ctnovel Chapter 32 On One Way of Doing Favors
Chapter 32 On One Way of Doing Favors
"Oh? What is it?"
Seeing Jiang Yong's appearance, An Li blinked curiously, then couldn't help but steal a glance at her own empty hands before quickly hiding them behind her back.
"Before……"
Jiang Yong paused, as if hesitating for the last time, before finally speaking with difficulty: "The reduction of salt tax that I mentioned before... may only be a temporary strategy."
He gritted his teeth and spat out a sentence, then breathed a sigh of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and his speech became fluent again:
"Tiandu City's target this time is only the Yunqi Black Market, not the entire Carol Federation. There's no need to get ourselves involved in this mess."
"After the tax reduction announcement, smugglers and black marketeers in the eastern territories will definitely rush to sell off their inventory and dispose of their assets to cut their losses. The originally well-established supply chain will suddenly have countless flaws, making it very advantageous for the major city-states to attack and clean up..."
"Oh, I understand!"
An Li suddenly realized: "You mean they plan to take advantage of the turmoil in the black market, endure the growing pains, eradicate the black market's base in the eastern territory, and then reinstate the salt tax?"
"They might not even need to endure the growing pains; they could coordinate with other major city-states beforehand, but that would increase the risk of exposure, so the probability is low."
Jiang Yong nodded and continued, "If successful, the black market will suffer heavy losses from its accumulation in the eastern territories over the years, and the major city-states will take the opportunity to strengthen their control, making it almost impossible to return to the previous state."
That's it. Just a quick reminder.
He lowered his head slightly, as if trying to hide his expression in the darkness.
Seeing Jiang Yong's relieved yet unwilling expression, and combining it with the information he had just revealed, An Li thought for a moment and immediately realized what was going on.
The person in front of me probably intended to keep this half-truth hidden, hoping to exploit the information gap in the black market to make a fortune. But for some reason, they revealed the truth.
Although what he said wasn't difficult to deduce on one's own, a careful observation of Tiandu City's movements in the eastern territory and the reactions of other major city-states would give a general idea; given his own style of doing things, he would most likely have been prepared for this situation; it's also possible that he knew he couldn't deceive me and was willing to tell the truth; or perhaps he genuinely didn't want to delay the black market's confrontation with Tiandu City for his own selfish reasons...
But An Li was happy to see that someone was able to treat him sincerely, especially since he had temporarily run out of chips and it couldn't really be considered a transaction.
At least it shows that this person is pragmatic!
"I understand."
She gave a light smile: "This situation is not difficult to handle. As long as we concentrate our resources and open up a few more secret trade routes while the eastern territory is in turmoil, it will be enough to stabilize the situation."
"And I won't let you give me the information for nothing. I'll make up the price later. You won't be disappointed."
Jiang Yong maintained his composure, but his peripheral vision caught An Li's subtle expression. He forcefully suppressed the urge to smile and said, "Thank you very much."
"I still need to take these two people to Linshan City, so I won't talk to you any longer."
She waved her hand, then pointed to the car: "Oh, by the way, could you remove the contract on this elf? I still need to drive it."
……
After releasing the somewhat reluctant mountain four-wheel drive animal and watching An Li stretch out his short legs, step on the gas, and disappear into the jungle, Jiang Yong finally revealed his true colors, giving a loud "V" sign to the air.
Plans are in place!
As expected, this method of providing intelligence yielded the greatest return. If he had simply revealed the information honestly from the beginning, it wouldn't have had such a good effect. It was worth it for him to have previously given up a lot of important information to exchange for all the bargaining chips in An Li's hands, finally gaining an opportunity to do someone a favor.
—Yes, all the previous struggles and entanglements were just an act. Jiang Yong never intended to hide the information from An Li from the beginning.
He had indeed considered secretly building his own power behind the black market's back, monopolizing the secret trade routes in the eastern territory. However, after careful consideration, he felt it was somewhat counterproductive. First, the initial investment would be too large, impacting his own personal growth. Second, after the showdown, he risked losing favor with the black market—loss of favor with An Li was one thing, but if the powerful figure behind her also lost favor, his second main quest would be in jeopardy.
More importantly, after this incident, when An Li plans to open up a secret trade route, given her personality, she will most likely still invite him to participate, so that he can still get a share of the huge profits brought by the trade route!
In this way, he would only earn a little less and give a share to the black market, but he could save a lot of resources and energy to build up his own power, gain the favor of a master-level contractor, and more easily secure the second main storyline. No matter how you look at it, it was a huge win.
However, An Li's personality is still somewhat soft when communicating in her true form. Once she returns to her manager mode, she might guess her intention to do someone a favor—but it doesn't matter, it's already done. Besides, the favorability displayed on the panel is real.
Jiang Yong chuckled and imagined the future. At the same time, the task panel finally refreshed with a completion notification.
[City-level mission
You have gained 20000 experience points!
[You have received hidden rewards: "Cloud City Military Data" *3; 40000 experience points; Carlo Black Market Reputation +300]
An Li's favorability +20, currently 35/100 (Friendly)
【"Carlo Black Market": Current Reputation 316/500 (Rising Fame)】
[Rising Fame: You'll have a greater chance of getting discounts when purchasing items, and characters from the same faction will be more willing to share information with you.]
"Wow, so much reputation all at once?"
Jiang Yong clicked his tongue in amazement.
He only made a slight acquaintance with An Li, and his black market reputation soared by 300 points, skipping the "emerging talent" stage between 100 and 300 and directly reaching the "rising fame" level—a level that usually requires being highly active in the camp for a long time or making several important contributions in public.
This demonstrates just how powerful Anli's influence is within the black market.
The previously mentioned "Shield of Flow" was an extra reward he had fought for, and it wasn't fully confirmed yet, so it wouldn't be counted as a reward on the panel. However, the 40,000 experience points were a nice surprise, bringing Jiang Yong's experience reserves to over 60,000. He just needed to find a way to buy some job books to easily level up "Craftsman" to the maximum level, with plenty left over for the elves.
Although the remaining experience may not be enough to level up the Spirit Chrysalis to the level 36 cap, once the "Craftsman" skill reaches the maximum level, you can obtain mechanical-related traits, which can be used to enhance Kortian.
After quickly planning his next route, Jiang Yong finally turned his attention to the three file folders left by An Li.
"Let me see how the military will cause me trouble..."