Auspicious Winds Take Flight

Catching a 0-Ring Spirit Beast, a Golden Belly Ink Carp, was truly an unexpected joy for Duke.

While spirit beasts, especially 0-Ring quasi-spirit beasts like this one, weren't outrageously expensive, it still counted as a small windfall that could help subsidize household expenses.

He currently had three sources of income.

The first was the fixed income from card repair at Little Sam's Card Shop. After deducting material costs, wages, and commission for the Card Masters, it netted about 50 silver dragons per month.

The second was service fees for proxy purchases. The scale of this operation had expanded, and in addition to Levin, he had hired a second person, a simple, burly man named Harper. This business brought in about 120 silver dragons a month.

The third was salvaging cards from the Scrap Card Station. After repairing and refurbishing them, he sold them as used cards. With Xiao Yi's assistance, this brought in around 80 silver dragons per month.

Adding it all up, his total monthly income was about two gold dragons.

Of course.

After the end of the year, Old Sam's business tax would be due, and he would have to pay it himself. There were also expenses for greasing the palms of various town officials. He would need to set aside about one or two gold dragons for taxes and bribes annually.

"Let's go, home!"

Seeing that it was getting late, Duke grabbed his bucket and headed home.

Upon returning to the familiar Second Vertical Street, a familiar face greeted him, "Hey there, Boss Duke, off fishing again?"

"Yep."

"Boss Duke really has a refined hobby. How was your catch?"

Duke smiled and replied, "You know, I actually ran into one. I caught a Golden Belly Ink Carp that was injured. Boss Abraham, come take a look."

He handed over the bucket.

Inside, besides a few small, miscellaneous fish, was the Golden Belly Ink Carp with half its tail missing. It wasn't bleeding anymore, and its aura was stable. Clearly, its physique as a spirit beast had allowed it to survive the gunshot wound.

"Whoa!" Boss Abraham exclaimed with amazement, "It really is a Golden Belly Ink Carp! Your luck... tsk tsk!"

After looking at the fish.

Duke added, "Oh, right, Boss Abraham, I'm planning to order a few more sets of summer work uniforms. Could you come over and measure our staff later?"

Abraham, the owner of a nearby tailor shop, immediately chuckled, "Sure, I've got nothing else to do. Let me grab my tape measure and head over."

"See you in a bit."

"Mm, you go ahead."

Back at Little Sam's Card Shop, Aunt Abby had already prepared dinner. Except for the three Card Masters who had already finished work and gone home, the other staff members were eating in the courtyard.

Currently, Little Sam's Card Shop had a total of nine employees, excluding the Card Masters and Duke himself.

Back when Duke hadn't transmigrated and was running his own soybean oil processing plant, he had about the same number of workers.

However, Little Sam's Card Shop's annual income of twenty gold dragons, equivalent to 200,000 yuan, couldn't compare to the processing plant's income. In its good years, Duke had made three to four million yuan annually from the soybean oil plant; in average years, it still guaranteed him at least 300,000 to 400,000 yuan.

It wasn't that he had earned money, but he was willing to become a premium member of the Falcon Shooting Club and practice shooting whenever he had free time.

"Boss, I'll get you a plate of food." Aunt Abby stood up.

"Don't rush, I need to do something first. Just leave some for me," Duke waved his hand.

With that, he carried the bucket to the converted room in the back warehouse.

"Chirp chirp!"

As soon as he entered the bedroom, a plump squirrel jumped towards him. It was none other than the two-month-old long-haired mongoose cub, Little Dou.

Little Dou was very timid. If Duke didn't take it out, it would hide in the attic above the bedroom.

It stayed quiet, making almost no sound.

"Are you hungry, Little Dou? There are some fish scraps in the bucket. Do you want some?" Duke fished out a piece of shredded fish meat from the bucket and offered it to Little Dou.

Little Dou sniffed it, then hugged the fish scrap with its little paws and began to nibble.

It could eat meat now.

Duke, meanwhile, brought over the newly purchased fish tank. He had planned to raise some small fish when he went fishing. After filling the tank with water, he carefully placed the Golden Belly Ink Carp from the bucket inside.

He hadn't eaten it, nor had he sold it.

He decided to keep the Golden Belly Ink Carp for now, considering it a form of romance for an old soul. After all, his soul was already quite old, and it was time for him to enjoy raising fish and plants.

Once inside the fish tank, the Golden Belly Ink Carp seemed a bit unaccustomed to its new environment, staying in a corner and panting heavily.

There was no oxygen pump.

Duke was a little worried if the Golden Belly Ink Carp could adapt. However, remembering that it hadn't died in the bucket, he realized that its survival adaptability as a 0-Ring spirit beast was quite strong.

The fish tank should be able to keep it alive.

"Little Dou, keep an eye on it. It'll be your companion from now on," Duke said. He then moved a potted plant from his desk to the side of the fish tank. "Spirit fish paired with spirit grass, wouldn't that bring good fortune!"

The small plant was the Earth Orchid he had dug up earlier.

After tidying everything up, he left all the remaining fish scraps for Little Dou before heading out to the courtyard for dinner.

Sally at the counter had already finished eating. Seeing Duke approach, she chatted, "A few mercenaries came to get their cards repaired at the shop today. Their accents suggest they're not from around here."

"Did you ask them where they're from or why they're here?"

"I asked them, but they wouldn't say, only that they were exploring around here, looking for some rare resources. But I don't think they're explorers. I heard one of them mention renting a house... Boss, think about it, if they were just exploring, they'd leave in a few days. They wouldn't need to rent a place; a hotel would be fine."

Duke nodded.

The deliveryman, Dutlan, added, "When I was delivering goods, I saw a lot of unfamiliar faces wandering around the streets too."

Aunt Abby listened, her face full of worry, and said, "Could it be that they're really going to start the Pioneer War? Oh dear, who knows how many people will die this time!"

"It has nothing to do with us," the apprentice Ditett said indifferently.

"How can it not have anything to do with us?" Sally countered. "If the Pioneer War really starts, our Little Sam's Card Repair Shop will be swamped. So many people will come to get their cards repaired."

She paused.

Sally then said, "Boss, I'm a little worried."

"Worried about what?"

"I'm worried that Best's Card Repair Shop won't go out of business. Although not many people are getting cards repaired there now, if the Pioneer War starts and more people need repairs, Best's Card Repair Shop might just make a comeback."

"Yeah, that's a real possibility," the deliveryman Steve agreed.

Duke frowned. If the Pioneer War started and Best's Card Repair Shop managed to revive, it would definitely be an annoying development for him.

Best's betrayal back then had almost ruined Little Sam's Card Repair Shop.

Now, Best's Card Repair Shop's popularity was at an all-time low, but Best was, after all, a Card Master. He had accumulated some wealth over the years and could still hold on.

He must have heard about the Pioneer War and wanted to hang on a little longer.

"You don't need to worry about that. Whether the Pioneer War starts or not, Best's Card Repair Shop will go bankrupt sooner or later," Duke reassured everyone. "Besides, even if Best's Card Repair Shop survives the Pioneer War, so what? No card repair shop on Second Vertical Street can compete with our Little Sam's Card Repair Shop!"

"That's right, that's right!" Dutlan nodded.

The others nodded in agreement, all believing this.

After everyone had finished dinner and Aunt Abby had washed the dishes, Sally closed the shop door and left.

The large Little Sam's Card Repair Shop was left with only Duke. He didn't return to his bedroom to practice the Universal Blood Refining Method or read books to expand his database as he usually did.