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nIn the castle.

nMaximus and Feris were sitting at the table, discussing the various factions in the sunburnt plateau.

n“Do you know all the factions and families stationed in the sunburnt plateau?” Maximus asked.

n“I don’t know all of the families and factions stationed there, but I know some,” Feris replied.

n“There are two other families stationed here that have the same strength as us.”

n“The first one is the Moldhound family. Although it’s a family of knights, it’s one of the strongest families in the cursed continent, with a Tier 6 lunar knight as its head.”

n“The second is the Westle family. They are a family of scholars, but be careful arround them, they are quite proud and have a lot of connections”

nWhen he heard the term family of scholars, he wondered what profession that was.

nAfter browsing his memory, he finally knew.

nThe scholar or teacher profession is somewhat famous, though not as famous as alchemists and mechanics.

nScholars mainly study the history and general knowledge of the Etherium Realm.

nWhile alchemists and mechanics study the profession to master and control the law.

nScholars mainly dump vast amounts of knowledge to make their souls purer to advance.

nThey are also renowned as enlightenment teachers of powerful families’ children, providing enlightening guidance to top their full potential.

nThis potential here is not just the one shown in his system panel, which mainly shows your aptitude for absorbing and refining mana.

nIt is a broader term encompassing potential in various fields such as alchemy, mechanics, battle magic, formation, etc.

nScholars are one of the professions capable of detecting this hidden potential.

nMoreover, with a deep and broad knowledge, they are like a kickstarter to a fire.

nGuiding individuals to start on their path of choice.

nBeing a teacher, it’s no doubt that they have a lot of connections.

n“As for us, the Helmsworth family, we are a family of battle mages, as you know,”

nFeris explained, summarizing the three strongest families stationed in the sunburnt plateau.

n“Are there any more families and factions stationed here?” Maximus asked.

n“Yes, there are quite a few, but they don’t have Tier 5 or higher support, so you can rest assured,” Feris reassured him.

nAfterward, Feris provided more specific information about each faction.

nSome were only stationed there to recruit talent and did not possess any magic crystal mines, making it easier to persuade them to leave.

nHowever, for others with multiple magic crystal mines, persuasion would be more difficult.

nNevertheless, Feris suggested that Maximus offer them a compensation of 100,000 low-grade magic crystals per magic mine if he wanted to avoid too much trouble.

nMaximus understood this approach.

nAlthough he could kill or forcibly banish them from the sunburnt plateau, the subsequent consequences would be troublesome.

nAfter all, he couldn’t always be there, and the cost of compensation was less than that of a Tier 6 mechanical weapon’s energy consumption.

nBut if there were any stubborn ones with thick heads, he didn’t mind showing them the power of money and blasting them to pieces.

nAfter the conversation with Feris, Maximus prepared a sum of compensation according to the rules, but Feris initially refused to accept it.

nHowever, when Maximus emphasized that friendship and business should be kept separate, Feris reluctantly agreed.

n“Also, if you can try not to offend the Berunn city,” Feris warned

n“Berunn City?”

nMaximus knows this city, as it was the only place you can go to travel to other places in the cursed continent.

n“Does it have a huge background?”

n“Yes, they are one of the EGCC branches in the scattered island in the cursed continent,” Feris said lightly as if it was a common knowledge

nMaximus was just slightly surprised, as only EGCC was caple of that amount of transportation work.

nFurthermore, his disguised identity was a VIP 6 so it should be quite easy to talk to them.

n…

nLeaving the castle, Maximus set off for the other kingdoms within the sunburnt plateau.

nWith more than 50 kingdoms in the region, he estimated that at least half of them had magic crystal mines, which meant he would need to provide a minimum of 3 million in compensation.

nHowever, considering his vast wealth of over 400 million magic crystals, this amount was not a significant expense.

nArriving at his second destination, Maximus headed directly toward the capital city.

nIt was easy to identify as the capital due to its prosperous style and higher mana density.

nSimilar to his previous encounters, Maximus released his spiritual signature, catching the attention of the kingdom’s ruler who flew up to meet him.

n“I’m Maximus Shadowcrest, and I have come with the will of my teacher to request that you leave this plateau,” Maximus declared, presenting the cloned token of his disguised identity as Edward Williams, the Tier 5 mage and alchemist.

nSensing the aura of a Tier 5 mage emanating from the token, the ruler of the kingdom became frightened.

nAfter all, his patriarch was only a Tier 4 mage, so it was natural for him to feel scared.

n“I will leave willingly,” the ruler hurriedly responded.

nMaximus found it amusing how easy it was to intimidate people by using the tiger skin he disguised as a teacher.𝞸𝓥xt.𝒪𝑚

n“Don’t worry, you have one week to do so,” he stated.

n“And if you happen to possess any magic crystal mines, I am willing to compensate you with one hundred thousand magic crystals,” Maximus explained.

n“Oh,” the kingdom ruler was stunned by Maximus’ straightforward compensation.

n“We don’t have any magic crystal mines,” he replied, feeling disappointed.

nConsidering that a low-grade magic crystal mine produces approximately a thousand magic crystals per year, the ruler was surprised by the compensation of a hundred thousand magic crystals.

nIt was equivalent to almost a hundred years’ worth of mining.

nUnfortunately, he was only stationed in this region to recruit talents for his family, and his territory did not possess any magic crystal mines.

n“In that case, I will give you ten thousand magic crystals as compensation,” Maximus said.

nAlthough he appeared extravagant with his wealth, such an approach would help establish a positive reputation for the sunburnt plateau in the future.

nAfter all, Maximus couldn’t develop the entire land by himself; he needed external stimulation from the outside world.

nOtherwise, he could simply isolate the sunburnt plateau, and be done with it.

nThe ruler of the kingdom was ecstatic upon hearing about the compensation.

nThis amount was equivalent to his private property, and he no longer needed to hand it over to his family.

nAfter all this, compensation is not from the magic crystal mine that he needed to hand over to the family.

nAfter some quick discussion and the presentation of the compensation, Maximus headed toward the next kingdom.

nA week passed.

nMaximus continued his visits to the remaining kingdoms without much rest.

nOnly two families, the Moldhound and Westle families, were left to negotiate with.

nMaximus decided to visit the Moldhound family’s territory first since Feris had mentioned that they were straightforward to talk with.

nAfter some time, Maximus finally reached the capital city of the Moldhound kingdom.

nUpon arriving at the castle in the center, he released his spiritual consciousness, attracting the attention of a tall, muscular man.

n“Who are you? What do you want?” the man asked.

n“I’m Maximus Shadowcrest, and I’ve come on behalf of my teacher’s will. He intends to take the entire sunburnt plateau as his territory,” Maximus explained, presenting the cloned token.

nThe man carefully felt the mana emanating from the token and confirmed its authenticity.

n“Is that so? I’m Douglas Moldhound, the one in charge here,” Douglas introduced himself.

n“Why don’t we continue our conversation inside the castle?” Douglas invited.

n“Sure,” Maximus agreed.

nHe parked his flying boat and followed Douglas toward the castle.

nOnce inside, they sat down to talk.

n“I’m sure you’re aware of the rules,” Douglas stated.

n“Of course, I am,” Maximus replied confidently. Feris had already briefed him on the rules, which involved compensation.

nFor those without the backing of a Tier 5 powerhouse or above, Maximus only needed to compensate them with a hundred thousand magic crystals per magic crystal mine.

nHowever, for those with such backing, the compensation would be ten times the amount, plus the loss of talent they could recruit based on the population.

n“It’s easy to calculate then. Firstly, you have four magic crystal mines, which amounts to four million in compensation,” Douglas stated.

n“As for the population, it’s around 26 million, which would require 2.6 million magic crystals,” he continued, calculating the total compensation.

nMaximus quickly agreed with the calculations and took out 6.6 million magic crystals as compensation.

nJust as Feris had mentioned, the Moldhound family was straightforward as long as things are properly settled according to the rules.

nDouglas agreed to leave in a few days without creating any unnecessary trouble.

nWith the negotiations with the Moldhound family successfully concluded, only the Westle family remained to be dealt with.

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