Chapter 905
Establishing the Aladdin United Store Alliance and Operating the Flying Gourd
Chapter 905 Establishing the Aladdin United Store Alliance and Operating the Flying Gourd
In a corner of the audience seats of the Holy Grail War, Rose the Witch and Olayer's second-circle chief designer, a male wizard wearing gold-rimmed glasses, appeared in the audience seats.
Rose the Witch said, "We originally wanted to poach Leon Newman, the famous breeding genius from Ancient Vine Village, to join our Olaye, but we never expected to see such a big show here."
"The Great Roaring Dragon Sparrow, the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow... Locke has come up with another great series of magical plant products, just like his Great Blood Wave Air Pineapple series of pure magical plant wizard shoes."
Rose the Witch curled the corners of her lips into a smile.
"Joshua, what do you think?"
The chief designer next to her pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses.
“Ms. Rose, Locke Augustine is indeed a breeding genius. But your level of breeding science is no less than his; you just focused your efforts on the Rainbow Cup in the Rainbow Swamp.”
"The Great Roaring Dragon Sparrow is indeed a good flying magical plant. I heard... that a new administrative director recently came to the Silver Peach Garden."
Rose the Witch paused for a moment, because her true form was attempting to break through to the Star Ring Wizard level, and she also had to handle the affairs of three shop alliances at the same time. She was also preparing to apply for a special grant project from the Rose Council, and she had two colonies to establish. Therefore, she was indeed limited in energy and unaware of this matter.
But it's nothing.
In any case, her partner, the wizard Joshua, would tell her a lot of information.
Moreover, all of this information has been selected.
The wizard Joshua said, "It is Locke Augustine."
Rose the Witch was silent for a moment, a rare occurrence for her. Then, she laughed and said, "Interesting."
"I didn't expect to run into him so soon. It seems that fate is not fair to Locke Augustine."
Wizard Joshua said, "Silver Peach Garden is a long-established alliance of magical plant shops, while our Olaye is just starting out. In many aspects, even in terms of reputation and the number of shops, we are not as good as Silver Peach Garden."
"However, I have compiled a table of the talented breeders in the fifteen wizarding lands near the Eastern Boundary and converted their abilities into indices according to the formula I have developed. Anyone with an index greater than 1 is considered to be of high value and can be invited by our Olayer Shop Alliance to become one of our designers."
Rose the Witch said, "Well, Leon Newman's score is 1.1, and you recommended that I invite him."
Joshua the Wizard said, "Hmm. I'll name this method the 'Data-Driven Talent Selection Method,' and I can work with you to verify the likelihood of its success."
"However, there is one thing I need to remind you: I misjudged Leon Newman before. Now his score is only 0.95, which is quite low in terms of cost-effectiveness."
Rose the witch looked at him with a puzzled expression.
Joshua the Wizard said, "Leon Newman is strong-willed, stubborn, and independent. Such independence is a negative factor in my calculation formula."
"I would now recommend the third one instead. That wizard from Black Iron Mountain Wilds is also quite good."
"Of course, if we could invite Leon Newman to join Olayer, that would be great too."
Joshua the Wizard adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and said, "Although, given his personality, he might not agree to our invitation."
Rose the Witch crossed her legs and asked, "In your evaluation system, what is Locke Augustine's score?"
Wizard Joshua frowned, looked at the notebook in his hand, scribbled and drew, and after a short while said, "0.85. The main problem is not with him, but with our Olayer Shop Alliance. Our shop alliance is too small to invite such a talented breeder. Forcing us to cooperate with him would only cause us to continuously bleed money and make concessions in order to maintain our cooperation with him."
Rose the Witch raised an eyebrow.
"Alright then. I won't ask for my score in your evaluation system. I doubt it'll be very high."
The wizard Joshua said, "Yes. He should be lower than Locke Augustine."
Rose the witch gave him an annoyed look.
"So what's your own score?"
Joshua the Wizard adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and said, "About 1.6. I'm good at playing second fiddle, that is, I'm good at being the second-in-command."
Rose the Witch snorted and turned her head away.
“Joshua, I must warn you. You will regret it if you dare to speak rudely again.”
Joshua sensed the chilling malice emanating from Rose the Witch, and at the same time, he saw a look of madness flash in her eyes as she turned her head away.
He immediately felt immense pressure.
If any other wizard had said that, he certainly wouldn't have taken it seriously.
But if it's Rose...
Joshua swallowed hard, realizing he had gotten carried away with his pride.
This is Rose the Witch.
If she wants to target someone, she never considers the gains or losses, nor does she care whether they are her allies.
Meanwhile, in another corner of the Golden Cup spectator area.
A young wizard wearing a monocle, an exquisite silver watch on his right hand, and a hat clapped softly along with the wizards of the Golden Dynasty around him.
"The Great Cry of the Dragon Sparrow..."
“I sensed the aura of golden magic from that magical plant. It must be a magical plant infused with golden magic.”
Beside him sat a blonde witch who appeared to be in her thirties, with a cold expression.
"Lord Trisk, could this man become an obstacle for us?"
The young wizard smiled and stretched lazily.
"Don't assume everyone is a potential competitor. I'm an alchemist, he's a breeder. We're completely unrelated."
"If you see everyone as a future competitor, you're bound to offend people. Besides... it's not that big of a deal. I was just bored and came to the Gold Cup to watch the excitement. Who knew I'd be even more bored after watching it?"
"Let's go."
"The higher-ups at the border between darkness and light still seem to have some doubts about our path. Even though they've already bet on the [Eternal Dragon Project], they're still hesitant. They've even held this competition at this crucial juncture and invited the wizards from the Windbringer's Holy Land."
"But this has little to do with us."
Wizard Trisk said, "If I were a breeder instead of an alchemist, I would only offer a magical plant that is better than that flying magical plant today."
The witch quickly stood up and followed him.
"The first-tier officials at the boundary between darkness and light simply don't know if the [Eternal Dragon Project] can be realized. Besides, our genius class has indeed not been developing as expected recently."
At the end of the competition, an awards ceremony was held on the field of the Golden Grail. Locke received the badge representing the Golden Grail champion from the head of the Sun Ring Wizard.
The sun-ring wizard held a cup of mead that flowed like gold leaf.
Amidst the envious gazes of many high-ranking officials of the Golden Dynasty, he once again approached Locke.
"Locke Augustine, this is our Golden Dynasty's title potion, the Crimson Guardian Potion."
"The winner of any one of the three matches in the Golden Cup will receive the title of [Crimson Guard] and enjoy glory within my Golden Dynasty."
Locke bowed to him. Before participating in this competition, he already knew what the Golden Cup champion would gain: mainly honor, and secondly, the so-called title.
The three matches of the Golden Cup will award three different titles, all of which are [Guardian] titles.
The Golden Dynasty had four ranks of nobility: Wei, Hou, Gong, and Wang.
In the past, when the Golden Dynasty was at its peak, it had a large number of Golden Kings. But now, the titles in the border region between darkness and light are even more precious and are not easily granted to others.
Under normal circumstances, the [Guard] rank is already the highest rank that can be granted to outsiders. To obtain the rank of Marquis, one must be a native of the border region between the Dark and the Bright. To obtain the rank of Duke in the current era, one must have several important bloodlines of the Golden Dynasty; otherwise, it is absolutely impossible.
Locke bowed to him.
The head of the Sun Ring Wizard said, "Please bow towards the direction of the sun."
Locke hesitated for a moment, but still obeyed his words and bowed towards the sun at the boundary between light and darkness. In a daze, he seemed to see the illusion of the distant city in the sun again.
At the same time, the mead that looked like gold leaf in the glass in the hands of the Sun Ring Wizard Chief was rapidly descending and then disappearing without a trace.
At the same time, Locke sensed an external entity converging towards him. After checking and confirming that it would not affect him, he agreed to let this external entity enter his own entity.
Locke looked down at his feet and saw a golden ring appear on the ground beneath him.
That's the symbol of the Crimson Guard.
With a smile, the head wizard of the Sun Ring said, "The Crimson Gold Guards used to be the guards protecting the Golden City. All wizards who have this title can use it once a day, each time for half an hour to maintain the [Crimson Gold Armor]. Once used, the body and soul will be temporarily enveloped by golden magic, transforming into a crimson gold body."
"Even for wizards who don't follow the path of gold magic, it has a certain bonus effect. And if you are skilled in gold magic, then using gold magic again while wearing crimson gold armor will bring unexpected benefits."
"Young friend Augustine, you can try activating the Crimson Gold Armor."
Locke sensed the presence of the Crimson Gold Guardian in the darkness. After activation, the golden circle beneath his feet emitted a blazing light. The golden circle automatically became more complex, and then an extremely intricate witch array appeared beneath his feet. Every detail of this witch array seemed to be meticulously crafted, composed of many circles, cubes, and triangles, forming a complex magic array.
Under the illumination of this magic array, Locke's body rapidly grew larger and taller, and he seemed to transform into a small golden giant.
His wizard robes automatically changed into a set of golden wizard robes with sun and moon patterns on the outside.
This is the attire of the Crimson Guard.
'I see. This Crimson Guardian Potion is definitely a second-level potion, and it's very likely not an ordinary second-level potion.'
"It not only altered my rank, granting me a rank-based ability—an ability not derived from a spell model, but one I was born with. It wasn't learned, but innate." "It could become an innate extraordinary ability. But this is only at the level of a normal second-circle potion. This Crimson Gold Guardian potion can even activate a inherited sorcery array to buff my body, strengthen my physique, enhance my melee combat abilities, and grant me significant damage immunity."
That damage immunity was granted by the Golden Magic.
I had previously witnessed the results of using golden magic to enhance the body—that was a typical characteristic of the golden swarm.
But Locke had more in mind.
This inherited magic array has somehow entered the potion, but the energy must have a source to provide it, right?
Locke subconsciously looked up at the sun in the sky. Could it be that the energy came from the palace of Tenochtitella mentioned by the three-legged golden bird, and that the palace was really located in the sun?
At this moment, on the podium, many third- and fourth-tier officials looked at Locke with envy.
For these high-ranking officials of the Golden Dynasty, although they held great positions and served as deans, vice deans, or chief wizard instructors in academies throughout the Golden Dynasty, these were all part of the teaching system.
To obtain a title in the Golden Dynasty, one basically had to do so through major competitions in the border region between the Dark and the Bright, or through military merit.
However, there has been no major fighting in the border area between darkness and light for a long time now.
Time seems to have forgotten this place. It is no longer the center of wizard civilization, and even the primary target of the wizard civilization's enemies is no longer here. Therefore, they can no longer obtain titles through military merit.
That means that only those like Locke, who won major competitions, could obtain a title.
But in competitions like the Gold Cup, even if they participate in every edition, they're just playing along.
Just like this year's Golden Cup competition, some officials from the Golden Dynasty participated, but the result was still no result.
Therefore, everyone looked at Locke, who had received the title of Crimson Gold Guard, with great envy.
Putting aside everything else, if they held a noble title, and then an official position, they could speak with more authority and be respected by others in this entire border region between the obscure and the bright.
The head wizard of the Sun Ring nodded slightly to Locke.
"Guard Augustine, congratulations on winning the championship of our Golden Grail."
At this point, he approached the second-place finisher, Leon Newman from Ancient Vine Village, but he only awarded him a badge and a prize of one million magic stones.
The third-place winner only received a badge and 500,000 magic stones.
However, these are all just bonuses, because the real value of the Gold Grail competition lies in the fact that the champions of the three competitions can obtain the [Guard] rank.
Locke remained in his Crimson Gold Body state, and even felt that his absorption of magical energy in the Boundary Between Darkness and Light had accelerated. It was foreseeable that during the heyday of the Boundary Between Darkness and Light, the title of Crimson Gold Guardian could likely increase a wizard's magical pressure increase rate.
You should know that you are a second-circle wizard.
Anything that can increase the speed at which a second-circle wizard's mana pressure increases is a good thing.
'There are indeed quite a few good things in the area where darkness and light meet.'
Locke recalled the invitation Alaric had extended to him after the Cloud Cup, and the teaching position invitation he had received from the Golden Dynasty in the Southeast Corner Region, which seemed to have been extended by this ancient site, the Merri Ruins.
If I had come here back then, it seems I might be a seventh-rank official in the Golden Dynasty now.
I wonder if I'll be able to become a sixth- or fifth-rank official at this stage.
However, upon closer reflection, if he hadn't gone to develop his career at Golden Crown Mountain, he might not have been able to win the Golden Cup and obtain the [Guard] rank here.
Locke pondered, "If it weren't for the fact that the Parallel History Spell my ancestor gave me could only be used twice, and that I couldn't confirm whether the Black and White Codex existed in the ruins in the sun, I could even try to collect information about the ruins in the sun to see if I could meet the criteria for activating the Parallel History Spell."
To activate the Parallel History Spell, the historical aura you currently possess is sufficient.
However, relevant historical information is still needed, and the spell can only be activated if certain quantities and quality conditions are met.
Locke looked up at the sun in the sky.
Forget it.
You only have two chances to use it, so if there's no greater benefit, it's best not to use it.
Unless there is information from the Black and White Codex, it would be very troublesome to rashly use the Parallel History Spell and waste the opportunity given to you by the founder.
After all, as long as his archaeological skills improve, he might be able to cast a parallel history spell in the future and explore this dark and light borderland full of history and ancient sites.
As an archaeological wizard, I can explore the treasures within this land myself.
The awards ceremony lasted for half a day. After it ended, Locke was about to leave when he was stopped by Bruce, a wizard from the Windbringer's Holy Land in the Land of Dragonfall.
At this point, Locke had already deactivated the [Crimson Gold Armor].
Wizard Bruce approached Locke, a half-smile on his face, and said, "Commander Augustine, congratulations. As you wished, you have won the Golden Cup."
"But even if we don't win the championship, we can still cooperate."
“This Mr. Leon Newman just reached a cooperation agreement with me.”
When Leon Newman saw Locke looking at him, he suddenly shuddered, as if he had been stressed, and stretched his neck and leaned forward slightly, with an expression that said, "I'll never admit defeat."
Locke chuckled, “I know. But please forgive me, Lord Bruce Sun, I have quite a few projects on my plate right now, so I prefer things to be simple.”
Bruce's expression shifted slightly, and a hint of admiration flashed in his eyes.
“I know. Augustus Wizard Shoes. I’ve heard that despite the obstruction of many wizard shoe shops, you managed to establish a pure magic plant wizard shoe shop. I must say, your vision is truly remarkable.”
"A blind spot has been discovered."
"That's one of the things I admire about Captain Augustine," said Bruce the wizard.
"As agreed, we will jointly establish a store alliance. You can decide on the name, after all, you are the champion. This is our contract."
"The main suppliers are the Chief Guard of Augustine, who will provide the technical data and high-quality seeds of the Great Roaring Dragon Sparrow. We will provide the technology for the giantification of magical plants, as well as the production and transportation. Furthermore, the Wind Guardian Holy Land will proactively help you negotiate a contract. Our profits will be split 50/50, and we will cover the costs of the giantification, transportation, and storage of the magical plants."
"You will be responsible for the production cost of the adult magical plant, the Great Roaring Dragon Sparrow."
“In addition, I have another suggestion.”
Locke thought for a moment and said, "Let's call him Aladdin."
Wizard Bruce thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "Okay, that's a good name. But I have another suggestion. Because the number of slots for the Windbringer Sanctuary to cooperate with other wizards to form a shop alliance is limited. And I think this wizard Leon Newman's Flying Gourd is also a very valuable work."
"So I want him to hang his work under our partner store alliance, Aladdin Flying Magic Plant."
"That means giving him the position of chief designer and including his work, the Flying Gourd, as a product of our Aladdin Flying Magic Plant Shop Alliance. Therefore, you should receive 30% of the net profit from the sales."
"That is, Aladdin and this wizard Leon Newman split the profits 60/40, with us getting 60% and him 40%. The Aladdin Shop Alliance is between the Wind God's Sanctuary and you, each holding 50% of the shares. Therefore, we split the net profit from the sale of the Flying Gourd equally, with each of us receiving 30% of the profits."
Locke looked at him strangely; he hadn't expected to receive such a benefit out of nowhere.
Locke asked cautiously, "There's a problem. What if we lose money selling the flying gourd?"
Wizard Leon Newman coughed and stretched his neck.
Wizard Bruce chuckled, “Guard Augustine is indeed cautious. Don’t worry, the reason I want to join Aladdin’s Shop Alliance is because while the Flying Gourd is good, it’s not good enough to form a shop alliance on its own. Besides, the number of places to form a shop alliance is limited.”
"But I have some other shop alliances. If all else fails, I can just affiliate with other shop alliances."
"It's just because Aladdin is the first flying plant flying machine shop alliance in the Holy Land of Wind, so I want to put the same products together, which will improve the sales of both products."
"If you have any concerns, I can choose not to do it this way. Respect for both parties is the premise for our pleasant cooperation. So whatever your opinions are, I can accept them."
Locke nodded. "Thank you for your understanding. So, if the Flying Gourd makes a profit, will I have to bear the corresponding costs?"
Wizard Bruce chuckled, “The materials, transportation, and sales costs can all be covered by our Windbreaker Sanctuary. Even if we lose money, you won’t have to bear it. It’s just that from a legal perspective, there might indeed be some complications.”
Locke said, “I have a friend at Mithril Law Firm. I can ask him to draft a contract that defines our respective responsibilities and obligations in legal matters.”
"That would be perfect," said Wizard Bruce.
He didn't think so. The reason he gave Locke 30% of the benefits of the Flying Gourd out of thin air was because he wanted to cooperate with this wizard Leon Newman through the Aladdin Shop Alliance.
After all, the opportunity to establish this shop alliance was created because of the cooperation between the Boundary Between Darkness and Light and the Golden Grail. Otherwise, it would be almost impossible for an individual to obtain the qualification to open a shop alliance with the Holy Land of the Wind.
For this reason, this shop is very special from every angle.
That's why he wanted the Flying Man Gourd to be sold under this shop's alliance.
As for Locke gaining some benefits, that's just how it is.
Since we've used their store alliance, we naturally have to give them benefits.
Moreover, Aladdin is a champion brand, and having it displayed below this shop is extremely beneficial to the sales of the Flying Gourd. Since they used someone else's name, they naturally have to give them corresponding benefits.
He had already explained all of this to the wizard Leon Newman.
'The Flying Gourd's base stats are still too poor. Selling it alongside the Great Roaring Dragon Sparrow would actually boost sales of both.'
"Bruce the wizard thought."
The next chapter will be updated tomorrow during the day.
(End of this chapter)