The Gentleman at the End
Chapter 420 - Chapter 420 Chapter 419 Dukes Chamber of Commerce

Chapter 420: Chapter 419 Duke’s Chamber of Commerce Chapter 420: Chapter 419 Duke’s Chamber of Commerce Yi Chen’s sudden bid left the shopkeeper a bit stunned,

although he was a rare “Candle Puppet Master”, he had violated Light City’s ban on illegal oil refining, which led to a prohibition on opening a store in the central street and made it impossible for him to directly obtain materials from Light City,

This ruling had virtually ousted him,

but having grown up in Light City, he insisted on staying, setting up shop in the secluded Boundary District and venturing out of the city daily in search of materials for puppets,

During one such search for materials, he encountered a danger and was contaminated by a strange substance on his face, causing irreparable facial injuries, yet he still adhered to the essence of a Candle Puppet Master.

However, due to the spending power issue in the Boundary District, coupled with his own lack of sales skills, the shop had not had visitors for a long time.

Now, a strange-looking young man had suddenly arrived, and after just a couple of sentences, offered to buy the cheapest, oldest model that even had issues with lighting,

This led the shopkeeper to wonder if this old puppet had some hidden value he had not discovered,

“Hold on a minute, this candle puppet hasn’t been maintained for a long time, I need to do some repairs before delivery.”

“How long will it take?”

“Half an hour will do.”

The shopkeeper took the candle puppet back into the workshop in the store, meticulously inspected it with a magnifying glass, and found no additional value.

Although the candle puppet was initially made with good materials, due to years of use, many parts of its body had cracks and had been patched up with inferior glue. Unless it was a complete component, it was not worth much.

The shopkeeper slightly adjusted the screws and replenished the grease bag inside the puppet before bringing it out again,

“Are you sure you want to buy this? Although a thousand coins is cheap for a candle puppet, it is still a significant sum.”

“It seems like you don’t want to do business, do you?”

Challenged by Yi Chen’s remark, the shopkeeper didn’t say much more, “Pay up!”

Both extended their fingers, and as their Greedy Rings touched, the treasure chest heads stuck out their tongues and tangled together, and after a brief transfer, the transaction was successful,

The shopkeeper also passed over the match he had just used,

“The lighting match is a gift for you, the puppet’s wick is getting old, so try to push the match deeper when lighting it. Also, there’s no warranty here, if it breaks, just come back for a repair, I charge clear rates and won’t overcharge you.”

“Okay.”

Lighting the match, Yi Chen gently inserted it into the puppet’s eye socket, then aided it to go deeper with his spiritual power.

The puppet activated,

The white candle, filled with brain grooves, reappeared on top of its head.

“Shopkeeper, say, if I don’t need lighting like now, can you make her stop burning to save some body wax?”

“If she doesn’t burn, she won’t have the strength to move… There’s a switch on the neck here, this old model can only switch between two modes, one is the current ‘Lighting Mode’, the other is ‘Daily Mode’.”

“Okay, I’ll give it a try.”

Yi Chen reached out and twisted the third protruding vertebra in the middle, click!

The white candle on the top slowly descended, retracting back into the skull.

Due to the enclosed environment of the cranial cavity, the flame was minimized to a very small scale, emitting only traces of light from the eye sockets, occasionally accompanied by dripping wax, as if crying.

“Thanks, shopkeeper, see you if fate allows.”

Leaving the Candle Puppet Shop, Yi Chen just let the candle puppet obediently follow behind him.

Due to the excessive age and shabbiness of this candle puppet, it also aroused the ridicule and discussion of some passersby along the way, viewing Yi Chen as someone who had spent a lot of ancient coins on a piece of junk.

However, Yi Chen didn’t care about the onlookers’ views at all; he was even fiercely suppressing his excitement, twitching his mouth continuously, trying as hard as possible to hold back his smiles.

In his eyes, he had undoubtedly made a huge profit.

When it came to the “puppet” issue, Yi Chen had a foundational experience, especially since Zion’s Prophet Yuri was into this trade,

Although Cesimani’s assassination puppets leaned towards anthropomorphism, and here the candle puppets leaned towards functionality, their essence still bore similarities.

Just earlier inside the storefront, with a perspective provided by Little Grape, Yi Chen had essentially scanned all the puppets,

Indeed, this puppet was the oldest model, showing the most signs of repair, and as the owner had mentioned, it was highly likely to be damaged and no longer suited for exploring the Extremely Dark Land. It was best left at home as an ordinary maid providing illumination.

However, precisely because it was the oldest model, and even one of the first Candle Puppets the owner had ever made,

the effort invested in this Candle Puppet was definitely the greatest. Yi Chen could instantly see the details in crucial parts of this old-fashioned puppet, all components having been hand-polished,

The traces of being polished hundreds of times revealed the owner’s initial determination to pursue a career as a Candle Puppet Master; yet, like this puppet, that determination had worn down over time, leaving it in tatters.

The most crucial point was,

the term ‘old-fashioned’ meant nothing to Yi Chen; when he saw the white candle rising above the puppet’s head exposing the brain’s grooves, he could confirm that the Candle Puppet possessed a complete brain,

As long as the structure of the brain was intact, it could be revolutionized through learning, and Yi Chen’s Madness Brain was precisely what could bestow upon it the ability to seek knowledge.

Now, as it was exposed to the dim light and under unknown surveillance, it was not yet time for education.

[Duke’s Chamber of Commerce]

As the largest commercial group in the Old World, almost all cities of the Old World welcomed the arrival of the Duke, not only bringing massive traffic to the city,

but even after the Duke departed, the entire city might receive the blessing of trade. An illness linked with Luck would take root and spread among cities, enhancing the city’s fortunes and leading to its splendid development.

This was why,

with a few exceptions of special nature unrelated to trade, such as the Suffering Monastery, the vast majority of life forms in the Old World liked, respected, and adored the Duke living between the castle’s Thrones.

Light City also designated the largest and best-equipped area of the Central Trade Street, the East District, as the venue for the Duke.

There were no employees from Light City visible at the venue area, not even the most basic lantern security personnel,

for a simple reason: the Duke’s presence obviated the need for security concerns. Anyone daring to cause trouble at the Duke’s Chamber of Commerce would end up being converted into proportionate reserves of gold, coins, timber, etc., stored in the chambers’ warehouses.

The moment Yi Chen entered the center street, even before he approached the East District, the street was already packed with people.

“The Duke’s influence is this vast… how do I get in?”

Yi Chen thought to line up honestly, but judging by the speed the queue was moving, it would take three days and nights to reach the interior of the Chamber of Commerce.

Just as he was considering what to do, a path suddenly cleared in the line,

and a properly dressed Chamber of Commerce personnel wearing a golden mask approached Yi Chen and made a bow and an inviting gesture.

“Respected Mr. William, we have already felt your aura and specially came to lead you to the inside of the Chamber of Commerce. As a premium client of the Duke, you will enjoy special personal trading privileges.”

With these words, the crowd of the ill patients around the street all turned their eyes towards Yi Chen, looking at this enigmatic person, filled with both envy and jealousy, and some even discreetly remembered his appearance and aura to prepare for a future grand wager.

As the Chamber of Commerce personnel led him into the East District,

an array of bizarre, temporary shops accommodating various attributes of the Old World was constructed here, much like a ‘large fair’ from before.

Yi Chen followed the personnel all the way to the center of the East District, where a huge temporary auction house had already been built and was set to officially open for a treasure auction that night.

The Duke himself was also resting within, and He would personally preside over the auction.

Even standing outside, one could hear the loud snores mixed with the clinking of various gold and silver jewels.

As Yi Chen stepped into the deserted auction house building, he was immediately drawn to the mound of gold and jewels piled upon the stage,

and simultaneously, the snoring stopped.

As the jewels began to shift, the Duke’s corpulent body sat up from among them,

and upon seeing Yi Chen, a familiar figure, the Duke’s two golden front teeth also exposed themselves with his smile,

the imprint [Du][Ke] on the teeth was all too familiar.

“Duke!” Yi Chen immediately bowed his head in respect.

“William, making rapid progress, eh~ barely falling behind that boy Moon Scar… Your Madness Brain is also quite perfect and full of many novelties, truly a complex merchandise,”

Yi Chen was then drawn to a name in the Duke’s words, “Moon Scar? Does the Duke know his current situation?”

“That boy met me two months ago and bought the thing he dreamt of, or rather, something I had prepared especially for him… He’s now standing at a much loftier position.”