006 Dorn

With the upgrade of his territory, Karen’s strength soared to an astonishing level.

This brought him considerable peace of mind and bolstered his confidence.

In truth, ever since the opening of the Dead Market, and with the continuous influx of merchants from the Bourbon Dynasty and the Silver Hand, Karen had been under significant pressure.

He realized, with the arrival of these merchants, that he had been somewhat narrow-minded.

Within just half a month of the market’s opening, many powerful guilds had entered, several of which boasted guards with strength beyond the fourth rank.

Although Karen was confident in his invincibility within his own domain, the steady appearance of fourth-rank guards inside his territory weighed heavily on his mind.

Now, however, Karen’s territory had upgraded.

Under his command were not only a terrifying undead legion but also six individuals of fourth rank or higher, including himself. Among them was a particularly fearsome fourth-rank exceptional beast, the Phantom Shadow Leopard.

With his current power, he could barely hold the situation.

Yet, while Karen reveled in his newfound strength, three guilds convened on the other side of the Dead Market, discussing Karen and the question of the market’s true ownership.

These three guilds were Weng’s Flowing Gold Guild and two goblin merchant guilds from a city near Sand Silver City.

Goblins were among the continent’s shrewdest traders, highly sensitive to profit.

The moment Karen’s Dead Market opened, these three guilds moved in swiftly.

After witnessing the market’s daily transactions surpassing hundreds of gold coins, they began to harbor different ambitions for the Dead Market.

Especially Weng, who had originally collaborated with the Phantom to initiate such a market.

Seeing someone else reap the rewards stirred discomfort in his heart.

Yet, it was not Weng but Karen’s own weakness that brought these three guilds together to negotiate the division of the market’s profits.

More precisely, when the Whisper of the Dead event had its grand debut, all three guilds noticed the commotion in the Dead Market.

Curious about Karen’s strength, they immediately sent scouts, only to witness Karen being mercilessly slaughtered by the Dark Moon Shadow Leopard.

That shattered their hesitation. Previously wary of Karen’s prowess, they now saw he was nothing extraordinary—a mere fourth-rank beast nearly killed him.

This emboldened their schemes.

Hence, the three guilds gathered.

At their meeting, Weng fixed his gaze on Dorn, the goblin who had summoned them, and said, “Everyone’s here. You may begin.”

“We’re all old acquaintances, so I won’t waste words. We’re here for this market. Capturing that human necromancer should be easy for us.”

“Easy?” Kari, the other goblin, sneered. “Taking down that human necromancer isn’t the problem. But remember, we’re standing in his domain. His territory is guarded by tens of thousands of first-rank undead. Even if there are no higher-ranked ones, do you really think killing him won’t cause those undead to riot?”

Dorn had clearly prepared for this objection.

“No need to worry. I paid handsomely for a Dark Soul Magic scroll. Using this, we can imprint a soul mark on that human necromancer’s soul. His life and death will then be under our control.”

As Dorn spoke, he produced a black, malevolent-looking magical scroll.

The moment the scroll appeared, the expressions of Weng and Kari shifted.

“You’re mad! The council strictly forbids the use of such items…”

“That human necromancer isn’t affiliated with the Silver Hand, and this isn’t their territory. Even if I report it to the council, they won’t be able to stop me. So, do you still want this market or not?”

With Dorn’s words, both Weng and Kari fell silent, their faces revealing reluctant acceptance.

Seeing this, Dorn smiled with satisfaction.

“Now that it’s clear capturing that human necromancer isn’t difficult, let’s talk about who will claim this market.”

At the mention of this, Weng and Kari straightened up. Weng frowned and said, “We can’t take this market alone. It may be small now, but soon it will become a supermarket between the Silver Hand and the Bourbon Kingdom. I don’t have the confidence to handle such a market by myself.”

As he spoke, Weng glanced at Dorn.

In fact, since Dorn produced the scroll, Weng had already guessed his intentions.

As expected, after Weng spoke of being unable to claim the market alone, Dorn immediately responded, “Right. None of us can handle this market alone. But if we join forces, we can hold it for at least six months.”

“During that time, we will reap enormous profits. Our strength will grow accordingly. Even if new powers enter the market to challenge us, we will at least have a foothold.”

“What about profit distribution?” Kari asked immediately, eyes gleaming.

“I get forty percent. You two each get thirty. After all, this magic scroll is valuable.”

Weng and Kari exchanged glances. While the distribution wasn’t unacceptable, they had differing opinions on some details.

“This distribution is fine, but after capturing that human necromancer, this scroll must be sealed in the council’s bank under all three of our names.”

“Agreed. No problem!” Dorn readily consented.

With Dorn’s nod, the cooperation among the three parties was officially underway, and a covert assassination plot against Karen had begun…