Merlin, who had an endless lifespan, had lived longer than any known intelligent life in this world.
It should be known that even the giants, who were known for their longevity, only had a lifespan of 800 years. Moreover, the intelligence level of the giants was generally low. Most of them lived alone in the remote mountains and did not interact with other tribes. To them, the long years did not make much of a difference.
However, Merlin was different. As the ancestor of Wizards, he had been active in human history since the era of Roland. Although he did not personally participate in the two Magic Wars, his figure had always been faintly discernible.
Merlin himself did not have much ambition or interest in wealth and power. However, in order to hide his existence and avoid the pursuit of the Temple, he had casually done some side businesses. Some of them he might not have cared too much about. Take wealth for example. Everyone had to spend money as long as they were alive, and Merlin was no exception. He had always liked to have fun, especially in the early days when he still had a lot of humanity left in him. He had also lived a life of debauchery. So, to balance his expenses, he had indeed made some investments. Although he did not spend too much effort on it, these investments still snowballed over time.
Another example was his intelligence network. The current intelligence network of the Magic Association was built by Merlin. However, after the death of the first batch of old people, the leaders of the Magic Association began to notice his abnormality and secretly launched an investigation on him. Merlin did not resist. He faked his death and took the opportunity to leave the Magic Association, erasing all traces of his existence. At the same time, he took with him some of the intelligence talents he had cultivated and built his own intelligence network.
In addition, there was Saint Roland's Brotherhood Academy of Magic, which was now known as the Simos Comprehensive Academy. This school, which appeared and disappeared from time to time, had always existed as Merlin's headquarters …
All these things gathered together and finally formed Merlin's private force. No one knew how big this force was. In any case, Merlin's name had always been at the top of the Temple's wanted list. However, after more than nine hundred years, the church still could not do anything to him.
However, managing an organization of this scale was not an easy task. Merlin was also known for his laziness. It was obviously impossible for him to take a fixed amount of time every day to sit down and calmly check the accounts and deal with trivial matters. In fact, he was only setting up the framework. The remaining actual management would be handled by someone else.
Claire once said that there were four most important people in the latter's power system. One was responsible for his safety, one was responsible for intelligence, and one was responsible for managing his wealth. In addition, the Brother Roland Academy of Magic also needed a headmaster. These four people could be considered his students. Back then, Claire had played the role of Merlin's protector.
And now, Rob guessed that this man with the white crow mask was the wealth manager of the four.
Merlin snapped his fingers. "The Monopoly game is very simple. You will see a map that restores the real business environment of Gudilesi later. Before the game starts, each of you will get the same amount of chips. After that, what you have to do is to accumulate as much wealth as possible in a limited time."
"How do I accumulate wealth?" Lolo asked.
"How do you usually make money?" Merlin asked rhetorically. "Well, since you are all newcomers, I will give you some hints first. There are many commercial places in the city where we live, such as baths, which can make money by charging admission fees. Your bakery can make money by selling bread. If you are confident enough about your luck, you can also go to the casino to gamble. In short, I don't care how you make money. After 200 rounds, whoever has more money will win. As for the other rules, please explore the game on your own. Don't worry, as the referee, I will ensure the fairness of the game."
"Fairness? But this game is made by you. Your people should be familiar with the rules, right? "Lolo questioned.
"There is never absolute fairness in this world. Besides, there are two of you. In terms of probability, you have a higher chance of winning." Merlin grinned. "If there are no other questions, we will begin. Later in the game, unless necessary, I will not answer any questions about the rules."
When the three of them walked to the square table and sat down, Merlin took out a magic board from his arms. After activating the magic circle on it, a miniature map of Gudilesi appeared in front of the three of them. However, there were no street names on it. There were only functional buildings and next to it was a densely packed list of all the goods and prices.
"I need to mention in advance that this list of goods will change every five rounds. In the first round, each of you will have a hundred gold coins. Next, please choose the place you want to go. Every round, I will decide your order of action by rolling the dice. Which number do you prefer?" Merlin asked Lolo.
"I don't care."
"Alright, I will assign them randomly." Merlin set the number for each of them. After rolling the dice, he said to the White Crowman, "You go first in the first round."
The White Crowman nodded. "Gray Dwarf Blacksmith Shop, buying five hundred pounds of fine iron."
"You have spent a total of twenty gold coins. Your turn is over." The fox-masked man took the corresponding gold coins from the White Crowman and gave him an item card with pig iron written on it. He turned to Lolo and said, "It's your turn now."
With the White Crowman taking the lead, Lolo had a rough idea of how the game was played. It felt like a game of commodity trading. First buy, then sell, and make money according to the fluctuation of the price.
However, the girl's intuition told her that the game was not as simple as it seemed. Before she understood all the rules, she decided to do whatever the opponent did just to be on the safe side. This method was a little shameless, but Lolo was very clear about her position. She knew that business was not her strong point, so her purpose of the game was to entangle the opponent and increase the chances of her partner winning.
So the girl said, "Gray Dwarf Blacksmith Shop, I also want to buy five hundred pounds of fine iron."
However, she heard the fox-masked man say, "Purchase failed. The fine iron in the Gray Dwarf Blacksmith Shop has been sold out."
Lolo was stunned. "Why?"
"Because the Gray Dwarf Blacksmith Shop only has five hundred pounds of fine iron." The fox-masked man blinked and said leisurely.
"Are you trying to be shameless?" Lolo frowned. "If it's up to you to decide whether we have the goods or not, how can we win this game?"
"As I said before, once the game starts, I will not answer any questions that involve the rules." Merlin smiled. "If you don't have anything else to do, your turn is about to end."
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