"And another thing."
Wang Mazi paused before continuing, "The Northbank Merchant Association is extremely powerful. We can't declare war on the Sky-Pacifying Merchant Association without a reason. The Northbank Merchant Association would intervene."
"The Northbank Merchant Association doesn't allow that sort of vicious competition. It would disrupt the stable environment they rely on to procure goods."
"When that happens, our enemy won't just be the Sky-Pacifying Merchant Association. We'll also have to face the Northbank Merchant Association."
"Unless we have a justification no one can find fault with."
Wang Mazi made a good point.
But—
Chen Fan wasn't listening.
He thought that was too much trouble.
He was determined to establish a Trade Association. He could see the effects of Exotic Treasures without appraising them, which meant that once he established his own Trade Association, he could keep all the good Exotic Treasures for himself.
And sell off all the bad ones.
The profits would be far greater than those of any other Trade Association!
He simply thought there was an easier way. Rather than slowly chip away at them, he could just wipe out the Sky-Pacifying Merchant Association.
He had already worked out his justification.
Chen Quan, the current heir of the North River Chen Family, was the son of the Sky-Pacifying Merchant Association president's only daughter. They had persecuted Chen Fan and driven him into the Wasteland. He would return to Northbank City for revenge, destroying the North River Chen Family first, then the Sky-Pacifying Merchant Association.
Perfectly reasonable.
No one could object.
As the saying went, a war needed a just cause.
Could there be—
"The Eldest Legitimate Son of the North River Chen Family, persecuted by villains, fights his way back to reclaim his rightful position as heir and exterminates the villains' entire clan."
—a better