Chapter 50 - 48: What Does It Take to Get Stronger?

Chapter 50: Chapter 48: What Does It Take to Get Stronger?

"A little higher!"

"The left side is a bit low... Okay! That’s it!"

"Perfect!"

After seeing Mirana and her group off, Lu Wei and the other two began the tense work of "store renovation."

They didn’t have the ability to build a proper house yet.

But they could at least hang up a sign first.

So after breakfast, the three of them split up and got to work.

Furen was in charge of chopping wood to make the backboard for the sign.

Bai Ya was responsible for collecting various natural pigments and painting it.

And Lu Wei was tasked with carving the name of their shop onto the wooden board—

Gold Coins, Sword, and Pepper Powder!

That’s right. At Furen and Bai Ya’s strong insistence, the order of "Sword" and "Gold Coins" was swapped to highlight his importance as the captain.

To be honest, Lu Wei didn’t really care.

As long as it made money, it was fine by him.

Gazing at the sign, which was hanging on the east side of the Dome Tree about four meters off the ground, he continued to give orders:

"Next, hang up these Kobold heads."

"No problem!"

Furen stood on a simple ladder and took the dozen or so right-earless Kobold heads that Bai Ya had already strung together, securing the rope deep in the tree trunk.

After another adjustment to its position, a very intimidating "decoration" was complete.

This was also Lu Wei’s idea.

He planned to hang up the heads of all the monsters they killed from now on, as a warning to any potential customers thinking of getting a five-finger discount to first consider if their Power was up to the task.

And in a beginner’s map like Gelan Forest, he believed this would be enough to scare off most people.

"Alright, that’s enough for today."

Having spent the whole morning finishing just this little bit of work, Lu Wei decided they should eat lunch first and continue with further construction in the afternoon—

building a fence under the sign to create an "open-air shop."

Although it had no real practical purpose, it at least looked a little more "official."

In any case, his business venture was finally off the ground.

He had a place of business, start-up capital, and employees. The next step was continuous accumulation and expansion.

If everything went smoothly, he believed it wouldn’t be long before he became the richest person in Heitai Town.

Then Kalin Port, the Northern River Valley, the Caluns Duchy, the Octavia Kingdom, and finally the entire continent!

[Earn one hundred Gold Coins through mutually acknowledged, genuine transactions. (3.76/100)]

Standing under the Dome Tree and looking at the progress bar in his mind that had undergone a qualitative change, Lu Wei was filled with confidence and ambition. He turned around and urged:

"Hey, is the mushroom soup ready yet?"

...

...

"This is just the beginning! Next, we’ll go to the swamps, Underground Cities, deserts, and oceans, and put a Golden Sword Hu Grocery Store in every Adventurer’s Land!"

"Mhm!"

"By then, we’ll have a fortune to rival a nation’s!"

"Mhm mhm!"

"We’ll also have countless employees, even a mercenary army!"

"Mhm mhm mhm!"

"Anyway... get me another bowl of mushroom soup."

"Yes, Captain!"

Nodding vigorously, Bai Ya quickly ladled another large bowl of mushroom soup for Lu Wei, clearly swept up by the grand picture he was passionately painting.

Furen also looked captivated, but he seemed a little conflicted.

"Lu Wei, I’m not that interested in making money."

After hesitating for a moment, he decided to speak his mind honestly.

"You know my dream is to become the greatest Warrior on the continent. So I still want to go on as many adventures as possible to increase my Power and pass the Professional Assessment sooner..."

’Hold on! Is your dream more important, or is mine?!’

"Of course, I know that."

Seeing that his employee was having ideological problems again, Lu Wei had to temporarily set aside his delicious mushroom soup and ask seriously, "But let me ask you, what do you need to increase your Power?"

"Uh..."

Stunned for a second, Furen answered honestly, though he didn’t understand why Lu Wei was asking.

"You need talent, effort, arduous training, and a little bit of lu—"

"Wrong! Completely and utterly wrong!"

Before Furen could even finish, Lu Wei shook his head and turned to look at Bai Ya.

"You tell him what you need."

"You need money!" Bai Ya immediately shouted back.

"Exactly. Money is the most important thing. How can you not even understand that?"

His gaze shifting back to Furen’s face, Lu Wei looked heartbroken.

"Good Weapons, Armor, essential medicines and supplies for adventuring, even Skill Books—which of these don’t cost money?"

"Fine, let’s say you’re a Magic Dullard, so those things aren’t important to you."

"Then let’s talk about a Divine Blessing."

"You can absorb that, can’t you? And it would greatly increase your Power, right?"

"So, if you just rely on luck, how long do you think it would take you to find one?"

"Admit it, you’d probably never find one in your entire life!"

"But if you have money, you could easily buy one tomorrow!"

"And that is the power of money! It lets you obtain everything you want to obtain!"

Delivering his conclusion decisively, Lu Wei judged from Furen’s dumbfounded expression that his words had successfully twisted his worldview.

So, his tone softened.

"Of course, as your friend and captain, I would never stop you from pursuing your dream."

"I just think that becoming a great Warrior and making money aren’t mutually exclusive."

"For example, didn’t we just experience a thrilling battle last night?"

"That... seems right."

Furen nodded blankly, feeling like he had heard these words before.

’Where have I heard that before...? Right!’

Suddenly, he remembered and said with a shocked expression, "My father told me the same thing!"

’Is that so? This means your dad’s values are pretty similar to mine. In other words, I could be your dad too.’

"This means that Lord Marquis is also a wise man who can see the true nature of things."

Lu Wei smiled. "The ideas of our elders may be old-fashioned and out of touch, but one thing is certain: most of the time, they just want what’s best for you."

"Ah, is that so..."

Furen paused, the memory of arguing with his father surfacing in his mind, and his expression gradually turned to one of shame.

At the same time, his admiration for Lu Wei grew even deeper.

"Thank you, Lu Wei. I’ll apologize to my father the next time I go home."

"And if you’re willing, I’d like to introduce you to him. I’m sure you two would have a lot to talk about."

"Of course. It would be my honor."

Lu Wei certainly wouldn’t refuse the chance to connect with a Viscount.

But even though he now had enough money for the trip to Kalin Port, he was no longer in a hurry.

He had wanted to go to Kalin Port before to sell the Soul Pendant and get start-up capital for his business.

Now, however, he wasn’t short on money anymore. Instead, he had a greater need to increase his Power.

Therefore, perhaps he could hold onto the Soul Pendant for a while longer.

After all, the Attributes this piece of Equipment provided were quite a good fit for him.

As for the "Summon Undead" Skill that came with the Pendant...

’It feels like it should be very powerful, but the problem is, to use this Skill, I first have to learn the Universal Skill [Spirit Communication].’

’It sounds a bit "unsettling," like something an Evil Mage or a Druid would use.’

’So, is it necessary to learn it?’

’It feels a bit like going to the trouble of making dumplings just for the dipping sauce...’

’Whatever, I’ll deal with it later. It’s not even a given that I can buy the Skill Book anyway.’

After zoning out for a moment, Lu Wei shook his head, picked up his bowl, and continued to slurp down the mushroom soup.

Meanwhile, ten miles from the Dome Pillar, Mirana and her group stood beside a stream. They gripped their weapons, locked in a silent standoff with a massive monster on the opposite bank.

The latter’s massive body was several times larger than even the strongest Beastman’s. It was covered in coarse, wire-hard, grayish-brown fur caked with lumps of dirt and resin.

Its head resembled a hyena’s, and viscous, foul-smelling saliva dripped constantly from the corners of its mouth. The huge Wolf-toothed Stick it carried was covered in dark red grime, and fragments of flesh and blood seemed to cling between its spikes.

It was, without a doubt, a genuine High Level Monster—a bear goblin!

"..."

Holding their breath and staring fixedly into the bear goblin’s greedy and cruel eyes, Mirana and her group slowly backed away.

Most of the time, bear goblins did indeed stick to the deep forest.

But it wasn’t unheard of for them to appear in the outer areas, so running into one was just their bad luck.

The sound of the stream was light and pleasant. Bright sunlight streamed down, and a few small birds perched on a branch, contentedly preening their feathers.

However, in the next second, this tranquility was utterly shattered.

"ROAR—!!!"

Suddenly, a furious and guttural roar exploded through the air.

Immediately after, water splashed everywhere as the bear goblin shattered the pebbles by the stream with a single step, then lunged at Mirana as if it had lost all control.