Chapter 157: One After The Other
Three carriages stopped at the Gilded Rose at this time.
Three people got off their carriages, Black Horn Auction House's Cadgar, Viper Nest's Sauss, and the last one was somewhat unexpected to Lin Yun, it was Leader Monchi of the Monchi Family.
Among these three, the relation between Cadgar and Lin Yun was the best, the Gilded Rose and the Black Horn Auction House had already formed a very firm cooperative relationship. Thus, after Cadgar got down from the carriage, he didn't treat Lin Yun as an outsider and greeted him after entering.
And there was also Sauss.
Although the leader of the strongest underground power of Thousand Sails City had a disagreement with Lin Yun at the start, after meeting in the Poison Fog Canyon, having a sentry tower exploding, and getting rid of a Great Mage together, Sauss had become extremely well-behaved. Moreover, after becoming well-behaved, Sauss surprisingly found out that the Viper Nest's life had become better.
The most obvious part was that the Gilded Rose was supplying them with the best alchemy items, raising the strength of the Viper Nest by one whole level. It was providing them with the support they were in dire need of for the expansion in the Poison Fog Canyon. Moreover, Sauss was an opportunist, thus, with the deeper cooperation and future prospects, he didn't think much about it and drew a clear dividing line with the Monchi Family and drew close to the Gilded Rose.
Thus, the face of Monchi as he came down from the carriage wasn't very good.
But it's not like Monchi could do something about it. Although Sauss could be said to be a subordinate force Monchi supported in the past, but in recent years, Sauss had already broke away from Monchi's influence and his Viper Nest had been operating in the Poison Fog Canyon away from everyone's eyes like an independent kingdom. Although Monchi was quite resentful, he could only hide it in his heart. Only in front of his two sons would he dare to curse Sauss as a thankless wretch, and other names.
In any case, Monchi had avoided appearing together with Sauss as much as possible in order to avoid being made fun of by others behind his back.
But he couldn't do so today...
Because Lys had already clearly said that the Gilded Rose's Mafa Merlin was in charge of breaking all the alchemy arrays of the Vaughn Treasury and in exchange, he would have priority on choosing magic materials. If they had some demand on magic materials, they only had two choices. One was to replace Mafa Merlin to break those alchemy arrays, and the second was to discuss with Mafa Merlin.
Those were alchemy arrays left behind by the final Artisan of the 3rd Dynasty. Although the three had many Alchemists subordinates and Cadgar and Monchi even had Great Alchemist subordinates, the three didn't even think about breaking the alchemy array of an Artisan.
Thus, they only had one choice, coming to discuss with a certain person.
Cadgar and Sauss were fine, they would usually chat with Lin Yun. But Monchi was a bit bitter...
Not to mention Locke Merlin's shipwreck, just the relationship between Twin Moons Splendor and the Gilded Rose couldn't help but make Monchi feel embarrassed. They were irreconcilables competitors. To defeat the Gilded Rose, he hadn't hesitated to attack both in the open and in the dark, yet he didn't get a single advantage and the Gilded Rose kept expanding every day, leaving the Twin Moons Splendor far behind in the dust. Monchi would feel troubled about it.
After hearing that the Monchi Family would participate in the exploration of the Vaughn Treasury, the Black Tower immediately had someone send a list of items and asked Monchi to spare no efforts to get those three materials. They promised that as long as Monchi was able to meet the requirements of the Black Tower, Monchi would obtain the full support of the Black Tower.
Full support, this temptation was too great for Monchi.
For this, Monchi was ready to lose his self-respect and personally visit Mafa Merlin.
Standing outside the Gilded Rose, Monchi only felt uncomfortable. Besides the betraying Sauss, there was also the one who set off against him time and time again, Mafa Merlin. Monchi felt like a piece of meat getting ready to be roasted.
"Eh..." Monchi couldn't help sighing when he entered. If he had dealt with that Mafa Merlin properly at the start, or if he had paid more attention later then he wouldn't have such a headache now.
But it was too late right now.
The Gilded Rose had already thoroughly expanded. Not only did it have huge financial resources, it also maintained a favorable relationship with every major force in Thousand Sails City. If Monchi did anything, he might be attacked by all major forces. Thinking of this, Monchi couldn't help throwing a disgusted look at Sauss. Seeing that scoundrel's smile, he knew that Sauss had most likely obtained many benefits from the Gilded Rose.
What's more, Mafa Merlin was a 5th Rank Great Mage himself, it wouldn't be as easy to deal with him as it could have been before.
Monchi took a deep breath and kept urging himself, 'Must endure, must endure, I have to be patient and accommodating. I have to get those three materials, only then will I get the full support of the Black Tower. This is crucial for the Monchi Family, especially since Solan isn't here this year. The Black Tower support is everything to the Monchi Family.'
'All I have to do is endure for a year. When Solan returns as an Archmage a year later, everything will be different. At that time, the Monchi Family would have the power to sweep through Thousand Sails City. Not to mention a small Gilded Rose, even the Sage Tower and Silver Moon Mercenary would have no other choice but to look up to him. At that time, everything he lost today would be returned.
Monchi fiercely clenched his teeth and squeezed an unsightly smile, "Great Mage Merlin..."
Lin Yun was surprised when he saw this situation, 'Is there a meeting I'm unaware of? How come they all chose to come at this time?'
First was Jouyi and Solomon, then Hoen and Leon, and now it was the leaders of three major forces in Thousand Sails City. As Lin Yun greeted them, he couldn't help looking outside, wondering if a few more would appear.
"Erm, three leaders, how about you take a seat in the reception room first? I still have something to take care of..." After throwing a few glances outside and making sure that no one else would come, he welcomed the three and asked them to wait in his reception room.
"Merlin, this is..." Cadgar noticed something wrong at this time, there was someone else with Lin Yun besides the three of them.
He was fine before noticing, but once he discovered that this person was actually a peak High Mage, Cadgar suddenly became startled. This was a power that only two or three people could equal in Thousand Sails City.
Moreover, the expression of this peak High Mage wasn't very good. Although he was just standing there, he was unleashing the mana fluctuations of a peak High Mage.
This meant that he wanted to make a move!
Cadgar was suddenly startled and almost retreated one step. At the same time he asked Lin Yun, "Merlin, this is?"
"Eh, this is High Mage Hoen, Cloud Tower's Head of the Magic Department."
"Eh..." Cadgar nodded with exaggeration and enthusiastically greeted him, "High Mage Hoen, it's an honor to meet you. I am Cadgar of the Black Horn chamber of commerce, I..."
"Okay, you don't need to say anything else." Hoen didn't look at him and coldly interrupted his introduction, "Who you are doesn't matter, I came for Mafa Merlin today."
Cadgar and Sauss were suddenly stumped by those words.
It seems that this Mafa Merlin provoked great troubles. A 9th Rank High Mage came to look for him, and when Cadgar introduced himself under the Black Horn chamber of commerce, the High Mage didn't even glance at him. From this, it could be seen how powerful his background was, he didn't even need to show respect to the Black Horn chamber of commerce.
This time, this matter might not be that easy to solve.
"Mafa Merlin, I'll ask you again. Are you the one who put Mana Shackles on Leon Merlin's body?"
"Yes, I did."
Lin Yun's words silenced the entire lobby. Cadgar and Sauss both looked at Lin Yun, shocked at the words Mana Shackles!
The two then looked at the youth next to Hoen and their expression sank. There was no need to ask to know that this youth without a single mana fluctuation was most likely the Leon Merlin he had mentioned. As for the relation between the two, it was clear that even if they weren't family, or master and disciple, it still wouldn't be simple.
In other words, Great Mage Merlin had used Mana Shackles on someone related to a 9th Rank High Mage.
This was definitely drawing a lot of hostility.
Mana Shackles was used to seal mana, as long as it was set up, it could make a High mage turn into an ordinary person. Even when a higher ranked mage crushed a lower ranked mage, they would only use it when there was great hatred between them, because to a mage, losing their mana was no different from death.
Thinking about this, the two couldn't help grumbling, 'Great Mage Merlin, this isn't a game...'
At this time, Monchi's eyes shone as he watched from the side, 'Ahah, Mana Shackles? Mafa Merlin, you doomed yourself.'
At this moment, Monchi stood out, "Hello, High Mage Hoen, I've been looking forward to meeting you. My younger brother Solan Monchi often mentions you..."