"I see, so that is what had happened." Old Zen frowned before gazing at Compass Carburettor, "You're speaking the truth right, Lord Gahrat?"
"Do I have a reason not to?" Compass Carburettor snorted.
"You're right." Old Zen sighed, "Even I can't see through your strength. If you wished to do so, you can indeed destroy my auction house."
"The stronger you are, the more difficult it becomes to see through your cultivation. It's such common sense that I'm surprised your auction house stood tall for as long as it did." Compass Carburettor said with a blatant tone of mockery.
He implied that since his staff were so blind, they would definitely have offended countless powerhouses in the past. So, it was a wonder that the auction house hadn't been destroyed along the way.
"You're…right about that." Old Zen seemed shocked by his words, feeling enlightened a little as he cupped his fists, "I'll ensure that they aren't so short-sighted anymore."
"Alright, so there must be a reason you've come here, right?" Compass Carburettor stared at the old man, "You can just be direct with me. I hate flowery speech."
"Fine, I won't be long-winded then." Old Zen nodded before saying, "I wanted to discuss the terms related to the Unbreakable Etherite you've given us. Of the earnings it makes, we'll take three percent for our auction house charges."
"The charges for advertisements and the likes." Old Zen then asked, "Is that fine with you?"
"We're already making a loss since most of the advertisement this time is in regards to the Unbreakable Etherite. So, even if it sells for a massive sum, we still won't make what we've spent on it." Old Zen said, "This is to show our sincerity for the earlier incident."
"Alright, I'm fine with the arrangement." Compass Carburettor nodded.
"Also, you can look around our treasury and pick a treasure of your liking. It'll be free." Old Zen said. It was apparent that he was trying his best to appease Compass Carburettor.
After all, from the short conversation he had with the other party, Old Zen realised that Compass Carburettor was like a dormant volcano that could explode any minute.
Thankfully, it seemed Compass too was aware of that and tried his best to hold it in.
In such a situation, appeasing him was of the utmost importance. Otherwise, not only would the prestige of his auction house be affected, but it might even be destroyed. 'I can't see through Gahrat's strength. If we fought, I'll definitely suffer a tremendous loss.'
In contrast to that, he could just stomach the loss from the advertisement and give away a treasure for free. At the end of the day, he was a merchant. Even though he was making a loss in this transaction, he was aware of the Unbreakable Etherite's value.
Only after he had tested it personally had he arrived to converse with Compass Carburettor. So, he realised that this item was indeed worthy of its name. Auctioning it would display the resourcefulness of his auction house, increasing its prestige among all the auction houses from the neighbouring cities.
'That means, whenever someone obtains a treasure in the future, they would be more inclined to auction it from my auction house.' These were his true thoughts. He would be making a loss for the time being. But in the future, he'll obtain a lot thanks to the upcoming auction.
'But, what Gahrat said is reasonable too. Not everyone would like to flaunt their strength. If my staff acts as blindly as today, then everything I've worked for would end up in the dust.' As he thought of it, Old Zen shuddered, 'Wait, how many people were turned away from my auction house by the arrogance of my staff members until now?'
Upon realising how many opportunities might have slipped past him due to the actions of his underlings, Old Zen's face turned a shade of purple as he cupped his fists, bowing in response, "You've indeed opened my eye today, Lord Gahrat."
"I didn't do much." Compass Carburettor nodded casually, closing his eyes as he focused within the Dimensional Space, observing the exhausted states of Grisha and Gana, saying after a moment of thought, "Is there a restaurant nearby?"
"Oh please, we'll serve you here itself." Old Zen got up with a start, saying as he left, "I'll ask the servants to serve a feast. Just give me a few minutes."
"Alright, take your time." Compass Carburettor nodded, watching Old Zen close the door and leave.
He then brought out everyone from his Dimensional Space, placing Stencil on the bed as he gently brushed her hair, "Soon, I'll save you."
"I've looked through everything in my power, but I'm unable to determine how exactly she had been injured." Grisha said, flustered, "Her body is perfectly normal, but she shows no signs of movement. Her body is in a vegetative state."
"Her internal organs are working normally, right?" Compass Carburettor asked, heaving a sigh of relief upon seeing Grisha nod in response.
"Then, we have hope." He said, "In this world, there is something called pills. Eating them can increase one's cultivation. And, there should be pills that would help those in a vegetative state."
"Money is never an issue. We'll need to find someone talented enough to make pills and ask them to do it for us." Compass Carburettor said when Gana raised her hand, wishing to speak. When he nodded in response, she said…
"Lord Gahrat, since we can awaken Martial Spirits here, let me awaken one related to refining pills. Since I can use Mental Energy, I should be able to try out something different from the norm. We can also commission a normal Pill Refiner after that." Gana spoke.
"Let's do that." Compass Carburettor nodded, "As long as we have enough money, we can keep trying until we obtain a suitable Martial Spirit."
"That's the primary advantage of this world." He said, "Among the millions of possible Martial Spirits, there should be some that are suitable for our cause. As for the resources required for them all, we'll just use our abilities accordingly."
He gazed at Grisha, "Are you comfortable with killing people?"
"I've killed more people than grass at this point." Grisha said, catching his train of thought, "I'll establish a hitman organisation and get it done."
"Let's begin it once we awaken our Martial Spirits. That's our first objective." Compass Carburettor nodded, watching a maid push in a trolley of food, surprised when she noticed three other people in the room.
She hurriedly retreated and brought in more food, enough for everyone.