The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Chapter 0439 Must-Have Both Bugs (Third Update, Make-Up for Last Month 1/15)

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Regardless of whether the Corn Grass Bug or the Rubber Bug can evolve into Little Minor Elves, the Smoke Mission must be completed.

Experience more content on empire

Liszt had no time to go to Black Horse Island again to observe the mutated rubber trees bearing fruit; he delegated the task to Captain Kostor to complete it—if mature rubber trees bearing fruit were found, that would be great; if not, the rubber trees were definitely just sprouting near the new Cordyceps.

In any case, these newly sprouted rubber trees are worth promoting vigorously.

"Levis's wedding is on September 12th, and there is only one week left. I must go to Tulip Castle to help out, or else people will talk," he ordered his servants to pack his bags, preparing to head to Tulip Castle first thing tomorrow morning.

Nightfall.

Fresh Flower Port finally welcomed two old two-masted cargo sailing ships, and Goltai returned with them.

"My lord, the two cargo ships have been purchased; one was phased out by the Tulip Fleet, the other by the Beer Castle Fleet. However, they're quite damaged and require us to refurbish them. The two old ships cost a total of 652 Gold Coins, and here are the remaining coins," he said.

After taking the Gold Coins, Liszt handed them to Butler Carter to count and said, "The task of repairing the cargo ships is also yours. With rubber and Thorn Ironwood, it won't be very difficult. Try to refurbish them to the best possible condition. Moreover, one is called Mangrove Number, and the other... Pearl."

The names of the ships were just simple codes; he didn't bother to think too hard about them.

After that, he began to inquire, "Consultant Gao Ertai, during this purchase of the ships, have you gathered any interesting information or experiences outside?"

Goltai suddenly said, "My lord, I almost forgot, there's some good news you'll definitely like!"

The contents of the Smoke Mission arrived.

Liszt smiled and asked, "What good news?"

"Viscount Jonas of Shattered Stone Castle has discovered two newly born Elf Bugs in his territory, one is a Dragon Kui Elf Bug, the other is a Venus Flytrap Spirit Worm. He plans to sell them to offset the losses from the Iron Hoof Island campaign," Goltai said excitedly. "These two Elf Bugs, one costs 1,500 Gold Coins, the other 1,200 Gold Coins. My lord, do you need them?"

Dragon Kui Bug?

Venus Flytrap Worm?

Liszt's eyebrows lifted; he was determined to get the Dragon Kui Bug—the recent batch of Auxiliary Magic Medicine Dragon Hollyhocks were about to mature, and although their effects were not yet clear, it was a magic potion and was bound to have substantial value. The territory had only one Dragon Kui Bug, tending a little over a hundred acres of land.

Another Dragon Kui Bug meant another hundred acres could be cultivated.

No matter how much magic potion was grown, it would always seem too little, so the greatest value of an Elf Bug is reflected in whether there is a magic potion to cultivate.

"1,500 Gold Coins for a Dragon Kui Bug is a bit expensive. Teacher Goltai, you set aside the repair work on Mangrove Number and Pearl for now and focus entirely on this Dragon Kui Bug. I want to buy it! My bottom line is 1,200 Gold Coins; every time you cut down ten Gold Coins from the price, you may take one Gold Coin as a commission," he said.

After hearing this, Goltai's eyes gleamed, "My lord, please rest assured, I am best at these matters, I can definitely secure the Dragon Kui Bug for 1,200 Gold Coins!"

"I look forward to you bringing the Dragon Kui Bug back."

"By the way, my lord, do you need the Venus Flytrap Worm?"

"If I can buy it for 800 Gold Coins, then I'll take it, otherwise forget it... Similarly, for every ten Gold Coins you cut down, you may take one as a commission," said Liszt after a moment's thought, knowing what Venus Flytraps were. Some nobles would place a pot or two of Venus Flytraps in their bedrooms to catch mosquitoes.

But in fact, the Venus Flytrap's catching efficiency had no real effect on clearing mosquitoes, at most it was merely a curiosity.

Indeed, all Elf Bugs are beautiful little creatures, but such a useless Elf Bug, costing more than 800 Gold Coins, still felt like poor value to him.

For the completion of the Smoke Mission.

He was willing to spend Gold Coins and buy this Venus Flytrap Worm as well.

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However, once he had made the decision, he quickly massaged his temples, "Dragon Kui Bugs will be 1,200 Gold Coins, Venus Flytrap Worms will be 800 Gold Coins, that's 2,000 Gold Coins altogether... Where am I supposed to get that much money? Could it really be that I must borrow from my grandmother?"

Borrowing money was not something that came easily.

Had it not been for Li Vera taking the initiative to offer him a loan, he would have decided to sell the Crimson Blood Sword. Even with Tulip Castle being wealthy, he was merely using the income from his properties as collateral to obtain Gold Coins in advance, not actually borrowing money. Deep down, he was not used to asking others for money.

But he could not afford to miss out on the Dragon Kui Bugs and Venus Flytrap Worms.

"Huff," he exhaled a breath of turbid air and instructed Butler Carter, "Mr. Carter, please prepare some Fen Hai Luo meat. Send one portion to the Earl and Earless, and another to my grandmother."

"Sir, what amount do you think is appropriate?"

"Five pounds... no, make it ten pounds each." Ten pounds was almost equivalent to the size of a basin full of Fen Hai Luo meat, and it hurt to give away a whole basin-sized Fen Hai Luo at once.

But he was embarrassed to repeat what he had done back then, only giving five pounds of the Six-Headed King Serpent, which weighed several tons, to the Earl.

The Earl had made fun of him for that several times.

"Also, pick out the smallest Black Pearls and string them into a necklace as a gift for my grandmother, to thank her for providing me with Fig Bugs," he added.

Carter bowed and left, "As you wish, sir."

...

The task of finding the Rubber Tree was given to Kostor; negotiating for the Dragon Kui Bugs and Venus Flytrap Worms was assigned to Goltai; the repair work for Mangrove Number and Pearl was handed over to Isaiah.

Liszt did this the next morning.

Carrying the two gifts, he headed towards Tulip Castle.

After the Earl received him in his study, he teased in a bantering tone, "How many pounds of Magical Beast Meat have you brought me this time?"

"Ten pounds... but not Magical Beast Meat, it's Sea Monster meat, from a low-level Sea Monster called Fen Hai Luo. These ten pounds are all the meat from the largest Fen Hai Luo," he replied with a well-intentioned lie. In fact, the largest ones were three Fen Hai Luo the size of bathing tubs.

The Earl didn't lack for eating low-level Magical Beast Meat; he just wanted a taste.

"It seems that you've had quite some gains recently," the Earl remarked, sounding quite satisfied with the ten pounds of Fen Hai Luo meat.

"I haven't had much in the way of gains recently, not one Elf Bug, and what's more, I even borrowed eight hundred Gold Coins from my sister."

"You think Elf Bugs are as common as wheat, that they're found everywhere?"

"Actually, I believe that Elf Bugs are not as rare as all that. Father, based on my observations over this past year, I've found that the birth rate of Elf Bugs can be influenced," Liszt decided to share some information with his father, to bring more Elf Bugs to the family.

As the family grew stronger, he would gain better protection, therefore, his mindset was continually changing.

Learning to share some not-so-important experiences to help develop the family.

"How can it be influenced?" The Earl was clearly interested, sitting up straight with an eager, attentive posture. The importance of Elf Bugs to the territory was something every Landlord deeply understood.

Liszt didn't mince his words.

He went straight to the point, "I'm not sure about the gestation rate of Elf Bugs, but I know most Elf Bugs actually die from miscarriage. What we need to do, is to detect any abnormalities in plants as early as possible and then increase the nutrition supply."