Alternative Uses for the Marrow Cleansing Fruit

"This isn't a problem, but you'll need to cover the security costs during the journey. You know, there are quite a few pirates around Seattle."

Paul agreed with Kerry's trading method, but business was business, and friendship was friendship. The Gaits Family's annual protection fees paid to pirates were no small sum, and all of that needed to be factored into the security costs.

Otherwise, unarmed merchant ships like Kerry's would have been robbed long ago. If Kerry continued to deliver goods himself, he was very likely to be targeted by pirates. This change in trading method had indirectly reduced Kerry's transportation risks.

"Of course, that's perfectly fair. Fair trade lasts longer," Kerry agreed. Unit 001's mining operations were completely cost-free; no taxes, no land purchases, and even labor costs could be considered negligible. It was a business with incredibly high profits, so spending a bit more on the transaction was no big deal.

"Oh, right, do you know about this kind of fruit?" Kerry suddenly took out a Marrow Cleansing Fruit and placed it in front of Paul.

"A Marrow Cleansing Fruit from the Dragonman Kingdom? That's a rare delicacy," Paul had spent his life in the Jili Merchant Alliance and had seen Marrow Cleansing Fruits from the Dragonman Kingdom before. However, he looked at Kerry with a rather ambiguous gaze, leaving Kerry utterly confused.

"Old Paul, you truly are knowledgeable. How much can this sell for in the Merchant Alliance now?" Kerry had haggled with Old Baxia for a long time last time to get five free samples, and he hadn't eaten them yet. Kerry just wanted to see if he could make a profit by reselling the Marrow Cleansing Fruit.

If it worked, perhaps reselling Marrow Cleansing Fruits could make him instantly rich? He had forgotten last time he came to Seattle because he failed to impress a girl.

"The price for this is quite good, at least 120 Gold Coins each. But the problem is, no one will buy it unless you're selling at least ten thousand pieces.

Retail is possible, but it's very difficult to find customers," Paul said.

"What do you mean? I have some, but I can't sell ten thousand at a time." Kerry was confused. This item couldn't be retailed? Although the difference in price between the Dimensional Exchange and the real world was only 20 Gold Coins, the profit could be substantial if the volume was high.

It was a long story, and Paul began to tell it slowly, like an after-dinner tale.

In the past, when people first discovered that Marrow Cleansing Fruits could improve physical constitution, they frantically collected them. Later, these fruits could only be found on the overseas Dragon Islands and their vassal state, the Dragonman Kingdom.

Eight hundred years ago, there was a powerful kingdom called Tian Kingdom. The king prepared 1,000 Marrow Cleansing Fruits for his beloved prince, hoping his prince would become a powerful figure and inherit his kingdom.

Who knew that after consuming 1,000 fruits, the prince's aptitude only improved slightly.

The price of Marrow Cleansing Fruits was extremely high at the time, but the king did not give up. He went to the Dragonman Kingdom and begged them, finally spending all the savings in his national treasury to buy 10,000 Marrow Cleansing Fruits. He poured the nation's resources into making the prince an unparalleled master.

He expected the prince to lead the kingdom to become an empire in the future. Unfortunately, people overestimated the medicinal effects of the Marrow Cleansing Fruits. Even after consuming 10,000 Marrow Cleansing Fruits, the prince's physique improved greatly, but he did not become a peerless physique.

The prince rapidly advanced to level 8 warrior and never progressed further in his life, unless he could consume tens of thousands more Marrow Cleansing Fruits.

Unfortunately, the national treasury was empty, and the kingdom could no longer function properly. Soon, the country disintegrated.

From then on, people knew that Marrow Cleansing Fruits could indeed improve physical constitution, but spending so much money couldn't create a peerless physique. It was a completely unprofitable venture. Gradually, Marrow Cleansing Fruits became unpopular, with the lowest price even dropping to 50 Gold Coins per fruit, and still no one bought them.

It wasn't until 300 years ago, when several powerful kingdoms emerged from the fragmented territory of the former Tian Kingdom and gradually pacified the war-torn regions, that people were astonished to discover that the royal families of these kingdoms were all descendants of that Tian Kingdom prince.

It turned out that a few months after the prince consumed the 10,000 Marrow Cleansing Fruits, something unexpected happened. Marrow Cleansing Fruits not only changed people's physical constitution, but also made them extremely energetic.

And after consuming large quantities of these fruits, people would have a strong desire to engage in physical activity with women. This led to a problem: it was not only very easy to get pregnant, but the children conceived also had excellent physical constitutions.

This prince broke the reproduction record of Hercules, fathering 60 children in one night, and these children were all very strong.

As the country split and wars erupted, these children went their separate ways. Due to their outstanding innate conditions, they gradually became regional overlords. Their children then had children, and these regional overlords gradually established duchies, then kingdoms.

Eventually, the Tian Kingdom, a southern country on the mainland bordering the Dragonman Kingdom, became the present-day Fukuda, Toyota, and Honda kingdoms. It is also said that the Kingdom of Ford, which is near Raynor, and the Fukuda Kingdom, which borders it, are related by blood and are likely descendants of that Tian Kingdom prince.

"What do you mean? The history of the formation of countries around Raynor?" Kerry still didn't understand what this had to do with Marrow Cleansing Fruits being difficult to sell.

"I'm not finished yet. The main point is about to begin," Paul complained, then continued.

It was then that people discovered that besides improving physical constitution, Marrow Cleansing Fruits also had aphrodisiac, fertility-enhancing, and child-strengthening effects.

This caused the once-depressed price of Marrow Cleansing Fruits to surge again. However, at this time, the overseas dragons intervened, stating that Marrow Cleansing Fruits were not to be shared and would be exclusively supplied to the dragons.

Dragons, regardless of the dimension, were known for their difficulty in reproduction. They hadn't discovered the fertility-enhancing effects of Marrow Cleansing Fruits before, but if humans could benefit, perhaps dragons could too?

Until 100 years ago, the dragons suddenly reopened trade for Marrow Cleansing Fruits. According to rumors, no matter how many Marrow Cleansing Fruits the dragons consumed, besides a slight improvement in their physical constitution, they had no other effects.

Since then, only wealthy individuals on the mainland bought Marrow Cleansing Fruits to treat infertility. When prices were low, occasionally a rich patron would buy 10,000 pieces to create a level 8 master, and the price stabilized around 100-120 Gold Coins.

If the market quantity increased, the unit price of Marrow Cleansing Fruits would fall. If the quantity was small, the unit price was a bit higher, but you had to find someone who wanted to use this method to treat infertility. After all, there were many methods to treat infertility on the mainland.

Kerry finally realized that his plan to profit from reselling Marrow Cleansing Fruits was basically doomed. Large quantities meant low unit prices, and small quantities meant low overall profits, not to mention they were hard to sell.

No wonder Paul had looked at him strangely at first. So, the guy thought he was using this stuff as an aphrodisiac.

However, the improvement of physical constitution was universally acknowledged. Kerry suddenly thought that perhaps he could give some to the Queen to improve her physique and maybe her condition would get better.

After the meal ended, Kerry went to the trading market alone and unconsciously walked to the place where he bought the Queen. Unfortunately, that beautiful girl wasn't there. He wondered if he would meet her again before returning to his territory...

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