Let Your Ambition Boil, Kid

Really!

Li Ziran chuckled inwardly; his conversation with Anfuni was entirely under Sandrew's surveillance.

The other party made no attempt to conceal their actions.

He stared quietly at the old man, pondering who this person really was.

Exploiting oneself?

Or is it about appreciating oneself?

Although he was unwilling to be bound by the organization, he had to admit the Shadow Society's vast resources, and the organization also brought him a wider customer base.

This was an absolute advantage; Sandrew had gone to great lengths to get him inducted.

But thinking of Anfuni's words, Li Ziran couldn't help but feel resistant again.

Indeed, there is no such thing as kindness without a reason.

I have no choice but to accept this glass of wine.

He took the glass, gently brought it to his lips, and took a sip—a gesture of partial approval. If Li Ziran approved of someone, he would drink the entire glass without hesitation.

Unfortunately, he had no desire to drink that glass of wine.

However, this little trick barely satisfied Sandrew.

"Let's go, have a chat?" He smiled at Li Ziran, then turned and walked back to his seat.

Li Ziran followed, but the moment he stepped onto the downy carpet, a feather crawled up his heel.

A chill suddenly ran through him, as if countless Undead tentacles were trying to pull him into a cage.

He hurriedly looked down and saw that the downy feathers from the goose down blanket were now gently clinging to Li Ziran's muddy cloth shoes, wiping away the dust, just like spring grass.

The fallen soil was carried by individual down feathers to the edge of the downy blanket, where it gathered into a ball.

"Ugh, so paranoid!"

Li Ziran couldn't help but laugh at himself. Indeed, this old man was starting to put pressure on him. However, the goose down blanket was truly amazing, especially its meticulous dust-cleaning properties.

This must be a magical item, and it must have cost a lot of money.

After a brief moment of adjustment, Li Ziran walked across the carpet to the mahogany chair, glanced at the portrait of the woman above his head, and the more he looked, the more convinced he became that this was the Demon infant he had nurtured.

However, this time he didn't ask Sandru anything about the Demon. He was now going to speak to Sandrew as an equal, not as a mere Apprentice as before.

Mindset is more important than anything else in interpersonal relationships; it can even directly influence decisions that change one's destiny.

The moment he sat down, the chair back automatically pressed against him. Although he knew that things here were different, the lifelike chair still surprised Li Ziran.

"What would you like to drink, tea, red wine, or juice?" Sandrew asked again.

Although he had just offered Li Ziran a glass of wine, that was to test Li Ziran's attitude. Now, it signified a formal exchange between the guide and the group members.

"Clear water, please."

Li Ziran smiled, but he was nervous inside. This was the first time he had ever sat down properly with Sandrew.

Despite constantly reminding himself that they Shadow Society, Sandrew's past power still made him uncontrollably nervous.

He's a human being, and he can't control his emotions completely; he needs some water to calm himself down.

The moment he finished speaking, the square table writhed, and all the juice and red wine on the table disappeared, replaced by a small teapot and two small water cups. The moment it appeared, the teapot jumped up, tilted its spout, and water flowed into the cups next to it.

Such a strange object greatly piqued Li Ziran's interest. He picked up the cup, which was a porcelain cup with a very hard feel. It didn't seem like a living thing at all. Just as he finished drinking the whole cup of water, the teapot jumped up again, and the cup was deliberately shortened by half to prevent the water from overflowing.

"Stop looking. The Dark Elf in the Dungeon have a group of witches who like to turn children into these things. It works quite well, especially when entertaining guests. These little guys are very obedient, but they're a bit expensive. It costs one Shadow Point every two years."

Sandrew remained motionless, observing Li Ziran. His words directly contained the word "Shadow Point," as he wanted to see the young man's reaction.

It was calmer than I expected, which was quite nice.

"Master, you heard everything?" Li Ziran knew perfectly well that this was a test. He was no match for Shandong Lei in strength, but he wasn't stupid.

"Hehe, it was an accident." Sandrew's words were completely a bluff. "That woman, she's incredibly cunning, not as simple as you think. Think about it, even Shadow Elder has to give in, she..." He hesitated, not continuing, as if he didn't want to gossip about her behind his back. "Alright, let's not talk about her anymore. Nobody's simple. Let's get down to business. 27 points, do you think I'm asking for too much?"

Li Ziran was taken aback; he hadn't expected Sandrew to hit the nail on the head right away.

He wanted to deny it, but he didn't want this resentment to take root in his heart, lest it cause him heartache.

Looking at Sandrew, he knew he would definitely offend him, but he had to figure it out.

He nodded very solemnly, "Not just a lot, it's a lot."

Puff!

Sandrew laughed directly, but his expression was quite serious. His eyes were fixed on Li Ziran, and his mental power seemed to transform into sharp knives to tear Li Ziran to pieces.

This is clearly a huge offense.

Why!

He sighed softly, the coldness on his face slowly fading. "Li Ziran, if you dared to speak so defiantly to Shadow Elder, you'd be a corpse by now. 27 points? You really think that's a lot? To tell you the truth, even if that Vampire just now offered all its Shadow Point, I wouldn't bother to look at it. Do you know why I dragged you into the Shadow Society? You really think such a small amount of Shadow Point is enough? Kid, I saw you have a little bit of potential, and you can bring me more benefits than I imagined."

Sandrew took a parchment map from his pocket and unfolded it on the table.

This is not a complete map of the Red Soil Continent; it only includes a portion of the Western Wasteland. The Endless Sea ocean covers almost half of the area.

In the ocean, underwater mountains are clearly marked, and at the end of these mountains, an area is circled in red and clearly marked 'Demon Trench'.

Li Ziran's expression changed. A trench is a ravine formed by underwater mountains, and most Sea Folk live in trenches. But this mark is very obvious. This should be a trench occupied by Demon.

This trench, though incomparable to the Abyss where Demon dwell, served as a prelude to entering the continent.

After World War II, in order to prevent the Demon from invading again, the Allied forces carried out several operations to clear out these Demon Trench. In Shallow Sea Region, these trenches are difficult to survive.

The fact that it's now appearing on the map only means that it's a hidden trench that hasn't been discovered by the Allied forces.

Li Ziran speculated that the forces within the trench could directly infiltrate the interior of the Red Soil Continent.

Looking up at Sandrew, he tried to figure out what kind of plan the old man had.

Sandrew's finger landed on the Demon Trench, and he slowly walked along the coastline to the shore, where a port, North Sea Port, was considered the largest port in the Allied forces' coastal defenses.

But it was only a brief stop before they officially entered the juncture between the Wasteland and the Ice Plains, gliding along until they landed on the only city-state marked on the map.

Hippo Ancient City!

One of the three major Slave City of the Wasteland.

At this moment, Sandrew stopped pointing and smiled, "What do you think of this place?"

Li Ziran didn't understand; he wasn't familiar with this Ancient City, or more precisely, he wasn't familiar with the Western Wasteland.

For the past four years, I've mostly been active in the southeastern part of the Wasteland, occasionally venturing to the northeast.

The Great Desert in the heart of the Wasteland completely divides the east and west, allowing only a few races to complete their migrations.

"Master, please be direct. I don't like beating around the bush," Li Ziran asked directly, sensing that there was something fishy going on.

Seeing Li Ziran's growing impatience, Sandrew gently tapped the table. Instantly, a transparent protective shield rose up, enveloping the two of them. At the same time, the special teacups, kettles, and chairs disappeared, replaced by a simple wooden stool. Only the mahogany table remained.

Clearly, this is the truly safe space.

"Where is this?" Sandrew slapped the bottom right corner of the map.

"The Rhine Prairie." Even though it was just a corner, Li Ziran recognized the map.

"Where is this again?" Sandrew slapped his hand to the left.

"Ice Plains." Li Ziran puzzled; there was nothing to ask about such simple geographical knowledge.

"And where is this?" Sandrew's hand landed on the most sensitive area, the Demon Trench.

"The Demon Trench," Li Ziran answered truthfully.

Sandrew smiled, then placed his hand on the Hippo Ancient City at the very center, and said with a smile, "Li Ziran, this is a regional map I tailored just for you."

These words immediately made Old Li frown. "Master, what does this mean?"

"It's very simple. These are the foundation of your future standing in the Shadow Society, and also your source of income. As for the first Shadow Gathering, these things are enough to allow you to comfortably complete your task. Look, the Demon Trench has enough orders, the Ice Plains is the region with the most ancient races remaining to this day, and even has ancient creatures that surpass those of World War I. There are countless Magic Organ here, and the Rhine Prairie, the Rhine Duke will provide you with enough labor, and will also build several hidden organ factories in this region."

Sandrew was somewhat excited. "Li, you can control cutting-edge Demon breeding and organ transplantation, while on the Grasslands, Rhine Duke can complete low-end Demon breeding. Everything is under your control. Just think about it, an entire Demon tribe—what a huge market that is! Do you still need to work so hard collecting corpses to make money?"

There was no need for Sandrew to say anything more; Li Ziran could already foresee just how terrifying this income would be.

Serving a population?

Li Ziran's teeth were chattering.

With the support of the Grasslands Orc, organs can be freely collected from the Ice Plains and supplied to Demon, forming a nearly complete industrial chain from low-end Demon Embryo cultivation to high-end Demon breeding.

As expected of Sandrew, Li Ziran couldn't find a single fault with him.

"Master, what do you want me to do?" Li Ziran asked humbly. Although he knew the source of the profit, he also understood that everything was not as easy as he imagined.

Although the Grasslands will build their own low-end breeding factories, he is still the one to take charge in high-tech fields.

Communicating with Demon and capturing ancient slaves in the Ice Plains both require investment, which is a bottomless pit in the early stages.

Moreover, communicating with Demon would inevitably lead to joint suppression by the Justice Alliance and the Inquisition.

Sandrew pointed his finger at Hippo Ancient City. "Go here, to a small shop on Seventh Street called the Black-Red Slave Club. He'll help you build a research institute. It's a highly secretive Demon contact point. I can send you there, but that will alert the Dark Council, so I suggest you go alone."

Li Ziran nodded; this was a necessary precaution.

"I can send you an assistant," Sandrew, seemingly uneasy, and changed his mind.

Li Ziran shook his head. He didn't need to. If he couldn't even reach the Western Wasteland, how could he talk about making a deal with the Demon?

"I can manage on my own, Black and Red Slavery, right?" He asked again about the contact Sandrew had mentioned.

Sandrew nodded, then, as if remembering something, added a special instruction, "If you have the ability to infiltrate the Hippo Ancient City Tribunal Prison, it would be best to find an old man there Wood. He used to be researching organs like you, but he was arrested by the Inquisition. Recently, I heard from the Dark Council that half of his body is rotten, and he might be disposed of as scrap. If you can transplant his brain into someone else, it will benefit you. Of course, this is a private donation."

Li Ziran's heart pounded wildly. There really was research on organs! It was even more profitable than the business deal they had just made.

"Heh, kid, is 27 points expensive?"

Li Ziran shook his head, saying it was fair enough.

Sandrew stepped forward and patted Li Ziran on the shoulder, solemnly admonishing him, "Kid, don't be stingy like a woman. A man needs a broad vision. Spend more money, let your ambition boil. Remember, only those who dare to spend money will use their brains to do things. What are a small Shadow Society? Don't be like that Vampire, always thinking about scheming for two Shadow Point. He... is ruined!"