The west wind swept across the land, sending yellow dust flying.
On the wasteland, a figure draped in a black cloak moved swiftly northward.
Beneath the cloak, Wight's face was ashen, his pale cheeks covered in cracks, like a shattered vase. Although he had successfully escaped from Gustavo's clutches, the dark Mage had suffered unprecedented damage, his life force on the verge of depletion.
"I must get back to the City of Freedom as soon as possible and soak in the Shadow Blood Pool to recover quickly. Damn it, I will never let you get away with this, you damned spider monster!" Wight roared madly in his heart. He had firmly memorized Gustavo's soul aura, and no matter how the latter changed his disguise, his soul aura would not change.
Jilong Highlands.
Gustavo disguised himself again as harmless, reassembled and repaired the Fairy Puppet, showed his identification token, passed through the checkpoint, and went straight to the Victoria Tavern in the center of the highlands to find Marco.
"How many Ta Pound are these supplies worth?" The Fairy Puppet took out a large cloth bag and slammed it to the ground, the crisp metallic clanging echoing in the room.
Marco, who has been an appraiser for many years, didn't even need to look at it; he instantly recognized what was inside the bag.
His eyes lit up slightly. He squatted down, opened the cloth bag, and a dazzling golden light came into view.
It's all Adamantine.
Adamantine is a universal resource refined from gold. It has a wide range of uses in both magic and technology, and its value is very stable.
Marco picked up a piece, first weighing it in his hand, then gently tapping it with his knuckles to confirm the quality of the Adamantine. A broad smile spread across his face.
"So? How many Ta Pound is it worth?" the Fairy Puppet asked, floating in mid-air with its legs crossed.
Marco replied with a smile, "These Adamantine are of excellent quality, but the quantity is quite large. They need to be counted and weighed one by one, which will take about an hour before I can give you an answer."
"I see?" The Fairy Puppet nodded slightly, then sat on Gustavo's back and waited.
Marco glanced discreetly at the injuries on the Fairy Puppet's body, and considering that its two other companions were not present, he roughly understood that this adventure team had probably gone through a life-or-death crisis to obtain these gains.
Marco couldn't help but feel secretly glad that he had chosen the profession of appraiser. He didn't have to go out and fight. Although the work was tough and tiring, and he had to follow various arrangements from above, the safety aspect alone made him satisfied enough.
It was supposed to take an hour, but Marco only took a little over forty minutes to calculate the value of all the Adamantine.
"A total of 5,234,200 Ta Pound, what do you think of this price..."
"Well, that's settled then. It's about the same price as I expected." The Fairy Puppet nodded slightly.
Marco smiled. "Our Victoria Tavern offers absolutely fair prices; otherwise, we wouldn't have accumulated so many loyal customers. Integrity is the foundation of our business."
After a pause, Marco asked again, "Is that more than five million Ta Pound still in your account?"
The Fairy Puppet nodded without hesitation. "Keep it. Continue to help me acquire all the materials on the previous list. Oh, and while you're at it, also book me a room."
Victoria Tavern offers accommodation, but you have to pay for it yourself, and the prices are outrageous. Under normal circumstances, no one would stay here.
However, Gustavo plans to go into seclusion for a while and needs an absolutely safe environment, making the Victoria Tavern the best choice.
Expensive it may be, but what he gained on this trip is more than enough to live here for a hundred years.
"Okay, which class of room do you need?" Marco asked.
"Top-tier." The Fairy Puppet waved its hand arrogantly.
Marco's attitude softened, and he quickly said, "I'll have someone prepare right away. Please wait a moment."
After saying that, Marco hurriedly left.
Before long, he returned, bringing the Fairy Puppet and Gustavo with him, and arrived at a small manor.
"Here's the key, please take it." Marco handed over a pure silver key covered with strange, mysterious patterns.
"The elemental concentration in the top-tier rooms is sufficient to support the cultivation of Legendary beings, and all kinds of training equipment are readily available. There are also hundreds of maids inside, all handpicked by the tavern. You can order them around and even scold them as you please, but please don't kill them lightly."
What difference would it make if I killed him?
"Losing money."
"Oh, I understand. You can go ahead with your work."
"Have a pleasant life." Marco smiled and quickly left.
"Sure enough, money talks." The Fairy Puppet muttered as it tossed the exquisite key in its hand and walked into the manor.
Welcome home, Master!
As soon as the gate opened, two rows of humanoid maids lined up on either side of the road.
These maids were all exceptionally beautiful, each with their own unique temperament—some were pitiful, some alluring, some poised and graceful... and so on.
They were all trained by the Victoria Tavern.
Perhaps it begins in the womb.
This is not an exaggeration.
Life Factory are rampant on Planet Pandora, the largest slave trade market on the Elven Plane.
Some slaves were captured from various parts of the plane, but most were "produced" from the Life Factory.
Cloning, biochemical culture dishes, breeding mothers, in vitro fertilization... there's no method these slave traders wouldn't use, only methods you can't imagine.
They sold a wide variety of slaves, including maids.
From the embryonic stage, genetic modification technology is used to alter human genes, so that from birth, they naturally possess an extremely strong subservient nature.
Then, targeted brainwashing and training are carried out.
Once these slave maids leave the factory, each one is an absolute paragon of virtue, completely obedient to their master's demands. If their master orders them to commit suicide, these maids will not hesitate in the slightest.
In a sense, these maids, whose minds have been imprinted with their own consciousness, can no longer be considered "human"; perhaps it would be more appropriate to call them pets or even tools.
In addition to maid-type slaves, the slave market on Planet Pandora also sells Transcendent slaves.
The quality of slaves ranges from low to high, representing different levels of combat power. If you have enough Ta Pound, you can even buy Legendary- level slaves.
Of course, most people wouldn't be so reckless.
Legendary lives are almost impossible to control. Even if they are temporarily controlled by others, as time goes by, their Legendary will, as strong as steel, will break free from all shackles and shatter all mental imprints.
Even if the technology to control Legendary life forms on a large scale exists, it would only be in the hands of advanced civilizations; such technology could not possibly exist in the Elven Plane.