Imperial Main City, Trade Station.
To be honest, business here was a little lackluster—"dismal" would not have been an exaggeration... The location was not particularly out of the way, yet hardly anyone came by.
It was not that the goods were bad. On the contrary, the merchandise was quite novel, the prices were not too high, and even the clerks had excellent attitudes. If there was something you did not understand, they would patiently explain it to you in great detail. The only issue was that these people spoke and acted mechanically, like puppets, but overall, it was harmless enough.
By now, the common people knew that this was a shop opened by "visitors from overseas." It had been popular for a few days when it first opened.
But little by little, people lost interest. The reason was simple—the goods in the Trade Station all had local alternatives in the Hualan Empire. Take that desk lamp, for example. The Empire had them too. One merely needed "Divine Breath" fuel, while the other used some kind of battery. There was not much fundamental difference. With similar prices, most people could not be bothered to switch. Why pay twice for the same thing?
The truly good stuff would not be put up for sale, such as guns and ammunition... Even if Xu Shi were willing to sell them, the royal family could not possibly allow such business. Would that not throw everything into chaos? It had all been agreed upon beforehand.
As a result, fewer and fewer people paid attention to the Trade Station.
Until today.
The cart responsible for hauling away the garbage had only just left when the newly opened Trade Station put out a large sign. There were only seven glaring words on it.
Buying Sea God Stones at