’s purchase. An Jing’s spirit items and spirit stones were easily worth double that amount, so he could definitely afford it.

The reason the warehouse was being sold for cheap was Ocher Hill’s exit from the local market near Deepnight City. Others might not be aware, but An Jing knew that this was downstream of the incident involving the True Talisman. Whether the Luofu Group managed to learn that Ocher Hill’s black-market branch had anything to do with it or not, all corporations affiliated with the Shouyang Group aside from the core industries experienced a decrease in market share. Smaller subsidiaries like Ocher Hill were driven out just like that.

It was likely that this was the result of some kind of settlement that the Luofu and Shouyang Groups ”diplomatically” agreed to since the black-market incident. The holes in the market left behind by the Shouyang Group’s departure would soon be filled by the Luofu Group. An Jing was simply lucky enough to sweep up some scraps in the meantime.

”They only take spirit items, huh?” He pondered the conditions for the transaction. ”Well, it’s not like I don’t understand why they don’t want merits...”

It wasn’t that easy for corporations or businesses to leave a territory. The Luofu Group would definitely investigate any suspicious companies, especially their financial records and even freeze their assets, making them untouchable. These companies would no longer be able to even make sales, let alone spend merits to buy things from other parties. At times like these, they had no choice but to resort to primitive bartering.

Though, An Jing noticed a potential issue. Would purchasing Ocher Hill’s property draw the attention of the Luofu Group? Probably not. First, Nian Qin, the spy in Ocher Hill that was the assigned contact of the soldier from the Justice Restoration Army, died before they had a chance to meet. An Jing was probably the only one who knew how those two were related.

Second, if the Luofu Group did suspect Ocher Hill, they would never allow them to retreat from Deepnight City. But if they insisted on getting in Ocher Hill’s way as they left, it might prompt retaliation from the Shouyang Group, leading to a conflict with no end. This was bad for business.

Buying that property definitely came with some measure of risk, but it was just as foolish to hold back and do nothing just because of that. Not to mention, if An Jing didn’t set himself up at some other place by the time Metalhand returned, he would truly have to venture into the badlands and become a true badlander.

He decided to brief Huo Qing on the broad strokes of the matter. ”I’m sure you’ve heard of what’s going on between Shouyang and Luofu. I believe this sale is one of the many things that resulted from Shouyang’s compromise. Do you think we’d get into trouble by scooping up cheap property that was sold as a result of a hidden feud between these two megacorps?”

”Huh?” Huo Qing stared at him with a look of surprise. ”Wow, that’s not very badlander of you, Brother An. You are a fast learner indeed! To think that you’d even consider such a thing. But worry not. Look!”

Huo Qing pointed at a marker on the waterscreen that depicted a taiji diagram surrounded by lightning bolts from eight directions. ”Do you see this mark here? That’s the mark of the Skywatch Bureau. It means that this property has been certified after they investigated it. The property was only allowed to be listed for sale after the certification process, so there’ll be no problems!”

Ocher Hill’s accounts are probably still frozen even though they were already investigated. Maybe they’re trying to cut their losses and trade the property for spirit items. With that realization in mind, An Jing stood up and was just about to call You Ruhui to go with him. ”Let’s check the spot out in person.”

He was going to build a base there, so he needed to make sure nothing was amiss on site. If You Ruhui determined that the terrestrial veins and geomantic properties of the location weren’t ideal, they would have to search elsewhere.

”Wait a second,” Huo Qing said, shocked by how fast An Jing was moving. ”Do you have spirit items worth thousands of merits on hand?”

An Jing took out a spirit stone and flashed it at Huo Qing, dazzling his eyes.

”Alright, forget I said anything! Let’s head out!”

1. Mu is a unit of land historically used in China and other parts of Asia, though the precise definition varies significantly between regions. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_(land) ☜