Chapter 65

Liu Yan chatted with Du Qian in his office for almost an hour. This world is truly amazing; originally, apart from being classmates, he and Liu Yan had no connection at all.

When the Snow Drift Merchant House received the spirit components made by Du Qian, Liu Yan, in order to gain greater freedom, successfully reverse-engineered them in a very short time and completed the disassembly process for two other types of spirit components based on the same principle.

The two, who had not seen each other since graduation, were now connected by an invisible thread.

Both orphans of war, they both disliked owing favors, even if the favor was insignificant in the eyes of most people.

A word of thanks was always necessary. Just like Du Qian repaying his aunt and cousin, and Yao Jing repaying Du Qian, Liu Yan might not need to repay with any physical item; a simple "thank you" was enough.

Du Qian accompanied Liu Yan to the parking lot and, seeing the few guards by Liu Yan's side, understood somewhat. It seemed that Liu Yan's life was not as good as it seemed, possibly even worse than Yao Jing's.

War orphans might have various flaws and problems, but they were accustomed to independence and autonomy from a young age, with a deep-seated yearning for freedom. Being caged like a canary was certainly not the life Liu Yan wanted.

Back in his office, Du Qian went berserk. Chairs flew, teacups shattered, and after more than half an hour of chaos, he finally calmed down.

Du Qian's mouth moved incessantly, but no sound came out. If someone understood lip-reading, they would realize that Du Qian was cursing, and cursing quite viciously.

"Spirit components, spirit components, components of spirit talismans, you give me ten yuan for one, damn it, you're all swindlers, swindlers..."

"A one-star spirit talisman, market price one hundred yuan, but it's hard to find, even on the black market, it's being hyped up to three hundred yuan, and you give me ten yuan for one spirit component..."

Over and over, it was the same thing. He learned from Liu Yan that spirit components were parts of spirit talismans, and three components could form a complete one-star spirit talisman, which had great value in enhancing the combat power of spirit warriors.

The market price of one hundred yuan was a fixed rule set by the empire, completely violating commercial principles. The purpose was to give more spirit cultivators in the empire the opportunity to obtain one-star spirit talismans, thereby increasing the country's overall strength.

One-star spirit talismans might seem not very useful, but in fact, they were extremely important, and their usage was astonishing. A War King might need hundreds of one-star spirit talismans to see any effect if their luck was bad. Even with good luck, at least ten were needed.

Due to the high demand, there was a severe shortage of supply. Moreover, the low price and the large amount of time required meant that even slightly better symbol masters were unwilling to make them.

The disassembly method did indeed simplify the production of spirit talismans, but the disassembly process was very complex. So far, the symbol masters of the three countries had made similar progress, only able to disassemble basic spirit talismans.

With high demand and low production, the value should naturally be high, but the empire fixed the price, resulting in the item being almost non-existent on the market. On the black market and in auctions, one could cost two to three hundred yuan or more, and it wasn't always available.

After all, everyone needed this, and the quantity required was large. Even if not used immediately, keeping it as a backup was a good idea.

Ten yuan for one, thirty yuan for three. No wonder the guy from the association, Bian Jingchun, offered him thirty yuan per piece. At this price, he was still making a fortune.

With Liu Yan's explanation, Du Qian naturally understood that the guy wanted to crack the production process.

Blinking a few times, Du Qian was confused again. The production process was something he learned from the spirit talismans he got from the association. These talismans belonged to the association, so why were they asking him for spirit components and the production process?

While with Liu Yan, he just listened and didn't say much. After Liu Yan left, he finally realized.

Fei Xue, Gu Guan, Bian Jingchun, and today's Liu Yan, all came to him for the spirit component production process.

What a nightmare, he didn't know any disassembly process; he learned it all from the spirit talismans.

Even if Du Qian was naive and ignorant, he vaguely felt that something was off with the spirit component production process.

He remembered that the initial process of using spirit talismans was extremely complex, requiring ten thousand energy threads, the complexity of which was enough to make one want to commit suicide. Compared to the later process, the difference was significant.

Where did the second process come from? Du Qian couldn't quite remember; he hadn't paid attention to these things before.

Oh, right, it seemed to be a mist that separated from the nebula, constantly changing in front of his eyes, eventually forming this shape.

His body felt stiff, and Du Qian was almost certain that the nebula had nothing to do with the three spirit talismans he used.

If it wasn't related to the association's spirit talismans, where did it come from?

While Du Qian was struggling with this, Fei Xue was also struggling. He had too many headaches, and he no longer wanted to worry about the spirit components. Since it was confirmed that the disassembly process was developed by Liu Yan of the Snow Drift Merchant House, it was no longer his concern. Compared to Liu Yan, Du Qian was even less reliable.

Even if Zhao Hui still had reservations, he could keep them. The Flying Tiger Team had a lot of mess to clean up, and it wasn't resolved yet.

"Minimal casualties, right?" Zhao Hui also felt this way, as the Flying Tiger Team's affairs were more important. Du Qian was part of the Flying Tiger Team, and even if his suspicions were true, he could put them aside for now; Du Qian wasn't going anywhere.

"Minimal casualties, but the pirates put in a lot of effort this time. They set an ambush outside the city and caused chaos inside, mobilizing the city guards and the police system. Even the city guards outside the city were preparing to enter."

"Minimal casualties is good." Zhao Hui wasn't very concerned. Pirates were pirates and couldn't compare to the city guards, let alone attack a second-tier city with over three million people. If the Sixth Fleet hadn't been dispatched, these pirates wouldn't even dare to come ashore.

"But the mission failed." Fei Xue's next words shocked Zhao Hui. Reflecting on the previous experience, he realized the situation was more complicated than he thought.

If nothing major had happened, the Second City Lord, Zhang Yu, wouldn't have rushed to the Flying Tiger Team to directly mobilize people. Although the Flying Tiger Team was under the City Lord's control, it usually followed the police's orders, and the City Lord's office wouldn't intervene lightly.

"The pirates' plan was very clever. By the time we arrived, it was too late. It was only with the intervention of the Second City Lord and several patrons that the core figures of the pirates were injured and driven away, but only half of the items were recovered."

"Upper or lower part?" Zhao Hui asked.

"The upper part was recovered. The navy only has a few small boats and couldn't catch up with the pirates' fast ships. This trouble won't be small, and City Lord Zhu might be in danger." Fei Xue sighed.

The Flying Tiger Team was just a subordinate institution of the City Lord's office, and the upper-level affairs were not his concern. However, he had his preferences. Compared to the aggressive Zhang Yu, the smooth Zhu Ziqing seemed better.

"Fortunately, it's the upper part. The pirates won't find much use for the lower part."

"The pirates won't give up." Zhao Hui thought for a few minutes and said firmly.

"No problem, we can think of it, and the City Lord can think of it too." Fei Xue's lips curled into a cold smile.

Pirates? What kind of thing was that, to be so bold?

Zhao Hui wasn't so relaxed. He thought much deeper than Fei Xue. He knew how many pirates were around Treasure Bay, and their strength wasn't enough to set up such a large-scale operation.

To escape from the Second City Lord and the patrons and take the lower part, their strength far exceeded the Flying Tiger Team's understanding of pirates. Even if they included the major pirates from the distant sea, it still wasn't enough.

From a higher perspective, the pirates might not be pirates at all. The situation was getting more chaotic, and all sorts of strange things were appearing. It was truly a nightmare. Pingchuan City was far from the border, and if it weren't for the sea, there wouldn't be such problems.

Even with the sea, it shouldn't be like this. Zhao Hui left Fei Xue's office with a head full of confusion, entered the information department, and began to review the information from the surrounding cities over the past month.

This investigation made Zhao Hui feel a chill down his spine. He ran back to Fei Xue's office, but Fei Xue had already gone to the City Lord's office. There, they planned to teach the pirates a lesson, showing them that Pingchuan City was not to be trifled with.

This time, not only the City Lord's office but also the city guards, the criminal police, the Flying Tiger Team, and even several military experts were mobilized, determined to wipe out the pirates completely.

While Pingchuan City was in turmoil, Du Qian was unaware of these events and didn't care even if he knew. Understanding the spirit components, Du Qian first felt angry and furious, then his face lit up with joy.

Damn it, he was going to get rich. The value of the three spirit components combined was skyrocketing. He wasn't greedy; if he could sell one spirit talisman for two hundred yuan, he would be happy. If he could sell it for three hundred, he would be even happier. Compared to making spirit components, the income was several times higher, and this business was much more profitable.

Forget it, let's get to work. Absorbing spirit horns, condensing spirit guns, and separating energy threads, Du Qian worked enthusiastically, like a machine with ten times the kinetic energy, full of power.

It must be said that with Zhou Shan coins as the power source, Du Qian's potential greatly increased, and the speed of separating energy threads became faster and faster. When the first spirit component was completed, it had already improved to two minutes per thread, faster than he originally expected.

"One, next is another type." Du Qian rubbed his hands, not noticing that he hadn't eaten for a day and didn't feel hungry at all.

Fully immersed, Du Qian didn't leave his office for three days, drinking only a little water and eating nothing. His eyes were bloodshot, his spirit was excited, and his combat power kept increasing. The tip of the spirit gun was already half complete.

Before each absorption, he naturally tested it, but his mind wasn't on it. He casually noted down the numbers, not realizing how terrifying his combat power had become.