Chapter 77 The Female Mage and the Sorcerer

Galos did not trust Nick's words.

Honesty? Trust? These words don't exist in a businessman's dictionary, especially a shrewd businessman like Nick, who dares to boast even among wolves. If he were honest, Garros could call himself a benevolent dragon.

He spoke to Nick through the old shaman:

"Your caravan only has five nearly scrapped steam wagons carrying some cheap and useless bloodstone. How can I believe you can bring back black oil and magic stones for me?"

He paused, then added, "Think carefully before you answer. You only have one chance."

The fate of himself and his companions rested on the answers he would give next.

Nick's breathing quickened; he felt immense pressure.

The old shaman before him, though hunched over and with white fur, exuded no intimidating aura, yet Nick felt as if a giant dragon was hidden in his aged, cloudy eyes, giving him a heavy, oppressive feeling.

At first, he wanted to habitually weave lies to gain the other party's trust.

But Nick stopped himself just as the lie was about to spill.

No lie is more trustworthy than the truth.

After a few seconds of silence, Nick took a few deep breaths and then began to tell his story.

At the age of eleven, Nick carried a stolen half-bag of pepper in his arms. He traded the pepper for a rotten herring from a fisherman, and then resold it to a drunken sailor, earning his first copper coin.

At twenty, Nick was already the youngest trader in the Emerald Merchant Guild. By packaging moldy oats as a special product for the North, he made his first fortune, built his own large caravan, and reached the pinnacle of his life.

At the auction, Nick met Eileen, a female mage with silver-rimmed glasses who captivated him. Like a moth drawn to a flame, he did everything he could to win her heart, eventually marrying the noble mage as a businessman.

At thirty, Nick wakes up beside a stinking ditch, because the divorce decree came more suddenly than a blizzard. Due to the agreement he signed with the female sorceress before marriage, he lost everything. Ordinary people and noble spellcasters ultimately do not belong to the same world.

At thirty-two, Nick tells his story in the territory of the Greymane werewolves, in order to survive and to make a comeback.

"There is no better or more outstanding businessman in the world than me."

“I even sold my toys of pleasure to the most conservative nun so that she could find some comfort in the quiet of the night.”

"The only mistake I ever made in my life was overestimating myself and believing in love."

"But please believe me, I will never make the same mistake again."

For the first time, Nick suppressed his smile and spoke in a serious and solemn tone.

Across from him, the old shaman scrutinized him.

Under the werewolf's gaze, Nick felt his legs go weak, overwhelmed by a strange sense of oppression and fear.

What he didn't know was...

There was another dragon silently observing him. What made him feel oppressed and afraid was the dragon's gaze, invisible yet carrying a real sense of oppression.

Ten seconds later.

The old shaman grinned, revealing his not-so-sharp wolf fangs, and said to Nick, "I believe you, but that's not enough."

It took out some dark-colored pills and said, "This is a poison I concocted. Only by taking it can we establish true trust between us."

Nick smiled slightly, took the pill, and swallowed it without hesitation.

The others hesitated for a moment, but ultimately, in order to save their lives, they swallowed the poison.

Immediately, the old shaman beckoned, and the strong adult werewolves carried over two crates, placed them in front of Nick, and opened them.

Nick recognized the crate as the one that had previously contained bloodstone, but the inferior bloodstone was gone. In its place was a crate of dark green scales and a crate of herbs of the same color.

What are these?

Nick picked up a scale and asked uncertainly.

Even with his limited knowledge, he couldn't recognize the origin of these things.

"The scales of the cliff-dwelling serpent dragon, and the top-grade poisonous herbs that grow in its habitat."

The old shaman said.

It wasn't lying; these dragon scales were shed by the cliff serpent dragon during its growth, and the poisonous plants also grew under the influence of its aura.

Nick hissed and shuddered, throwing back the dark green dragon scale he had just picked up.

He had heard of snake dragons.

This is an extremely terrifying type of dragon; even its blood is highly poisonous, and an ordinary person would die if they came into contact with it.

However, any dragon-related material represents wealth.

"One month from now, I will return to the Scaled Earth Rift with the black oil and magic stones you desire."

Nick beamed and said.

After discussing some more details, the werewolves knocked Nick and the others unconscious again and carried them away.

When they awoke, they found themselves back at the place where they had first encountered the werewolves. The steam wagon was parked there intact, with two boxes of cargo containing precious dragon scales and poisonous herbs.

"Nick, are you really going to make a deal with these werewolves?"

Tiffilin Maggie hesitated and said with some unease, "When I was in their territory, I vaguely felt a deep fear. This is not normal. There must be a big secret hidden in the werewolf territory."

Nick smiled and said, "The wilderness is fraught with danger; it would be abnormal if they didn't have any secrets or anything to rely on."

He paused, then turned to Maggie and said, "Maggie, once we've made enough money, I promise I'll take you to a place without discrimination or prejudice, where you can enjoy a peaceful life."

Nick had been burned by a spellcaster and vowed never to fall in love with another one.

However, he became infatuated with a sorceress.

The sorceress spat and said, "I never agreed to live with you."

Immediately, the caravan set off again, while in the night sky unseen by them, Garus hovered silently, gazing down at the vast, boundless wilderness.

The werewolves lay in ambush in the cracked earth, waiting for the next caravan to arrive.

There are quite a few small caravans in this wilderness.

Galos did not intend to put all his eggs in one basket, so he planned to control more caravans to open up trade channels with the southern countries and bring back what he needed.

Dragons are made entirely of high-grade materials.

Galos can trade his shed scales, or even his saliva, for resources that can increase his growth rate.

However, to prevent spellcasters or sorcerers from using the materials on him to cast spells or trace their origins, he would not trade his materials.

“The monster clans surrounding this cracked earth road are not limited to gray-maned werewolves.”

"If the Howling Moon Clan acts too frequently, it will cause trouble and attract the attention of other monster clans."

Galos narrowed his eyes, thinking to himself, "Leaving aside the others for now, the intelligent creature clans that are close to the Scale Earth Rift must be under my control."

He wanted to bring this side path of the Thousand Serpents' Mark under his complete control.

For safety and for future development.

As night deepened, Garus instructed the werewolves to gather more intelligence on the surrounding clans before flying towards the Needle Valley.

As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows.

Galos now frequently visits Crescent Valley, his second territory, but the werewolves there are unaware of Galos's other whereabouts.

In this way...

He would have a better way to deal with the situation should the werewolf clan be attacked by the Lorthen Federation for attacking caravans.

I recommend a book: [Intelligence Cultivation: How Did I Lose My Head?]

On my first day as a servant in the Xie family after transmigrating, I discovered that I could receive one piece of information every day.

The third young lady of the Xie family has lost a jade pendant for some reason and is currently very anxious. This jade pendant was a birthday gift from the second young lady to the third young lady, and it is located under the fifth peach tree to the left of the north gate of Chuntao Garden.

A wounded snake has secretly hidden under your bed; it possesses the bloodline of the Teng Snake.

[The second young lady of the Xie family, forced by an arranged marriage, intends to leave the Xie family mansion at midnight tonight and head to the river in the west of the city to drown herself.]

The leader of the White Lotus Sect was executed by the Ten Great Immortal Sects. His last words were: "Want my treasure? You can have it all. Go find it! I've left everything in the world there!" The great treasure left behind by the White Lotus Sect leader is...

Some intelligence concerns the past, while others predict the future.

As time passed day by day, one morning, a piece of intelligence made me fall into deep thought.

[The second and third young ladies of the Xie family will ascend to immortality while holding your head.]

(End of this chapter)