Earning Half a Gold Dragon

"Hmph."

Duke pondered for a moment before deciding to take on this big deal. "This warrants an agreement contract worth 10 silver dragons... but I have to say upfront, Mister Rony, you'll need to pay the full amount first. Our shop doesn't even have 27 gold dragons to its name."

He pulled out a contract he had prepared for a long time from his waist pouch.

Black ink on white paper, with extraordinary Spirituality.

Ever since he started offering his proxy purchasing service, he had bought a contract. His original intention was to use it as a gimmick to show his sincerity, not to actually use it—after all, the cost of proxy purchasing a spirit card wasn't worth activating a contract.

Now, it was finally coming in handy.

"Alright, but you must go to the United Card Shop to buy it, because only there can your safety be guaranteed, and you won't be targeted... I don't want to waste my money. If I didn't have something tying me up, I really wouldn't feel at ease leaving a half-grown kid like you to do this proxy purchase for me." Rony signed his name on the agreement contract Duke presented.

The authenticity of the signature wasn't important; the contract was akin to a magical spirit card, possessing inviolable binding power.

Duke quickly signed his name as well.

Then, the contract dissolved into countless specks of light and vanished into the air. Both Duke and Rony felt a spiritual energy wrap around them, but the sensation quickly faded.

With a swipe of their Spirit Dragon Cards, 27 gold dragons were transferred.

Duke extended his hand and shook Rony's. "I'll head to Chen Jiao City as soon as possible. Mister Rony can just wait at home."

"Keep it secret, remember, keep it secret. Otherwise, my loss would just be a bit of gold, but you could get robbed, or even lose your life... Snakehead Town is located on the federation's border, it's not that safe."

"Don't worry, I understand."

Fortune favors the bold, and besides, it was just a proxy purchase.

A single agreement contract was enough to ensure Rony wasn't acting with malice. If he were, the spiritual power within the contract would have directly annihilated the ill-intentioned party.

As long as Rony had no ill intentions, and Duke was careful, this deal wouldn't attract unwanted attention.

After Rony left, Sally curiously asked, "Boss, what spirit card does he want you to proxy purchase?"

"Just an Illusion Card, worth two gold dragons. We get a 5 silver dragon proxy fee for it... I wish someone would come asking for proxy purchases every day," Duke said with a smile.

Sally also smiled. "It's great to have a proxy purchase request occasionally. Now you don't have to worry about the competition from Best's Card Repair Shop."

"That's true."

Not long after, Steve, who had gone out for deliveries, returned with some news. "Boss, it's not good news. When I was delivering, I ran into Bob from Best's Card Repair Shop. Guess what he was doing? He was also doing street sweeping. Will this affect our shop? I hope he doesn't steal all our customers."

"Bob is also doing street sweeping?" Duke wasn't surprised. "It's fine, it's just normal business competition."

"Is it really okay?" Sally sounded concerned.

Duke reassured her, "Not only is it okay, it's actually good news. Only when they feel threatened will Best start copying our doorstep service. This means Best's Card Repair Shop hasn't been doing well these past few days. We just keep working as usual. Little Sam's Card Shop's twenty-plus years of reputation is our sure-fire weapon."

Duke wasn't concerned about Best's Card Repair Shop's move.

He rested for a night and, as usual, read many of his newly purchased books, expanding the database for Xiao Yi to help her evolve.

The next morning, he headed to the station and took a Black Beetle Car towards Chen Jiao City.

Upon arriving smoothly in Chen Jiao City, he couldn't afford to rest and hurried to the wholesale market, Scrap Card Station, and other places to purchase or scavenge various materials for card repair.

"This Dragon Spirit Card is severely damaged, but Xiao Yi judged that one of its internal energy lines is relatively intact and can be salvaged as splicing material."

"This lantern card is almost scrap, with no usable value."

"This massage card looks damaged, but Xiao Yi, through the owner's induction, determined it can be restored with a little repair."

Xiao Yi's judgment, combined with Duke's induction, made him almost invincible when scavenging for scrap cards at the Scrap Card Station.

Basically, all the scrap cards he picked out had reuse value; he rarely misjudged. Occasionally, he would even find a bargain and discover a spirit card that could be restored. This was also the foundation of Duke's success in running Little Sam's Card Shop—when it came to saving costs, he was even more outstanding than Old Sam.

What could Best possibly use to compete with him!

After selecting the scrap cards and paying a small amount to the Scrap Card Station, Duke headed straight to his next destination, the United Card Shop.

The United Card Shop was an official enterprise of the Seven Towers Federation, similar in nature to a Xinhua Bookstore. The products sold there were definitely more expensive than at other card shops, but their information confidentiality was excellent.

Upon entering, Duke immediately selected ten Arcane Cards.

"27 gold dragons," the salesperson stated with a smile.

"I'm buying ten at once, can you give me a discount? How about 25 gold dragons?"

"Sorry, the United Card Shop does not negotiate prices."

"There's no shop that doesn't negotiate. I've bought plenty of spirit cards at the United Card Shop. For 25 gold dragons, I'll pay immediately." Duke felt no shame in haggling.

Having run a small factory before his transmigration, he had long since honed this skill.

The salesperson looked troubled. "I'm sorry, the United Card Shop really doesn't negotiate."

"How is that possible? Get the manager over here, I'll talk to the manager about the price... Or how about this, 26 gold dragons. You employees must have access to discounted prices. Give me a discount, and I'll come to you specifically next time... I'm just running errands to buy cards for people, and I'll definitely be buying cards often in the future."

After several rounds of verbal sparring, the salesperson finally relented. "Then it's 26 gold dragons. Remember to come find me to buy cards more often in the future."

"Don't worry, I'll be back in a few days!"

After swiping his Spirit Dragon Card and exchanging a few pleasantries with the salesperson named Carlya, Duke put the ten spirit cards into his inner pocket and walked out of the United Card Shop with a relaxed demeanor.

He didn't act cautiously but paid quiet attention.

Only after confirming he wasn't being followed did Duke board a trolley bus at a seemingly unhurried pace. By the time he returned to the small inn where he was staying, he finally let out a sigh of relief. This era was hardly a lawful society; murder and robbery happened frequently, and the perpetrators were rarely caught. Carrying ten valuable Arcane Cards, he had to be careful.

"It's all worth it. One proxy purchase, and I made one and a half gold dragons, which is equivalent to three months of running the shop!" If he could do a few more deals like this, he'd have enough money for a spirit root.

"However, I'll never do business without a contract, to avoid getting trapped."

"By diligently running Little Sam's Card Shop, and occasionally finding discarded spirit cards at the Scrap Card Station to repair, I can still earn enough resources for my cultivation."

"Plus, it's safer this way."

After all, this was a world of the extraordinary, and one couldn't be too careful.