He looked for the families that had conflicts with Lin Yun, but they weren't suitable to deal with the Gilded Rose, and they weren't on the same level.
Three days later, in a cave in the wilderness, Reynolds appeared with a smile on his face. He was wearing a white robe and a black headband.
"Sir Oakley, don't get excited, I came to help you fulfill your wish. I heard you were being persecuted by the Gilded Rose …"
Oakley had been very miserable recently. As a pure fire mage, although he could learn spells that could hide his appearance, he didn't know any of them, so he didn't dare to appear in the city.
As long as he appeared in the city, he would be recognized within a few minutes and would be secretly sold. During this time, there were already a dozen ordinary people seeking revenge for selling Oakley's whereabouts.
Other than the people who were after him for the bounty, there were also many teams that had been stopped by the people he had forced to buy and sell. Perhaps there was an ordinary person around him who could sell him information. Perhaps there was someone in the city who could recognize him from hundreds of meters away …
In order to hide, Oakley could only hole up in the wilderness and didn't dare to go to any town. It was truly miserable.
After being tricked by Reynolds for a while, Oakley followed Reynolds out of the cave …
The next day, an Expert Swordsman who came to cause trouble for the Gilded Rose was expelled. But on the third day, that Expert Swordsman's corpse appeared outside the city. Judging from the injuries, he had clearly been killed by a puppet.
On the fourth day, all kinds of rumors started spreading.
The Gilded Rose was very powerful and tyrannical. Anyone who dared to cause trouble for the Gilded Rose was directly killed.
They forced the Carter Family to submit, or they would destroy the Carter Family if they didn't submit. The Carter Family resisted and were treated as bandits, even offering a huge bounty.
In a small alchemy shop, because they didn't display the Gilded Rose's goods, the people in the shop died in less than three days.
A material supplier who dared to sell raw materials to the Gilded Rose died in his own home.
There were more and more rumors, and they spread faster and faster. Almost within a day, with Neverwinter as the center, dozens of cities and towns around it began to hear the same rumors.
Up until a small noble in dire straits released the news that he had accidentally provoked an employee of the Gilded Rose and hoped that the Gilded Rose would let him live.
In an instant, the Gilded Rose's overbearingness and strength became a fixed impression. Apart from the Gilded Rose's good products, they also had an overbearing and ruthless image.
The Gilded Rose's business was affected. Many people would tremble with fear when coming to the Gilded Rose's shop, afraid of provoking the Gilded Rose. If not for the fact that some things only the Gilded Rose had, they wouldn't have dared to appear in the Gilded Rose's shop.
During those three days, all kinds of rumors spread like wildfire. Then, a Count of the Odin Kingdom privately expressed his dissatisfaction with the Gilded Rose's overbearing style at a banquet.
But they were only dissatisfied, nothing more. It seemed that in a few days, everyone was starting to fear the Gilded Rose. The Gilded Rose's power was rapidly rising.
Whether it was the Gilded Rose's main shop in Neverwinter City or the twenty branches, all their troubles were gone in a few days.
Originally, because of what happened in Reg City, many people in the towns where the branches were located had ideas about the Gilded Rose, especially some mages and swordsmen who didn't have good intentions. They always wanted to fish for some benefits from the Gilded Rose. After all, if the Gilded Rose wanted to open a branch, they had to have a good relationship with the towns where they were located.
But in the past few days, no one came looking for trouble. Those ruffians who wanted to fish for some benefits would rather take a detour when passing by the Gilded Rose's shop.
Because in the past few days, more than a dozen ruffians had died tragically in the towns where the branches were located. Moreover, these ruffians all had one thing in common, they were all trying to fish for some benefits from the Gilded Rose.
Although there was no proof that it was the Gilded Rose's doing and these people died tragically in different ways, as the rumors spread, it seemed that everyone knew that the Gilded Rose had gotten rid of those ruffians. They were a group of ruffians with no background, and the ones with the best backgrounds were only related to some bandit group outside.
But now, the Gilded Rose's bandit group in the Odin Kingdom had been blacklisted. As long as it was a Gilded Rose's caravan, no one would protect it. These bandit groups could only drool and stare helplessly. Anyone would dare to have ideas about the Gilded Rose's caravan.
The two bandit groups that had been completely destroyed had their headquarters razed to the ground. This kind of bloody lesson was enough to warn the other bandit groups, because as long as a bandit group attacked a caravan, the Gilded Rose would be able to justifiably eliminate them. Even if the Gilded Rose wasn't pleasing to the eye, or if they had a deep hatred for it, they could only pinch their noses in this matter.
A bandit group's attack and a Family's attack were two completely different concepts.
No bandit group dared to provoke the Gilded Rose, and no one dared to provoke the weak. Even some nobles of the Odin Kingdom would only express their dissatisfaction with the Gilded Rose's tyrannical style on some occasions, but no one dared to do anything. They only dared to say a few words behind their backs.
Most of the powerful forces didn't have any conflicts with the Gilded Rose, and they even cooperated with some. Now, many great Families had plans to purchase items from the Gilded Rose, especially after the release of the Universal Core. The number of Gilded Rose's collaborators sharply increased.
By relying on the Universal Core, almost all of the Gilded Rose's collaborators had their profits increase by more than 50%. Some of the more exaggerated ones even doubled their profits in a short time.
The Gilded Rose's power was gradually increasing, and this was a good thing for the collaborators. The more powerful the Gilded Rose, the better. As long as they kept supplying them, the more powerful the Gilded Rose would be, and the more guaranteed their business would be.
After hearing this news, Faleau didn't think too much about it. After all, it was just the deaths of some insignificant ruffians. Moreover, most of these ruffians weren't good people. They had done too many bad things, and they were able to survive until now because no one had gone to deal with them. Now that they provoked an existence that they couldn't afford to provoke, it didn't matter if they got killed.
Faleau knew that this wasn't the Gilded Rose's doing, but he didn't care. Moreover, would the Gilded Rose come out to refute the rumors just because some ruffians were killed? The Gilded Rose was too idle.
Moreover, the Gilded Rose didn't come from the Odin Kingdom to begin with, so they didn't have much influence in the Odin Kingdom. Now that they had some influence, it was a good thing. More than half of the troublesome matters had been reported these days, so there was no need to care.
But according to Lin Yun's previous instructions, Faleau would report this matter to Lin Yun every once in a while as part of his routine report.
Recently, Lin Yun had been researching truth runes in his Demiplane and comprehending the Laws. His understanding of the Laws had almost reached the limit, and with Agalon's training, advancing to the 4th Rank of the Heaven realm was only a matter of time. He might break through his limits in a month, or he might suddenly gain some new comprehension and advance in a few minutes.
After finishing his research on truth runes, Lin Yun picked up the report Faleau handed him and frowned after looking at it for a while.
There was no problem with most of it, but the Gilded Rose's power was gradually increasing. For it to become like this in such a short time, it wasn't because they were too powerful, but because they were afraid of the Gilded Rose.
There were only a few sentences in the report, but Lin Yun keenly noticed that something was wrong.
After leaving the Demiplane and finding Faleau, Lin Yun's expression sank as he listened to Faleau's explanation.
"This isn't the Gilded Rose's reputation increasing, it's making everyone afraid of the Gilded Rose. It's giving the Gilded Rose a tyrannical and unreasonable label.
"In the end, the Gilded Rose is still an external force, and it's only an alchemy shop. Someone wants to kill the Gilded Rose and make it suffer the dissatisfaction of the native forces of the Odin Kingdom.
"There's no big problem with the potions and the Multi-use Core suppressing it, but if it continues, things will become troublesome. Someone is definitely adding fuel to the fire."
Faleau froze, he also felt that something was wrong. The changes in the past few days had been too fast, so fast that Faleau himself felt that it was inconceivable. He even felt that the Gilded Rose had already taken root in the Odin Kingdom.
While Lin Yun was still trying to figure out what was going on, a huge piece of news exploded.
An alchemy shop in a small town near Neverwinter City had been destroyed. From the alchemist to the shop's owner, they all died tragically in the shop.
It was only a small shop, and the shop's owner was only an 8th Rank Archmage. The shop only had one storefront, and its scope of business was limited to Magic Tools, and only a few kinds of Magic Tools. There were only three alchemists in the shop, and the main reason it could survive was because the shop's owner was a Master Alchemist, a Master Alchemist capable of crafting Spiritual Magic Tools.
Such a small shop wouldn't have such a huge reaction if it had been destroyed. The main point was why it had been destroyed. One of the alchemists survived by a fluke and revealed the reason for the shop's destruction as well as the culprit.
The culprit was the Gilded Rose. The reason they were destroyed was because they had bought twenty All-purpose Cores from the Gilded Rose, but these twenty All-purpose Cores were scrapped. In order to protect their reputation, the Gilded Rose wanted to buy back these All-purpose Cores. After buying back the scrapped All-purpose Cores, the shop was immediately destroyed. Only one alchemist managed to survive due to his special constitution.
In an instant, several dozen towns in the northern part of the Odin Kingdom started spreading this news, and the Gilded Rose seemed to be the last to know.
After hearing his subordinate's report, Lin Yun's expression was indifferent.
"Find out who's behind this, who's slandering our Gilded Rose."
Cold sweat trickled down Faleau's forehead, his expression very unsightly. A low-level alchemy shop had been destroyed. This kind of thing happened too often.
Even in the safest Neverwinter City, there were at least a few hundred people dying every year. The number of low-level alchemy shops that opened and closed every year numbered in the hundreds. Let alone this kind of small shop, even the ones second only to the Gilded Rose had suffered robberies.
Now, the destruction of a low-level small shop spread to all the towns within ten thousand kilometers in one night, and the details were clearly described.
It would be strange if there wasn't a powerful force behind this, and it was specifically targeted at the Gilded Rose!
The Gilded Rose's All-purpose Cores were scrapped, and there were twenty of them at once. In order to prevent the news from leaking, they destroyed the alchemy shop, and even after taking away the twenty cores!
With this excuse, it didn't matter whether the cores were scrapped or not. With the rumors spreading these days, everyone would instinctively believe that it was the Gilded Rose's doing.
The sales of the Gilded Rose's All-purpose Cores might plummet, and many people might even take advantage of this opportunity to rob the Gilded Rose.
Lin Yun sat in the Gilded Rose and pondered, 'Who's slandering the Gilded Rose? If there's such a force, would they need to use this kind of method to do so?'
No matter how he looked at it, this was a plot that couldn't be brought to the surface. A truly powerful force might have already crushed it. This kind of method would only cause some trouble for the Gilded Rose. At most, it would only cause some losses, but it wouldn't shake the Gilded Rose's foundation. Or it might be better to say that it would only cause a problem with the Gilded Rose's All-purpose Core.
'Right, the All-purpose Core is the All-purpose Core!'
The other side used the All-purpose Core as a breakthrough point to discredit the Gilded Rose, it was definitely for the All-purpose Core.
The All-purpose Core's technology wasn't top-notch, any Artisan proficient in this field would be able to figure out the technology, but the core was the material.
Without the new material, it simply couldn't be made. Using that kind of technology would only result in a waste. Moreover, all the technology was embedded in the material. This new material had a diluted black substance that automatically attracted mana, so there was no need to keep it a secret, because the All-purpose Core couldn't be cracked.
'All magic inspection methods can't detect the structure inside. Only by using something like an optical microscope like I can, without using mana, would they be able to crack the technology within the All-purpose Core.
'But cracking the technology would be useless without the material …'
'The other side might have already discovered that this was a brand new material. They went all out to discredit the Gilded Rose and used the All-purpose Core as a breakthrough point. They might have directly given up on the All-purpose Core, and their ultimate goal should be the new material.'
A sneer appeared at the corner of Lin Yun's mouth. After discovering this, he had narrowed down the scope.
'Focusing on the material, not the All-purpose Core. The other side is definitely dealing in alchemy items, and the biggest profits are Magic Tools!'
There weren't many forces in the Odin Kingdom that dealt in Magic Tools, and with such a large force at that. The other side had done so much, it was impossible for them to not have any clues. As long as they found some clues, they would be able to rule out a few forces that dealt in Magic Tools and find out who was behind this.
As for the lack of evidence, it might be because they didn't have the materials. They couldn't fake it even if they wanted to. The new material wasn't an alloy fused with a few materials, it was a completely new material fused with a Fusion Agent.
To put it simply, it was a new kind of material that directly changed the molecular form. Relying on the All-purpose Core's material to create the same thing wouldn't be possible even in a few millennia.
The black substance wasn't something ordinary people could get their hands on, and although the production of a Fusion Agent wasn't very troublesome and could be easily made by any Artisan, even a Master Alchemist could easily make it if they had the special materials of the Abyss.
Unfortunately, the most basic Fusion Agent formula would only appear in the next five millennia.
Lin Yun calmly sat on the fishing platform and simply didn't care about the wind and rain outside. Ever since that matter, more and more people came to the Gilded Rose to cancel the All-purpose Core's order. Most of the people who came to buy All-purpose Cores had been scattered, but now, many of them were returning them one after another.
Three days later, a former collaborator also came to return the hundred All-purpose Cores he had bought.
"What kind of bullshit All-purpose Cores are you selling? They are all trash! You spent so many purple golds to buy a pile of trash, why aren't you returning them!? Don't tell me you can't let people say that you are selling fake goods? "
Lin Yun walked out from the back of the Gilded Rose and saw a group of people quarreling inside. Many people were watching.
Faleau's expression was unsightly.
"We can return these unused All-purpose Cores to you at the original price, but these are already used and can't be used for other Magic Tools, they can't be returned …"
Lin Yun walked over and indifferently glanced at the guy shouting about returning the All-purpose Cores. He had some impression of him, it seemed to be a Magic Tool crafting shop. It wasn't big, but it could be considered a medium-sized shop.
"Faleau, return them. Every All-purpose Core has a number on it. As long as it's verified that it was made by our Gilded Rose, whether it's used or unused, even if it's damaged, return them at the original price.
"Who wants to return it, register it."
"What? Your Gilded Rose is selling fake goods, don't tell me you can't return them after being discovered? Now that you have registered it, you will retaliate later. "
Lin Yun indifferently glanced at the shopkeeper, his terrifying aura directly pressuring his soul. In an instant, the shopkeeper paled.
"You don't have the qualifications for the Gilded Rose to retaliate."
The shopkeeper wanted to say something, but he couldn't say a word.
Lin Yun turned around and returned to the back of the Gilded Rose, frowning.
It didn't take long before Faleau returned with an unsightly expression.
"Sir Merlin, this matter seems to be getting bigger and bigger. There are more and more rumors about the Universal Core being a pretense, and more and more people are returning goods. There are even quite a few cooperating shops of the Gilded Rose.
"Two nobles of the Odin Kingdom also came to return the All-purpose Cores they bought. Among them, a Count and three Viscounts have publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with the Gilded Rose …"
Lin Yun suddenly interrupted Faleau's report.
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