013 Handling

The Land of the Dead, the Market of the Dead.

Karen looked at Dorn, her face filled with nothing but anticipation—pure, unshaken anticipation—without a trace of hatred toward the enemy who sought her demise.

Her mindset was remarkably calm.

Yet, the calmer Karen appeared, the greater the pressure weighed upon Dorn.

All of Dorn’s misunderstandings about Karen had been completely dispelled once the undead under Karen’s command unleashed power at the fourth tier.

At this moment, Dorn clearly understood that he had just made a boast that was about to be proven false. The merchants in the market were already looking at him differently, their gazes sharp and unmistakably changed.

However, the ridicule from these merchants and the embarrassment of being proven wrong were not the gravest concerns. The most pressing issue was his own survival.

He had overplayed his hand. Failing to seize Karen, failing to control this market—one misstep, and Karen would end his life.

In such circumstances, where was the heart left for him to announce any kind of system or regulation?

While Dorn’s mind wrestled with these complexities, the responses from Wenhe and Kari, standing behind him, were swift and decisive. They immediately stepped forward, drawing a clear line between themselves and Dorn.

“Respected Necromancer, we harbor no ill intentions toward you. All of this, every bit of it, is Dorn’s doing. We were merely misled by him.”

“Of course, we understand that our actions have deeply offended you, and we are willing to do everything within our power to make amends. Whether it be through the ‘Whispers of the Dead’ or through corpses, as long as it can express our sincere apologies, we will exert our utmost efforts to satisfy you.”

These two seasoned schemers sold Dorn out without hesitation. Such ruthless betrayal of an ally left not only Dorn stunned but even Karen herself wide-eyed in disbelief.

Though Karen initially intended to extract every last benefit, now he was in no rush.

His gaze remained fixed on Dorn, repeating the same challenge.

“What are you waiting for? Start reading.”

The words were the same as before, laced with mockery, but beneath the jest lay a chilling coldness.

Faced with this, Dorn bit his lip and quickly rallied, refusing to be cowed by Karen.

“I admit, this time I have failed. Business is a gamble—if I’d won, I would have gained a vast future. But unfortunately, I lost.”

“However, since I dared to gamble, I was prepared to lose and accept the outcome calmly.”

“So don’t think you can trample on my dignity…”

“Remember, I promised: if I’m satisfied, I’ll spare your life. But if not, I’ll turn you into an undead, forcing you to serve me for eternity!”

Karen’s casual threat cut off Dorn’s resolute speech midway, and the latter’s courage faltered.

Perhaps he feared neither failure nor death, but the prospect of becoming undead terrified him deeply.

Cowardice overtaking him, Dorn unfolded a sheet of paper and began reciting the market’s system, devised by himself and Wenhe.

At first, Karen listened with some curiosity, but gradually his interest waned.

It wasn’t that Dorn’s system lacked substance. Dorn, Wenhe, and their third partner possessed far more seasoned commercial experience than Flor and Cliff. The rules they formulated were, in many ways, more refined than those Flor and Cliff had drafted but not yet implemented.

Yet Karen had no expertise in this realm—indeed, he was utterly ignorant. After a few minutes, he realized he could no longer follow.

Seeing the impatience flash across Karen’s face, Dorn’s complexion turned pale.

However, Dorn’s goblin clan was cunning and experienced. Though they had greatly misjudged Karen’s strength and suffered a harsh setback, they still excelled at reading people and situations.

Spotting Karen’s displeasure, Dorn pondered briefly and grasped the cause.

He immediately altered the system he held, making only slight adjustments: he re-expressed the profits in terms of corpses and “Whispers of the Dead.”

This change instantly revived Karen’s attention.

Desperate to save his own skin, Dorn even improvised a price list on the spot, converting “Whispers of the Dead” and corpses into monetary values.

…

Whispers of the Dead:

Trash quality—one blossom equals 20 copper coins

Common quality—one blossom equals 2000 copper coins

Corpses:

Tier 0 corpse—one body equals 100 to 500 copper coins

Tier 1 corpse—one body equals 5,000 to 1 silver coin

Tier 2 corpse—one body equals 5 to 10 silver coins

Tier 3 corpse—one body equals 20 to 50 silver coins

Tier 4 corpse—one body equals 20 to 50 gold coins

…

This price list was a spur-of-the-moment creation by Dorn, desperate to preserve his life.

He integrated it into the rules he had just drafted, thus calculating the value Karen could gain by controlling this market.

The result? Not only did the price list pique Karen’s keen interest, but even the surrounding merchants’ eyes gleamed with excitement.

Merchants, always chasing profit, instinctively sensed enormous opportunity and were naturally drawn in.

Karen observed these merchants’ reactions carefully, and his gaze toward Dorn grew increasingly inscrutable.

If Karen were not directly involved, he might have suspected Dorn was deliberately stalling as part of a scheme.

If an award existed for the most charming and endearing villain, Karen would wholeheartedly cast his vote for Dorn. Where else could one find a villain so perfect?

Karen’s domain had just been upgraded, and Dorn promptly provided the materials needed to convert undead.

Just as Karen was about to assert his authority, Dorn stepped forward and painstakingly staged his own downfall, thereby cementing Karen’s dominance. Not only did he save Karen much trouble, but he even offered such constructive proposals in the end.

With such a talented and lovable antagonist, Karen found himself reluctant to strike down Dorn.

“You put me in a difficult position. You presented your ideas well, and I’m quite satisfied with what you said. If you had come straight to me with this plan, without all the drama, perhaps we could have cooperated.”

“But now, after all this mess, you’ve really put me in a bind, you know?”

“So, here’s what I’ll do. Since you’ve made such a good proposal, I can’t bear to kill you. You just need to compensate me, and we’ll consider this matter settled, alright?”

Karen’s words caused Dorn and Wenhe, tense until now, to breathe a sigh of relief.

But their relief was short-lived.

“According to the price list Dorn just put forward, you have fifteen days. Within those fifteen days, each of you must deliver goods worth 2,000 gold coins to me, or else…”

[This is where the text ends.]