"Excuse me. Why don't you take a closer look at it?"
When Zhao Zhenwu was doing business in Wuthering Woods back in his hometown, he had never said anything as awkward as' excuse me '. However, after he came to the class of generals, he picked it up quickly. Carefully considering his tone, he tried to be as humble as possible and said with an obsequious smile, "This is a piece of legitimate family magical equipment. The body of the saber alone is made of Black Copper, Mithril, and Sun Crystal Gold. There is also the most advanced control chip inside the handle of the saber, which can store almost a hundred attack techniques at one time. When it is in danger, the chip will automatically fly out to protect its master. It has saved my life many times on the battlefield. I almost couldn't wait to maintain it with the blood of my heart. Why is it' no chip, no rune arrays, no techniques'?
"Just the last maintenance alone cost me this much, a thousand crystal coins! Right now, it's only worth three thousand? That's not a joke … Anyway, just give me a break. Eight thousand. How about eight thousand? I'll redeem it in a few days. "
The young appraiser, who had no hair on his lips, pushed the saber back and said, "This is a ragged saber. It's worth three thousand. I don't want one more crystal coin!"
Zhao Zhenwu's smile was frozen. His face changed a lot, and his eyes were unfocused. He moved his eyes from the Seven Star Jade Cutting Saber to the tip of the appraiser's nose and from the tip of the appraiser's nose to the hall.
He was afraid that he would run into someone he knew, so he purposely chose a time when there were fewer people to pawn. At this moment, the lobby of the pawnshop was empty. There were only two guards with bulging temples and eyebrows. They crossed their arms and looked at him coldly from the side.
He looked at the appraiser again. His eyelids were almost stuck to each other, and he was drawing circles with his head. He was not looking at his saber or himself anymore.
Picking up his family saber, Zhao Zhenwu twisted his waist hard and strode out. Halfway through, he gritted his teeth and turned back, putting down the saber. Then, he took out an iron plate that was carved with glamorous rune arrays from his pocket and opened it carefully. Putting it on the cabinet, he breathed heavily and said, "Please ask someone else to come out and give me a price for this. Fifty thousand. I'll take it as a gift if you give me fifty thousand!"
The young appraiser lazily opened his eyes and did not even look at the iron piece. He said with a faint smile, "Title deed?"
"Yes."
Zhao Zhenwu said calmly, "The title deed of the resource planet in the newly-recovered area. Three mountains in a hundred square kilometers, a ready-made mining base, and ancillary facilities from the underground to the surface. This is not common magical equipment. Please ask the experts of the real estate department of your bank to come out and take a good look."
The young appraiser smiled and fiddled with the title deed with his finger. Then, he pushed the small piece of iron back and shook his head. "No."
"No?"
Dumbfounded, Zhao Zhenwu shouted at the top of his voice, having no time to bother if he was pissing anyone off, "The title deed is absolutely authentic. It is stamped with the seals of His Majesty and the Council of Elders. All the procedures are complete. After the mining base is cleaned, the annual profit will be millions of crystal coins. I'm going to take it as fifty thousand now. Why don't you want it?"
"So that this … general can understand," the young appraiser said.
"This is not a rule of the 'East Mountain Pawnshop' but a rule agreed upon by all the pawnshops in the thirty-sixth district. The title deed is naturally good stuff. If it were the title deed and the ownership of the mines in the heartland of the Imperium, they would be the hard currency of pure gold. We can afford them however high the price is. But the title deed in the newly-recovered area is a whole different story."
"What's going on?"
Gritting his teeth, Zhao Zhenwu grabbed the title deed. "It's all the territory of the Imperium!"
"Yes. Everything in the world belongs to the Imperium. Of course, everything belongs to the Imperium."
Seeing that he was blushing, the young appraiser explained patiently, "But everybody knows that the Holy League burnt the land to the ground when they retreated and turned all the resource planets in the newly-recovered area into a mess. Almost every mining base has been completely sabotaged. Even the mother lodes thousands of meters below the ground have been polluted.
"To control the pollution and rebuild the mining bases until they are operational again, it will take at least twenty years and billions of money.
"I believe that it is the same for your mine, right?
"Of course. If the normal production can be resumed, it is possible that we can earn millions a year. But how are we going to calculate the time and cost when the upfront investment is so huge?
"You are pawning the title deed for fifty thousand now. It seems that we are taking advantage of you. But if you don't come to redeem it and it falls into our hands, are we going to go all the way to the newly-recovered area and develop the mine at the cost of manpower and resources?
"Most importantly of all, although the frontline is stabilized right now, who knows whether or not the Holy League will come back one day? By the time we spend a huge amount of time and money to restore the mining bases to order in ten to twenty years, only to find that they have turned into a war zone again, we will have no choice but to slit our own throats and hang ourselves!
"It is exactly because of such concerns that all the pawnshops and private property rights centers in the thirty-sixth district are rather prudent about the titles of the titles of the land and the mines in the newly-recovered area. Theoretically speaking, we do not accept any of them. But if you are really in need of money, I can break the rule and keep them for you for a few days with ten thousand crystal coins. How does that sound?"
Dumbfounded, Zhao Zhenwu extended one of his fingers. "Ten thousand?"
"Ten thousand. That's the price," the appraiser said sincerely.
The young appraiser said sincerely, "Not just the thirty-sixth district. Even if you fly five thousand kilometers away, it will be the same in other districts. As long as the super mining corporations don't buy them, nobody will dare to buy them!"
"This is His Majesty's grace!"
Craning his neck, Zhao Zhenwu bellowed, "My fleet fought bloody battles for it for more than ten years. It is estimated to be at least eight million!"
"If it is His Majesty's grace, you should go to His Majesty!"
The young appraiser's tone turned cold, too. Glancing at the two tall guards next to him, he mocked, "Or, you can go back first and find a way to restore the mine. As long as the normal production is restored, you can ask the specialists of the real estate department to evaluate it. Not just eight million, it is even possible that you can get eighteen million. Everybody in the thirty-sixth district knows that the East Mountain Pawnshops is the most trustworthy and honest."
The two guards straightened their backs, and the magical equipment hanging on their waists clattered.
Zhao Zhenwu was so infuriated that he almost passed out, but there was nothing he could do. Dizzily, he took out a few other iron plates from his inner pocket and placed them on the cabinet. Shuddering in fury, he said, "These — these medals and this saber are worth ten thousand crystal coins!"
The young appraiser sighed and took out a crimson monocle from his pocket. Observing it for half a second, he casually said, "The title deed is not accepted. The saber is three thousand, and the medals are two thousand. Five thousand crystal coins in total. Do you accept them or not?"
"Two thousand?"
Zhao Zhenwu was completely shocked. Then he burst into fury and pushed the medals to the young appraiser. "Look carefully. Open your eyes and look carefully. A second-class Treasure Cauldron Medal, a second-class Blue Cloud Medal, and a third-class Black Star Medal. It's the Black Star Medal! The Black Star Medal that I traded for my eye and my arm is only worth two thousand? Only two thousand! "
"Five hundred for the Treasure Cauldron Medal and Blue Cloud Medal, and a thousand for the third-class Black Star Medal. That is the market."
The young appraiser was not moved at all. "A lot of soldiers like you have come to the capital in the past half year. They may lack a lot of things, but they have the most medals. Nobody wants them because they are too expensive! Yesterday, a soldier came to pawn a second-class Black Star Medal and offered two thousand five hundred crystal coins. The guy pawned it without saying anything. A thousand crystal coins for your third-class Black Star Medal is a fair price. And that's just today. It will be cheaper in a few days. Eight hundred crystal coins might not be accepted! "
Two thousand five hundred, a thousand, eight hundred.
Nobody wants them because they are too expensive!
Zhao Zhenwu felt that something was exploding inside his head brutally. His ears were humming, and the second-class Black Star Medal was magnified nonstop. The stars in the background seemed to have turned into countless starships of the Holy League that dropped thousands of heavy crystal bombs, blowing his team and himself into smithereens.
"Pa!"
His eyes bloodshot, Zhao Zhenwu's face was hideous. Before he realized what was going on, he drew the mini storm bolter from his waist and slapped it on the counter.
"This is the special gun of the generals of the Imperium. How much is it worth?"
He roared and dug out his left eye brutally, smashing it on the counter, too.
"This is the artificial eye of a lieutenant general of the Imperium. How much is it worth?"
Then, he twisted, twisted, and tore off the artificial arm and threw it at the young appraiser.
"This is my arm. How much is it worth? Tell me. How much is it worth? How much is it worth?"
He seemed to have returned to the glorious days when he was a space pirate. His arrogance and violence were completely unleashed. He dashed to the counter in one step, trying to grab the appraiser's collar.
But it turned out that, although the counter seemed to be empty, a powerful defense rune array had been established between the staff and the customers. Hardly had he extended his hand when dozens of electric arcs darted out from the four corners of the counter and blew him away brutally. He fell to the ground with his limbs spread out.
Before he could even let out a scream, the two ferocious guards had already pounced on him. The short sticks surrounded by electric arcs randomly stabbed at the vital parts of his body, turning his screams into white foam that sprayed out.
"You can't do this!"
Zhao Zhenwu's madness turned into grievances. He roared desperately, "I shed blood in the frontline. I made contributions to the Imperium. I am a legitimate lieutenant general of the Imperium. I am the commander of the fleet of the Imperium!"
"Lieutenant general?"
The two guards beat him up crazily. One of them grinned hideously. "Old man, do you know where you are? The capital! If a piece of magical equipment hits the street of the capital, ten people will be killed. Five will be leaders, and eight will be lieutenant generals! "
"I'll kill you!"
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