You aren't trying to fool me, are you?

You aren't trying to fool me, are you?

Sure enough, this damned imperial cur still had not cast aside his suspicions of him. But it was no big deal. Before setting out, he had specifically done his homework with Butler Pino and even asked him which goods sold best in the Victoria Kingdom.

He already knew the answer, so as long as he answered calmly, he would definitely win this damned imperial cur's trust.

Once this damned imperial cur let down his guard, he could find an opportunity to escape!

John Maslow, no matter how cunning you are, you would never have imagined that the great Lord Dick had long made foolproof preparations, would you? Heh heh heh!

Thinking of his flawless plan, Dick's heart brimmed with pride, though on the surface, he still spoke respectfully to John:

"Reporting to Ensign John, this time, I brought people to the Victoria Kingdom because I wanted to go into the silk business."

"Judging by your hair and eye color, unless I am mistaken, I believe you are one of the descendants of the Xianqin Empire who ended up abroad. Therefore, regarding silk, a specialty from that great empire that mysteriously vanished thousands of years ago, you should understand the value it represents even better than I do."

"Furthermore, His Majesty William Perus of our Empire is deeply fascinated by Xianqin culture. So I thought that if I could go to the Victoria Kingdom, which can currently produce silk, spend a great deal of money to recruit craftsmen capable of making silk, and bring them back to the Empire—"

"For an Empire that can only import silk from abroad, keeping silk prices high, if I could recruit craftsmen to produce silk belonging to our Empire and bring down its price—"

"Then it would surely stir up a frenzy among all the Empire's nobles. Perhaps even our Deman Lineage could earn His Majesty the Emperor's favor because of it."

"And it was precisely driven by such profit that I took the risk of selling off all the Lineage's industries built up over a century, intending to carve out a way forward for my descendants!"

"So I truly am not an Allied Forces spy. Please, you must believe me!"

After speaking, Dick stared at John with a nervous expression, afraid of missing even the slightest microexpression on this damned imperial cur's face.

John, hearing that answer, could not help falling into deep thought.

In truth, as a player, John naturally knew perfectly well what had happened to the mysteriously vanished Xianqin Empire Dick spoke of.

After all, the game itself had borrowed heavily from the background of the real world in his previous life.

The so-called Xianqin Empire was merely a background story designed by the game company to avoid censorship and pass review.

Put simply, Xianqin was the Great Qin of his previous life. The difference was that after the Ancestral Dragon unified the realm and completed the Fengshan ceremony, a resurgence of spiritual energy occurred in Great Qin, ushering in an age where everyone cultivated immortality.

Later, the Ancestral Dragon found the Luo Shu and handed it to Guiguzi, who had already joined Xianqin, to divine its meaning. The conclusion was that this world's spiritual power could not last forever and would sooner or later fade away.

After much deliberation, the Ancestral Dragon decided to lead the entire Great Qin in ascension, heading for the true immortal realm.

However, in order to preserve traces of Xianqin, before the whole nation ascended, he left behind a group of Great Qin descendants who lacked the qualifications to cultivate immortality, along with vast riches, entrusting them with the mission of recording Xianqin's history.

After Xianqin transcended the mortal world, these descendants of Xianqin began spreading across the world to reproduce and survive, while also carrying Xianqin's culture and history throughout the entire world.

Thus, after more than a thousand years of influence and inheritance, nearly everyone on the continent where John lived, from emperors down to commoners, held an unprecedented fervor for the mysteriously vanished Xianqin Empire.

As clothing greatly admired by Xianqin's upper ranks, silk garments were not only gorgeous in appearance but also exceptionally comfortable.

As a result, they had always been highly favored by the upper classes of the various kingdoms.

Moreover, William XIII, the emperor of the Norman Empire, was established in the game as an extremely fanatical Xianqin enthusiast.

Regarding this, the developers had designed an Easter egg in the game: William XIII had once followed the surviving legends of Xianqin and spent a fortune having someone make him a black dragon robe identical to the Ancestral Dragon's, while also perfectly replicating a crown with nine hanging strings of jade beads.

Yet perhaps because he felt this was too great an offense toward the Xianqin emperor he worshipped, he later secretly changed it into a crown with six hanging strings instead.

If John remembered correctly, that set of true dragon emperor's attire replicated by William XIII should currently be hidden beneath the emperor's bed. He had already treated it as his most precious treasure, and even his most favored consort knew nothing about it.

As for this secret, aside from William XIII himself and John, there was likely no third person in this world who knew it.

If that explanation was used, then Dick carrying a large amount of gold to the Victoria Kingdom in an attempt to conduct business did indeed make sense.

So this fellow really was just a merchant driven mad by money, rather than an Allied Forces spy?

After all, there was nothing wrong with that explanation no matter how he looked at it. Had he guessed wrong?

Listening to that answer, John could not help sinking into thought. But when he carefully considered Dick's earlier behavior, which had been riddled with suspicious points, he felt he still could not beat him to death with one stroke.

Since this idiot was using silk as an excuse, he could simply follow that thread and test him.

After all, when it came to information from the game, no one in this world understood more than clever Ensign John.

As long as this fellow calling himself Reddick was with the Allied Forces, a few sentences would be enough for him to swindle every last detail out of this idiot—even what kind of underwear he was wearing today.

With that thought, John immediately broke into a smile.

"Yes, Mr. Reddick, silk truly is an excellent commodity. You really are a merchant with sharp vision. If you can bring silk-making techniques back to the Empire, even I can foresee the day you rise like the sun at high noon."

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"If you earn the recognition of His Majesty the Emperor, then perhaps before long, I will have to salute you as my superior officer~"

Sure enough, this idiot believed him!

An imperial pig was still an imperial pig. He did not even look at what he was worth, yet he wanted to interrogate the incomparably brilliant Lord Dick? He should go somewhere cool and drink the northwest wind instead, hmph hmph!

Realizing that he had successfully "fooled" him, Dick sighed in relief, though he could not help feeling rather smug as well.

Feeling that he had firmly established his identity as a merchant this time, he immediately waved his hand modestly and said:

"Not at all, not at all. It is only an idea. Ensign John, you flatter me too much. I am merely an ordinary merchant. How could I possibly become your superior officer? You truly know how to joke, haha!"

"That may not necessarily be so. After all, His Majesty the Emperor admires Xianqin culture above all else!"

John smiled noncommittally, but soon changed the subject and spoke with feigned puzzlement:

"However, I have another question. If I remember correctly, because there were too many private silk workshops, resulting in uneven quality and the passing off of inferior goods as superior ones, the Victoria Kingdom seemed to have issued a new commercial policy in early May six years ago. Article Thirteen appeared to mention an order changing silk craftsmanship from private operation to state operation."

"After that commercial measure was introduced, the production and sale of Xianqin silk came under the control of the Victoria royal family. That was why silk in the Empire's market had risen steadily over the past few years, reaching the frightening price of 400D per foot."

"And as a qualified merchant, you should logically know this commercial law even better than I do. Yet judging by your reaction, you seem not to know much about it at all. What is going on? To be honest, I am truly rather surprised, Mr. Reddick."

Seeing Dick's smile abruptly stiffen and countless fine beads of cold sweat appear on his forehead, John could not help revealing a smile that said, Just as I thought.

Then, looking into the other's trembling eyes, he spoke calmly:

"My dear Mr. Reddick, you... aren't trying to fool me, are you?"

"!"

(End of chapter)