Chapter 055: Money! Money! Money!
Huh, have all my good points been seen through? What’s an old man like me to do…
It was the first time Chen Ran knew he had so many good points. His tail immediately shot up, and he said grandly, “Of course, no problem. Just leave such a small matter to me.”
Chen Ran had already made up his mind. When he was the only one in this church, he would just close the doors. Anyway, not even a ghost came here. When he had money, he would try to improve the current environment.
“You’re not planning to just close the doors and wait for me to come back, are you?” the old high priest asked, squinting his eyes as if he had seen through Chen Ran’s motives.
Chen Ran’s eyelids twitched. It seemed this old man wasn’t as stupid as he thought. He said with great righteousness, “Uh, how could I? Do I look like that kind of person…”
The old high priest didn’t mind Chen Ran’s glibness and continued, “No matter what, you have to promise me to do your best to keep the remaining believers, even if there’s only one left. Even if their status is low, you must help them as much as possible…” Then, the old high priest looked into Chen Ran’s eyes again and said seriously, “Can you do that?”
Chen Ran couldn’t help but sigh and said, “Alright, I can do that…” Chen Ran thought to himself, Anyway, it’s just those few people in the morning service. I’ll just spend a little time each day to deal with it.
“Then I’m relieved,” the old high priest said, sighing in relief. He patted Chen Ran’s shoulder with a hint of approval on his face. “It’s rare to see such a smart and capable young man like you. I quite like you. If you do well here, I might even introduce my granddaughter, who lives in the Holy City, to you. Perhaps…”
“Pfft…”
Chen Ran suddenly had the urge to vomit blood again.
Damn it, should I say I have good luck with women or bad luck? Not to mention what the old high priest’s granddaughter looks like, Chen Ran could barely handle his two heartbreaking relationships. Women were something he was a little afraid to touch. He couldn’t afford to get hurt.
Perhaps seeing Chen Ran’s unmoved and stern expression, the old high priest couldn’t help but chuckle and reminded him, “I haven’t seen my granddaughter for many years. I’ll go see her when I get back this time. I don’t know what she looks like now. I remember she was very cute when she was a child, and many people liked her. She should be about nineteen now.”
Old man, don’t cause me any more trouble…
Chen Ran waved his hand and said, “That’s really not necessary. In any case, I will handle things here properly.”
“Mmm, that’s good. As for the departure time, I won’t delay. I plan to leave tomorrow,” the old high priest said, nodding as he looked at Chen Ran’s calm and capable expression. “It’s good to be young, full of vigor and drive. I can rest assured after I leave.”
Next, after the old high priest had specifically explained the tasks Chen Ran had to do, there was nothing more to say. He went straight back to his room to pack his luggage, and Chen Ran helped him.
The next day, after the old high priest had finished his last morning service with a few old regulars before his departure, he finally embarked on his journey home. Chen Ran waved goodbye at the door, watching the old high priest’s figure disappear at the end of the street…
“Oh yeah, this church is my territory now!”
Chen Ran snapped his fingers, then turned around and looked at the somewhat desolate little church.
The problem now was, what should he, a lone commander, do…
The old high priest hadn’t left him much. Besides this church, there were two full bags of soybeans, so at least he wouldn’t starve for half a month. But he couldn’t just sit and eat away his supplies.
So, he made up his mind to go to the market first and sell some small items to earn his first pot of gold.
Regarding the currency system of this world, the popular conversion was 1 gold coin = 10 silver coins = 100 copper coins = 1000 copper pieces. Although there was a higher classification of 1 adamantite coin = 2 mithril coins = 10 magic crystal coins = 100 gold coins, these higher currencies were also precious materials, mostly used for showing off wealth. At least, gold coins were the main currency in this world.
Chen Ran’s main ability was in the production of various equipment and accessories, so he had to make use of his strengths.
After coming to the city, the materials available here were much more abundant. He was no longer limited to the simple fur and magic cores from the jungle to make what he wanted. Metals, ores, cloth, wood, gems, and so on enriched his development field. As long as he collected the necessary materials, he could now make high-level weapons, plate armor, chain mail, robes, and enchanted jewelry. Although, right now, he didn’t have the money to buy the necessary basic materials, because the things in those shops were really not cheap.
So, he needed a sum of startup capital to start his grand plan.
He calculated. The only things he had that could be sold for money were his Tiger King tunic with the defense rune, a large number of low- and mid-quality magical beast crystal cores, and a large number of low-end magical beast pelts. The crystal cores, no matter how low-grade, could be kept for now. The pelts could be sold directly to the merchants. As for the slightly better ones, he could keep them to make some low-grade leather armor.
After spending a few days to get a basic understanding of the situation here, Chen Ran was quite efficient. He quickly found a local fur merchant.
Because Chen Ran’s pelts were very complete (he had repaired the damaged parts with his skills), the price of the ordinary pelts he sold was not bad, a little higher than the price of the pelts sent by other hunters, but that was all.
Although each of these pelts Chen Ran sent could only be sold for about five silver coins on average, the sheer number of them, a whole cartload, actually earned him a full 50-plus gold coins. This was a considerable sum of money in the early stages.
Instantly, Chen Ran’s back straightened a lot. He spent a whole gold coin on a luxurious lunch at a small tavern, without even taking any leftovers.
After a full meal, Chen Ran went to the vicinity of the local armor shop to try his luck.
50-plus gold coins seemed like a lot, but this was only for ordinary people. If he went to some luxury goods store, it wouldn’t even be enough to buy a small gem. He couldn’t afford it.
Chen Ran’s next goal was simple. After his many inquiries, he learned that in more than a month, the city’s auction house would hold a super auction once a year. At that time, the powerful and wealthy of the city would be invited to participate. In addition, some merchants from neighboring cities would also come to see if they could find any interesting good things.
For Chen Ran, this was a good opportunity. Based on his assessment of the equipment level in this city, most of the things here were only of good quality (green). For a talent like him, who could almost make epic quality (dark gold) equipment as long as he had the materials, he only needed to make a few fine quality (blue) pieces of equipment. With the bidding of the wealthy from all sides, he would definitely be able to earn a considerable fortune.
Of course, if he was going to play, he would play big. Chen Ran decided to work as hard as possible to make an excellent quality (purple) item to make a name for himself. What he needed now was not just money, but also prestige. This would be a great help to him in the future in this city.
