Negotiation

Zhuang Xiaolin's sudden visit was not without reason.

First, as Lungmen's ruler, Wei Yenwu should already have received intelligence reports about him selling a medicine that could slightly treat Oripathy.

Second, as someone who truly held power, if Wei Yenwu wanted to eliminate him, it would be effortless. Even with his current strength and the Rainbow Six Squad's cooperation, he would not be able to leave alive.

Third, the other party had sent a signal. Lungmen's ruler had dispatched his special forces to track and monitor him. If he had not discovered them on his own, the other party would probably have lowered their assessment of his threat level by another rank or two. This was both a test and an offer of cooperation.

As he approached the door, the large doors automatically slid apart to either side. Before watching them move, Zhuang Xiaolin had noticed handles on them, suggesting they could be used in two different modes.

Slowly coming into Zhuang Xiaolin's view was a large desk. Behind it stood a dragon-headed man, gazing at the scenery beyond the window.

"Since you have honored the appointment, let us get straight to the point." Wei Yenwu slowly turned around and narrowed his eyes.

This man was no simple figure.

The instant he saw Zhuang Xiaolin, Wei Yenwu sensed the dense energy surrounding him.

It was a scarlet energy. Wei Yenwu could not describe the sensation, but it gave him the feeling of a hellish temptation that devoured life.

"Mr. Zhuang Xiaolin, the medicine you sell is quite famous. I believe we can have a proper discussion about the main attraction you intend to reveal next." Wei Yenwu sat back in his office chair and gestured with one hand.

"Just what I wanted, Mr. Wei Yenwu." Zhuang Xiaolin gave a sly smile. Two crafty old foxes, who had made untold profits through negotiations, began probing one another.

They began with the most basic matter: the medicine's effects. Wei Yenwu deliberately and casually tried to draw information out of Zhuang Xiaolin, while Zhuang Xiaolin, just as he had expected, revealed a great deal of information about the medicine's efficacy.

On one hand, this was to speed up the negotiations. After all, the more your trading partner understood your medicine, the more realistic the price they offered would be.

But everyone knew that making money was nothing shameful. Sometimes, it was hardly strange for a product's price to gain another dozen digits.

Wei Yenwu narrowed his eyes and thought, Well, well. The man across from me is an old fox too.

"Our side is extremely interested in this medicine. Would Mr. Zhuang be willing to provide a sample for us to test?"

"Of course. As a gesture of sincerity, we can gift Lord Wei five bottles of the medicine." Zhuang Xiaolin extended his hand and pulled five bottles filled with orange-cyan liquid from the inner lining of his coat.

"That will not be necessary. We will pay whatever price is due." Wei Yenwu waved his hand. Several subordinates who had been waiting outside immediately understood and went to find an Oripathy-infected person. In secret, they had already begun testing the medicine's effects.

A little over ten minutes later, Wei Yenwu received the report, and his previously calm expression became somewhat astonished.

It truly could treat Oripathy? This was simply unprecedented. Even Columbia, that highly innovative nation, had never developed such a medicine.

Just who was that man?

The moment he saw the other man's expression shift slightly, Zhuang Xiaolin knew his opportunity had arrived.

"This is only our entry-level product, so naturally it is cheap. Just 1,000 Lungmen Dollars." Zhuang Xiaolin showed no mercy with his words, forcibly raising the price of a medicine that had originally sold for only 200 Lungmen Dollars by more than 800. At the same time, he kept frantically signaling to Wei Yenwu across from him.

Wei Yenwu considered many things. Seeing Zhuang Xiaolin's hint, the corners of his lips rose slightly. Since the other party wanted money, this matter would be easy to handle.

Before Zhuang Xiaolin had given that hint, Wei Yenwu had been guessing at his purpose. Was he trying to create a distraction so truly capable people could slip quietly into Lungmen and cause enormous destruction? Or did he want to alter Lungmen, overthrow Lungmen, even destroy Lungmen...

That possibility was not nonexistent. Many schemes unfolded in the most unexpected ways; the less you expected something, the more likely it was to happen. For example, when no one anywhere in the world could treat Oripathy-infected people, someone suddenly produced an Oripathy treatment medicine priced at only 1,000 Lungmen Dollars. An ordinary person might simply rejoice, but people as calculating as them would think differently. A medicine that could treat Oripathy for only 1,000 Lungmen Dollars? In their dreams.

Either this was a trap, or the other party was truly a genius. After considering it again and again, Wei Yenwu decided to believe the latter for now. Of course, that was not without conditions. Most of the Shadow Guards had already been deployed throughout Lungmen to monitor for anything unusual.

There were even four or five Shadow Guards stationed in the district where Zhuang Xiaolin's group was staying.

"We have already tested the medicine's effects. Lungmen has a great need for your medicine. If you have a more effective medicine, feel free to bring it out. We can discuss it and settle on a price afterward."

Here it comes, Zhuang Xiaolin thought. That earlier mention of an entry-level product had been meant to lead into this. Since there was an entry-level product, there naturally ought to be intermediate and advanced products. Guiding the other party toward that topic was merely for the sake of selling the goods he would need later at a higher price.

Zhuang Xiaolin believed that even if he priced that entry-level medicine at around one million, there would still be an endless stream of buyers, because it was simply too precious—so precious that it had a price but no market.

But draining the pond to catch the fish was no good either. Most ordinary infected people in this world did not have the means to buy such medicine at such exorbitant prices. If he sold these medicines only to powerful figures infected with Oripathy, Zhuang Xiaolin might earn a fortune, but he would never gain a good reputation.

If the medicinal ingredients themselves had required huge expenditures, that would have been one thing. But all of these came from the system for free, which meant the cost was practically zero.

No matter how Zhuang Xiaolin set the price, he would profit.

"Of course. We have recently produced an intermediate Oripathy treatment medicine. Compared with the previous generation, this product is more effective and requires a smaller dosage. However, our output is limited. Since development was completed until now, we have only been able to produce around five doses per day."

Zhuang Xiaolin was making it up. Low production capacity was a very common excuse. If Terra had medicine capable of treating this disease, it should have been developed long ago rather than discovered in some vague and distant future.

In other words, Terra itself simply did not possess medicinal ingredients or anything else capable of treating Oripathy. To treat Oripathy, they would need to find a way from beyond this world.

And the price required for this currently costly medicine was naturally astronomical. In the eyes of someone as powerful and influential as Wei Yenwu, that should have been perfectly reasonable. Zhuang Xiaolin was also prepared to raise the price along with his expectations.

"Name your price."

"Fifty million Lungmen Dollars."

"Deal."

"Pleasure doing business with you." The two shook hands, and Zhuang Xiaolin took out a vial containing purple liquid from his clothes.

"Lungmen's government will purchase ten intermediate treatment medicines and a number of entry-level treatment medicines from your side every month. The funds will be delivered to your side at the beginning of each month." As Wei Yenwu spoke, he finalized the terms of the negotiation. What remained was merely small talk and fishing for information from one another. Negotiations were always like this—boring.

Once everything had been settled, Zhuang Xiaolin left the office and headed back toward the slums he had come from. The matter had been agreed upon, but the exact profits remained unknown.

Now, it would depend on the accumulation of time.