The headquarters of the Creven Chamber of Commerce was not in Degara City, but in Muryek City, further west. That's right, it was the Muryek City under the jurisdiction of Li Huailin's second wife, Ceci. As the most developed commercial city in the southern part of the empire, the headquarters of the Creven Chamber of Commerce were naturally located there.
In the headquarters of the Creven Chamber of Commerce, President Constantine Goldenbam had just received a piece of news that surprised him for a long time. The only Duke of the Nasser Empire, the Duke of Aquitaine, had now arrived at his branch in Degara City and was already waiting for him inside. It seemed like he was ready to meet with him. This news gave him a headache instantly. This was definitely the worst news ever.
Needless to say, Stantine could almost guess the purpose of Li Huailin's visit. As a particularly strong emerging competitor, Stantine had naturally investigated the relationship chain of the Dean Chamber of Commerce. The relationship between the other ministers was still manageable, but this Duke of Aquitaine gave Stantine a headache. The Creven Chamber of Commerce had been famous for a long time. It could basically have a say in all the families in the empire. However, Li Huailin, the new nobleman who suddenly jumped out of nowhere, had no family at all. Stantine naturally had no relationship with him, but this guy was the backer of the Dean Chamber of Commerce. This made Stantine really unable to do anything to the Dean Chamber of Commerce.
Stantine now hoped to rely on his own influence here to use commercial competition to squeeze out the Dean Chamber of Commerce, but it was obvious that the other party did not give him this opportunity. Now, the other party had come to him with his backer. The most troublesome thing was that even if Stantine knew that the other party was up to no good, he still had to go up and meet him. The other party was the Duke of Aquitaine, and it was impossible for him not to meet him.
There was no other way. Stantine hurriedly teleported from Muryek City to Degara City and then arrived at the branch here. As soon as he entered the door, Stantine saw a few familiar people. He naturally knew the president of the Dean Chamber of Commerce, Polit. The two had met many times. He also knew Aikola, who he had met a lot recently. The other one was Li Huailin. Although he had not talked to him before, he had seen him from afar many times before.
"I am the President of the Creven Chamber of Commerce, Constantine Goldenbam. Greetings, Your Excellency." Stantine hurriedly bowed. Even though he had also donated money to become a Lord, he didn't dare to call himself a noble in front of a true noble as it would incur their disgust.
Before Li Huailin could reply, Stantine yelled at Mohef. "What's going on? Why didn't you invite His Excellency to the VIP lounge?"
The greeting sounded polite, but it was also a way to show that this was his Chamber of Commerce and his identity as the owner. However, Li Huailin didn't care about the greeting at all. He smiled and said, "President Stantine, right?"
"Yes, Your Grace. May I know what orders you have for me?" Stantine immediately lowered his head and said.
"I heard that you are competing with my Chamber of Commerce. I don't like fighting, so I'm here to mediate and see if I can solve this problem," Li Huailin said.
"Mediate?" Stantine asked.
"Yes, President Stantine. You see, we hit it off the moment I saw you. Why don't you join our side? That way, we'll all be one family, and there won't be any competition. I won't let the Dean Chamber of Commerce's people enter the southern part of the empire, and your Creven Chamber of Commerce will continue to be in charge of it. Isn't that great?" Li Huailin said with a smile.
As expected … Even though Stantine was prepared, he didn't expect Li Huailin to be so direct. He was indeed as powerful as the rumors said. After a slight hesitation, Stantine said tentatively, "This … Even though His Excellency's suggestion is great, we have always been under the care of Count Chumer … It doesn't make sense for us to leave and join the Duke's team …"
"Count Chumer?" Li Huailin was taken aback. "Who's that?"
"Your Grace." Porter quickly whispered into Li Huailin's ear. "Count Chumer is referring to the director of the city's construction department, Heydrich Chumer, who is also the biggest backer of the Creven Chamber of Commerce."
"Director of the city's construction department?" Li Huailin thought for a moment. He guessed that Li Huailin had met this guy in the palace, but he couldn't remember which official he was. Li Huailin thought for a moment and said, "Earl Chumer, right? That means if this guy suddenly disappears tomorrow, you'll agree to join us, right?"
"Suddenly disappear tomorrow?" Not only Stantine, but even Pollitt, who was next to him, was taken aback. When he thought about what Li Huailin meant, everyone immediately broke out in cold sweat. This threat was a little too blatant.
At this moment, Stantine finally understood how powerful Li Huailin was. His backer was already the director of the city's construction department, one of the top officials in the country. Yet, Li Huailin made him disappear just like that. He didn't take him seriously at all. This showed how much power Li Huailin wielded.
Although it sounded like a lie, Stantine didn't dare to take it seriously. After all, there was a precedent. Two Dukes were killed by Li Huailin, and the reason was that Li Huailin fell in love with their wives. Then, he killed both Dukes, and the king didn't punish him. Thinking of this, Stantine felt that it was better to stop struggling, lest he put Count Chumer in danger. No matter what, Count Chumer was good to him. If he explained the situation to him, he reckoned that Count Chumer wouldn't go against the Duke of Aquitaine.
Thinking of this, Stantine quickly said, "Wait, Your Grace. I understand. I'll join. I'll join."
"Oh? That's easy? "Li Huailin was a little surprised." Have you really thought it through? "
"Yes, Your Grace. I've decided to join you. Really," Stantine immediately said.
"Oh, okay. Welcome." Li Huailin nodded. To be honest, he had thought of killing Count Chumer, but he didn't expect Stantine to suddenly think it through. This saved him a lot of time, and it could be said that Count Chumer was lucky. "It's great that President Stantine has thought it through. Since that's the case, as we agreed before, the Creaven Trade Association will be in charge of the southern part of the empire. Polit, your Dean Trade Association doesn't need to develop here. Hand over everything here to President Stantine and the others. You can continue developing elsewhere."
"Yes, Your Grace." Polit agreed without hesitation. Although the Dean Trade Association would suffer a lot from this, after all, they spent a lot of money to build their foundation here, and now almost all of it was given to the Creaven Trade Association, for the sake of the Duke's plan, Polit agreed without a word.
"Thank … Thank you, Your Grace." Stantine didn't know whether to laugh or cry. According to the calculation of profits, he should have profited, but in fact, he had lost the entire Trade Association to the other party. As Li Huailin's sudden attack was too sudden, Stantine still didn't know whether he had profited or lost.
"By the way, President Stantine, since we're on the same side, I have a question for you." Of course, Li Huailin wasn't here to deal with the problems of the Trade Association. It was just a matter of convenience. His main goal was to recruit people.
"Please speak, Your Grace," Stantine said immediately.
"I heard that the Creaven Trade Association is in the slave trade business recently …" Li Huailin said.
"Yes, Your Grace," Stantine admitted immediately. Stantine immediately admitted to it. There was nothing to hide. After all, most of the larger Chambers of Commerce were doing this business. After all, it was more profitable, and it wasn't illegal. The empire also recognized this business.
"Have you captured any slaves near here recently?" Li Huailin asked immediately.
"Near here?" Stantine was stunned for a moment before replying, "Of course not, Your Grace. Capturing slaves within the borders of the Empire is illegal. Naturally, we won't do it. Please rest assured, Your Grace. The Creven Chamber of Commerce is also a regular, established Chamber of Commerce. All of our business is legal, and we don't violate the law."
"Is that so?" Li Huailin nodded slightly. "But I heard that you've been doing something you shouldn't have been doing recently."
"What?" Stantine looked a little strange. "That's impossible. I don't know what you've heard, Your Grace. Please tell me and let me defend myself."
"About a month ago, a female Knight took about a dozen civilians from Mariana Town to Degara City. As a result, these people all disappeared halfway. Later, someone saw the carriage of your Creven Chamber of Commerce enter the city. It's about the same time. Can you tell me what happened?" Li Huailin asked.
"Such a thing actually happened?" Stantine was slightly taken aback. It sounded a little strange. He looked at the branch president, Mohef, and immediately said, "Mohef, what's going on? Do you know about this? "
"This … Guild Leader, this …" Mohef looked hesitant, as though he wanted to say something but couldn't find the words to express himself.
"What's wrong? Did you really do something you shouldn't have? " Stantine suddenly said sternly. This matter was really not instigated by him. Although the Creaven Trade Association was not in a very good situation and had to face strong competition from the Dean Trade Association, as a veteran merchant family, Stantine still had basic moral integrity. He would not do such illegal things. Seeing Mohef's reaction, Stantine thought that he had done something illegal behind his back, so he immediately yelled angrily.
"No … No, President," Mohef said immediately. Mohef immediately said, "Of course we didn't do that. But … we really saw the female knight and the few commoners that His Excellency the Duke mentioned just now …"
"Hmm?" Stantine was stunned, and immediately asked, "What's going on?"
"It's … Snake King Malev …" Mohef said after some thought.
"Snake King Malev?" Everyone was stunned, but Aichola and Stantine seemed to have heard of this name before. They sounded a little surprised. On the other hand, Li Huailin and Pollitt had never heard of this guy before. They had no idea who he was.
"Yes, I happened to be rushing back from another place. On the way back, I met the female knight and a dozen civilians that His Grace mentioned just now not far from the east of Degara City. They were fighting with the people from the Snake King Association here …" Mohef continued.
"Wait, wait, wait …" Li Huailin hurriedly stopped him. "Wait a moment. What's going on with this Snake King Malev and the Snake King Association? Tell me first."
"His Grace." "The Snake King Association is a very large organization in the vicinity. It can be said to be a relatively underground organization. Basically, it is the kind of organization that does everything. Of course, it is an organization that does many shady things." "Of course, it is an organization that does all sorts of things.
"Simply put … it's the underworld?" Li Huailin said after some thought.
"What's the underworld?" The few of them asked together.
"Err … It's okay, I almost understand," Li Huailin waved his hand and pointed at Mohef. "Continue."
"We originally planned to observe the situation, but the people from the Snake King Association immediately came over to warn us not to meddle in other people's business. Of course, we still had our goods with us at that time. If we were targeted, we might not even be able to protect our goods, so we didn't meddle in other people's business. Of course, when I saw the female knight, I felt a little strange. After all, there aren't many female knights, and most of them have some background. But after that, no one came to ask about this matter, so we didn't talk about it."
"In other words, this female knight was attacked by the underworld organization, the Snake King Association, on her way here. Then, she suddenly disappeared. In that case, it must be related to the Snake King Association …" Li Huailin said. "What's the background of this Snake King Association?"
"His Grace, we don't know yet," said Stantine, who seemed to have heard the name of the Snake King Association. Stantine seemed to have heard the name of the Snake King Association, and he said with a slight headache, "The Snake King Association is a very large organization in the south of our empire. They can be found in almost every city. Not to mention, their ability is also abnormally powerful. It seems like they can speak anywhere. Not only does our Chamber of Commerce have to give them face, but the government also has to give them face. Although basically everyone knows what they are doing, in fact, I haven't seen anyone from the government investigating them."
"Not only that, but their background is also very mysterious," Aichola said. Aixla, who was standing by the side, said, "When our Dean Trade Association first came here to develop, they already knew about it. Soon, they took the initiative to look for us. They also knew that our backer is Your Highness the Duke, and they still took our money. It seems like they are not worried about this aspect at all."
"Yeah, to be honest, we have been doing business here for so many years. We have also been dealing with the people from the Snake King Association for a long time. Until now, we still don't know who their backing is … but we have no choice but to cooperate with them because there are too many things involved. If we don't cooperate with them, it will be very difficult for us to do business here," Aichola said.
"Oh? That sounds very powerful. " Li Huailin nodded. It was very obvious that this was an underworld organization. According to the current situation, this female knight, Lisa, had probably caught the eye of this underworld leader, Snake King Malev, and then directly sent people to capture her. This wasn't good news for Li Huailin. After all, this Lisa was the person who held the secret that he was the leader of the undead. Moreover, she was also captured by the underworld leader, and it had been nearly a month since then. He couldn't rule out the possibility that Lisa had already told this matter to the Snake King Malev.
In this way, things were a bit complicated. If this Snake King knew about his matter, then according to the number of this guy's underlings, it would be impossible for him to hide it. However, if this guy was a little smarter, he might not spread this matter so easily. Maybe he was going to use this matter to threaten him. Anyway, they were gangsters. This kind of thing was definitely something they would do.
Of course, if that was the case, it was naturally what Li Huailin wanted to see the most. No matter what, Li Huailin had to meet this person called Snake King Malev and ask him about the specific situation. The current situation was a little complicated. Li Huailin could only take one step at a time.
"Understood. If that's the case, let's break through directly." Li Huailin said as he stretched his body.
"Eh? I seem to have heard this before. "Aichola who was at the side murmured.
"President Aichola, I will help you make an appointment with this guy called Snake King. I want to see him now." Li Huailin said.
"Really?" A few people said at the same time.
"Of course." Li Huailin said. "Hurry up, I don't have time to waste."
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