The mercenary paused for a moment before answering Gu Zhen’s question, not forgetting to give a menacing look to the side where the tall man rolled his eyes.

“Erm… that is… I have increased the number of interceptions, but… we have not been able to pinpoint the routes through which they move the new pills.

All we got were inconsequential goods at best and completely worthless alchemy waste at worst, and that new Liugwei Escort Agency is not so simple to deal with as we thought, as when my people do encounter a real shipment, they cannot capture it due to the heavy security…”

“And your solution is?”

“Please allow me to send higher cultivation fighters”

“Which will?trigger an escalation since they would ramp up the personnel they send out, until we would have Core Formation Realm experts fighting in the fields?”

“Then… I suppose… we could crush their selling locations directly”

“And how do you intend to do that?”

“As usual, disguise it as bandit attacks”

“And that man will not think it is strange that suddenly all of the locations of the Soaring Feather Trading Company were attacked by bandits everywhere?”

“… he will… but isn’t it like what we are doing with intercepting their shipments? They know but as long as it is-…”

“Is it? Or is it a direct confrontation we have been avoiding this whole time, which will start a war that we don’t want to start yet? Interference… is what I asked of you… not ‘crushing’ them”

Gu Zhen finally turned away from the window, causing the man to flinch when their eyes met.

“Instead of finding stupid excuses for why your incompetence would be a reason to change the task I gave you, I would appreciate it if you actually tried to do that task.

Dong Shuo, the Cloud Piercing Continent is not of much importance now, we can deal with them later when this is all over and this continent is under our control, so you can just let go of that trade deal if that and the money is the only problem. As for Tuamei… we will see how they act first.

And finally, Luang Zhi, we would have to match them by using the pills from more expensive ingredients and selling at lower prices even if it is heavily unprofitable, their pockets may be deep but not as deep as ours. Just get our market back, and when they are out of the water we would dictate the prices once more”

Gu Zhen coldly spoke to the first two and then turned to his direct subordinate with a slightly more amicable demeanor.

“”Yes, Lord Gu””

“As Tower Master instructs”

All three bowed to him without any objections.

“You three have been operating independently for so long, and suddenly, as soon as there is someone actually capable of standing up against us and you encounter slight hiccups, you run to me for instructions?

Look at the others, none of them are here begging to change the rules of the game because they are struggling to keep up. They also face problems but they are at least trying to resolve them on their own.

I expected more from you, all three of you”

He then chided them as they continued to face down, and then sent them away with the words “You may leave”, his disappointment apparent in his tone, turning to look at the scenery once more.

“…Tower Master”

After the three left and he stood for some time in silence, a slightly trembling, meek voice resounded behind the man’s back and he turned his head to the side, raising his eyebrow.

“Did you find him?”

“No… but… it is reported that Elder Do has been sighted on the island Kingdom of Lihai…”

“Is that information reliable?”

“…a-as reliable as we could be with that place… we confirmed with multiple sources-…”

“Tch! That rat…”

Gu Zhen spat his words with a little irritation, cutting into the words of the man whose soul seemed to drain as he paled and froze.

‘No wonder he has disappeared, he decided to hide behind that old hag’s back…

And of course she decided to shelter him! He is one of the only three alchemists left from the Alchemy Association…

That said… Bahshi Assassins are not someone I am willing to antagonize…’

His eyes narrowed as he turned back to look at the distant scenery while casually waving his hand, and the subordinate who reported to him inwardly sighed with relief and walked backwards while bowing.

‘And they have been quite good partners if sufficiently renumerated and our demands were not too out of hands, so it would be a shame to have that relationship sour…

Granted, that rat was the contact we worked together through so it may no longer even be a concern… plus he would be now supplying them with pills…’

Gu Zhen’s thought of the possible repercussions of this betrayal as a light of annoyance appeared in his eyes.

“Haa~ that idiot, and here I was thinking he would be smart enough to know what’s good for him.

What is he going to do with his age when he runs out of those pills?”

A sigh escaped his lips as he slightly massaged his temples with a hint of ridicule and contempt.

‘Hmm, was I too harsh on him after that failure?’

He then stopped for a moment and mused, opening his eyes again, but quickly threw out the notion.

He still could not believe he had people so close to Wu Long that could have been a constant thorn in the other’s side, as well as observants of his struggles.

This would have made the game much more entertaining, but he lost it all due to the incompetence of that ‘rat’.

“Hah, I should have suspected it when he was so eager to take on the mission in the Winter Forest.

Haa~ I guess even even someone like me can make mistakes in judgement…”

His sigh was slightly contemplative, but too lighthearted for it to be genuine concern that he could be wrong and had to reevaluate his thinking.

His expression then became lighter again, as he looked to the side at the game board.

“Anyway…

Hmm, what move would you expect from me next?

Or maybe I should try and make an unexpected one and see if you would catch it? I am curious how keen is your insight…

And then again, maybe our game would start getting stale soon? Shall we raise the stakes then? Or clutch for some part of the board?

Hahaha, so many choices, I am struggling to make my mind”

His light, delighted laughter resounded in the room as his thoughts were completely absorbed in the only bit of entertainment he enjoyed in the last few millennia.

Updatd fr𝑜m frewebnove(l).com