This Deal Has Profit in It

Medusa!

A woman said to be cursed by the elements, with wild snake hair. She could refine terrifying Stone Elements from the Elemental Tide, gather them in her azure eyes, and form Petrification Rays that turned everything to stone. People called them the Nightmare Petrifying Eye.

Li Ziran looked at the girl tightly bound with ropes in the haystack, utterly unable to connect her with the legendary Medusa.

Yet that head of emerald-green snake hair reminded him that he was dealing with the most valuable slave on the Red Soil Continent.

Even Li Ziran himself could not precisely assess her absolute value, but there was no doubt about one thing: it was terrifying.

Barbaro's goal was obvious. He wanted Medusa's petrifying ability for himself.

Only Witch Doctors possessed such a craft, which was also known throughout the world as witchcraft.

But in Li Ziran's eyes, this was simply draining the pond to catch the fish. Medusa's greatest value lay in bearing offspring!

One Medusa could establish a powerful petrifying bloodline, rather than be carelessly squandered like this.

"Selling her?" Li Ziran asked as he stroked Medusa's smooth, delicate calf. He scratched at her dark green hair, which was thick and resilient, then finally pressed on her two triangular pupils, hard and carrying a strange gleam.

"Yeah, but I get to keep her eyes!" Barbaro said eagerly. "Someone told me you're very skilled at organ transplants!"

Li Ziran nodded, not foolish enough to ask where Barbaro had gotten that information.

Of course, this was not his first time. After doing a few deals, he had naturally built up a bit of a reputation.

He turned his gray-black wizard robe inside out, transforming it into a white coat. Along its edges hung bright silver scalpels, small hammers, scissors, silver needles...

The instant these items appeared, Barbaro visibly froze. It was his first time seeing something so shiny.

"How much do you want for her?" Li Ziran spread out the canvas sheet again, uncapped a thumb-sized bottle, dipped into the murky frog blood, and resumed writing Tadpole Script.

"Fifty silver coins!"

Li Ziran's hand jerked, ruining the tadpole character he had nearly completed.

"Oh, fifty?" Li Ziran asked softly. He dipped into the frog blood again and continued writing the next Tadpole Script. "That's a little expensive. Slaves don't cost that much in the Wasteland."

"Then... how about forty-five? She's really rare!" Barbaro sounded nervous, glancing overhead from time to time as though wary of something.

From that single look, Li Ziran was certain that this Medusa had been acquired by improper means.

Of course, few of those who came to him were exactly respectable.

That was precisely why Li Ziran could make money. Medusas were priced in gold coins.

Forty-five silver coins—once he resold her, that would mean profits hundreds of times over.

The more so, the more he needed to restrain himself.

"How about this? Forty silver coins, final offer." Li Ziran pretended to cry out in pain. "My witchcraft consumes a lot too. Five silver coins for the eye transplant, but I can guarantee you a perfect pair of petrifying eyes. What do you say?"

Forty?

It was clearly below Barbaro's asking price, but when he heard the word "perfect," his throat still bobbed. After a brief hesitation, he said, "Forty silver coins. Can you pay right away?"

Li Ziran shook his head. "I don't have that much money. You know how it is—there are too many bandits in the Wasteland. Having too much money invites trouble. If you trust me, come with me to the Undead Nest for the next couple of days. It'll take around three days. Besides, you'll need time to recover after the operation anyway. How about it?"

Barbaro said nothing. Those terms had already exceeded his bottom line.

He desperately wanted to dispose of the Medusa before him, yet he did not want to take on greater risks.

Likewise, Li Ziran was anxious. The four silver coins he had on hand were his limit. He had to find a way to persuade Barbaro to make this deal.

Forty silver coins was also a large sum to him.

Going to the Undead Nest was merely an excuse. Getting money from the miserly Necromancer would be no easy task either.

But he wanted to get this Medusa.

The one controlling this Medusa now was a fool. He could not let such an idiot slip away.

Silence fell over the thatched hut, but Li Ziran could not speak. The more eager he appeared, the more likely the other man was to notice something. Then this deal would certainly fall through.

He could not ignore this rule of business simply because the other party was a lowly Wolf.

He could only keep writing Tadpole Script, using it as a disguise. As one tadpole character after another piled up, a faint emerald glow gradually spread across the canvas.

"I need to think about it!" Barbaro finally spoke. That was a good sign—it meant the deal was still negotiable.

Li Ziran nodded and smiled. "You should think it over. After all, this may concern the rest of your life. How about we do the eye transplant first? No matter how much it costs, nothing is more important than getting a petrifying eye, right?"

Although Barbaro was still hesitating, the eye transplant was undoubtedly the most tempting part.

"Does... does that cost money?"

Li Ziran smiled. "Of course. Five silver coins!"

"Five!" Barbaro shouted until his voice turned hoarse. The hand in his pocket tightly gripped the silver coin he had just received. He had not expected it to be so expensive, but when he remembered that it was an eye transplant, his voice gradually weakened. He took out the coin Li Ziran had given him. "This is all I have!"

Li Ziran did not take the coin. He merely smiled. "Don't worry. Whether or not we make a deal, I'll do your eye today. As for the money... pay me when you have it."

"Later?" Barbaro asked doubtfully. "That's five silver coins!"

He knew very well how much silver coins were worth.

Li Ziran's smile widened. "Are five silver coins really that much? Barbaro, you have a Medusa. Are you really worried about five silver coins? Besides, your character is worth more than that. You're someone worth befriending!"

Barbaro did not know what to say. He stared blankly at Li Ziran and said awkwardly, "Li, it's not that I don't want to give you Medusa. It's just that you're offering too little."

"I understand! I understand! We have to maximize our profits to survive in the Wasteland!" Li Ziran skillfully raised a scalpel and smiled. "Can we start the operation now? This witchcraft formation is about to drain all my energy. If we delay any longer, we'll have to wait until tomorrow."

"Okay!" Barbaro replied quickly, but then a question arose. "What do I need to do?"

"Lie down on top of it. Leave the rest to me." Li Ziran pointed at the canvas.

Barbaro hesitated. He feared that if he entered the operation, Medusa might disappear, leaving him with neither money nor goods.

However, after seeing Li Ziran's ever-present smile and Medusa's triangular pupils, he still lay down on the canvas.

The instant Barbaro touched the emerald glow, Li Ziran swiftly pulled out his wand and tapped it against Barbaro.

In an instant, the emerald glow turned into a membrane that wrapped around Barbaro.

Barbaro struggled frantically within the membrane, letting out muffled cries from time to time. But as time passed, he ultimately became a green-skinned frog.

"Ribbit! Ribbit!"

Barbaro croaked twice as if protesting, but Li Ziran simply picked him up, tied a red string around one hind leg, and hung him from a horizontal pole.

"You really... trust people far too easily, don't you?"

Li Ziran watched the frog with a strange smile.

Now, he could completely claim Medusa for himself.

But it was only a fleeting thought. Compared with the reputation he had accumulated over the past two years, this little profit was nothing.

If he took this Medusa for himself, he likely would not be able to survive in the Wasteland anymore.

This kid had gone to great lengths to track him down largely because of the reputation he had built over the years.

Li Ziran glanced at the Medusa girl, still completely unconscious, and inexplicably felt a pang of tenderness. He bent down, picked her up, and placed her on the canvas. The instant the emerald glow approached the girl, Li Ziran precisely tapped her forehead with his wand.

Another frog was born, more slender and graceful than the last, with smoother lines.

Li Ziran hung her beside Barbaro in the same manner. Looking at the two identical frogs, the greed on his face gradually vanished, replaced by professional seriousness.

He patted the two frogs' bellies. Barbaro kicked his hind legs, trying to break free of the red string, but he was simply too weak. After hopping more than a dozen times in a row, he only exhausted himself.

"You really have a lot of faith in me!"

As he joked, Li Ziran had already pulled a thumb-sized bottle from his upper pocket. The cap was clearly labeled "Paralysis Potion."

He carefully opened the cap, dipped a brush into two drops, and brushed them onto Barbaro's face. Barbaro instantly became still.

He was about to replace the cap, but upon seeing the frog Medusa had become, Li Ziran shook his head and sighed. "Fine, fine. Since I'm so kind, I'll let you have a drop of my half-silver-coin Paralysis Potion!"

He dipped another drop of Paralysis Potion and brushed it onto Medusa's face.