Chapter 855: Witch Rose’s Alliance

Although puzzled inwardly, Locke, maintaining the basic composure befitting a white wizard, took the initiative to sit on one of the sofas in the private room with an impassive expression. He crossed his hands, sensed the magic pressure emanating from Witch Rose, which was approaching star ring level, and said, "The Tacitus family is a distinguished wizard family within the Rose Council, and your teacher and my teacher are enemies."

"You want to form an alliance with me?"

"Are you trying to make a deal with a tiger, or do you have some other purpose?"

Locke crossed his hands and said coldly.

Rose Tacitus tilted her chin up slightly, her gaze proud. Locke noticed that when she spoke to him, she was not actually looking at him. That is to say, she was not paying attention to him at all. Her attention had been elsewhere the entire time.

Only Locke did not know what she was paying attention to.

Witch Rose said, "Let me correct a few errors. First, the Rose Throne and the Red Dragon Throne are not enemies but rivals. The lineage struggle is not a real wizard war."

"And cooperation between the two great lineages is not uncommon. It is not only me coming to find you. People on your side will also go looking for people on our side, and by the same logic, people on our side will also come looking for people on your side."

Locke suddenly said, "I see. So Wizard Brandy's recent abandonment of his flesh-and-blood sacred tree topic was prompted by someone on your side."

Witch Rose looked at Locke with surprise. This time she shifted her attention to Locke for several seconds, then quickly tilted her chin up again, making herself seem slightly taller, while her attention shifted away once more.

"Not bad. You are indeed very sharp, which is why I believe you can work with me."

"It was someone from the Rose Throne's lineage affiliated with Solas Light Foot who found Wizard Brandy and persuaded him to abandon the flesh-and-blood sacred tree. They pointed out that even if he worked on that project for another three years, it would never secure the special-grade grant. He was not originally someone we would bother recruiting or getting involved with, but Solas Light Foot clearly wanted to create a little trouble for you."

"If you were to find yourself mired in failure in the special-grade grant application, you would naturally have little extra energy to interfere in other matters. Many situations run deeper than you imagine. Although you are already considered one of the core members of the Red Dragon Throne's team, your credentials are still far too shallow and your accumulation insufficient."

Witch Rose sat on the sofa and said to Locke, "The second error: do you think that we wizards are the kind of people who, having been placed in one lineage, get labeled, and then because of different labels on ourselves, are forced to choose only one side and cannot make our own judgments?"

"No. We are wizards, seekers of truth. We possess free will."

"A lineage is one thing, but sometimes the interests of an individual and the interests of a lineage do not necessarily align."

"Sometimes, the people within the same faction are our true rivals. Is that not so? For example, this year's special-grade grant: your greatest opponent is not me. It is your colleagues."

Witch Rose spread her hands and said to Locke, "And am I your greatest opponent? Not in the short term either. Both of us have rivals within our own lineages. We are wizards, and we place the highest importance on interests. As long as we have common interests, a temporary alliance is possible, is it not?"

Locke understood and directly asked the two most important questions.

"What do you need me to do? And what can you do for me?"

Witch Rose checked the various wizard formations in Private Room No. 1 of the Witch's Kitchen, confirming that the room was in a state of complete soundproofing and that all magical tools capable of recording audio and imagery had been blocked.

"The Rose Throne ordered me to unite with Solas Light Foot and Melechi's Magic Steps. But after the Third Circle wizards and the Throne went to the Genesis Conference, these two shop alliances began repeatedly paying lip service while defying me in practice. Probably because I discovered their corruption and embezzlement."

Witch Rose said, "At present, I cannot force my way into the true upper echelons of either shop alliance. Especially the moon ring wizard supervisor of Solas Light Foot, a man called Horm. He is exceedingly cunning and detestable. Relying on Sun Ring Hades's trust in him, he simply ignores my instructions."

Locke more or less understood the problem.

Although Witch Rose had an elevated status, she was ultimately still a young person, and not even a star ring wizard.

Wanting to enter the true power center of Solas Light Foot, after the Third Circle wizards of her lineage had collectively attended the Genesis Conference, how could she command the allegiance of others, let alone outmaneuver that moon ring wizard supervisor?

She had clearly suffered quite a few setbacks during this period.

Locke said, "So you need me to help deal with them?"

Witch Rose propped her right cheek on her right hand, leaning against the sofa. "Indeed. These two shops are currently attacking each other, and both have their own plans. What I want to help you do is, at the moment these two shop alliances hold their themed launch events, help you release a blockbuster wizard shoe that will make their schemes fall apart."

"That way, both shop alliances' shareholder values will be affected, their wizard shareholders will start to waver, and your shop alliance will make a name for itself in a single battle."

"A benefit this large, do you not want it?"

"Your shop alliance gains its name, while I can seize the opportunity to unite the wizards who support me and strike at the power centers of the two shop alliances, truly taking control of them."

"Only then can the real contest between us be said to have begun."

Locke looked at her with puzzlement.

"You are a core figure of your lineage. If I were to tell others what you said to me today, would you not be in serious trouble?"

Witch Rose was unconcerned.

"You are welcome to say it. No one would believe it. Besides, you are not that kind of person, Locke Augustine. I have read your past record. You are not someone who acts on emotion. In a certain sense, we are the same kind of people. We are both people who will do whatever it takes to achieve what we seek."

"How one gets there does not matter, does it? Only the result matters."

Locke looked at her deeply. "No, you and I are most likely not the same kind of person."

Witch Rose, hearing these words, furrowed her brow, stood up, and was immediately about to walk out of the private room without the slightest hesitation, as though if Locke did not agree to her deal, she could immediately find someone else.

Locke said, "Rose, although you and I are not the same kind of person, I did not say we cannot cooperate."

Witch Rose curved the corner of her mouth and looked directly at Locke. "And you still say you and I are not the same kind of person. Actually, I knew long ago that you would choose to cooperate with me, because my proposal is of pure benefit to you with no harm whatsoever."

"Of course, only from your perspective."

"You could cooperate with Witch Camilla of Magic Pivot City, your Golden Crown Mountain rival. You could befriend Hussein, who nearly killed you, and become close friends with the ill-tempered Antoine. This proves that you and I alike have no useless attachments to values."

Locke glanced at Witch Rose and shook his head slightly.

"I think you have misjudged."

"But you can sit down now. How do you want us to cooperate?"

Locke had just thought it through and found that regardless of whether this so-called cooperation was a trap, accepting it was the right call.

On top of that, there was currently the inexplicable drop in pre-sales for his second pair of wizard shoes to consider.

'The conflict between lineages and the internal rivalry among colleagues over the special-grade grant, external contradictions and internal contradictions, have ultimately converged. That makes sense. Behind internal disputes, there is often the support of external enemies.'

'Every year at this stage, the special-grade grant competition enters a period of intense rivalry. Perhaps every year external parties suddenly intervene at this stage.'

'It is probably not the kind of scheme that involves recruiting certain people. After all, wizards of different lineages are extremely difficult to recruit. Witch Esther's situation remains a special case. But by simply intervening and providing a little help to certain wizards who are just a bit short of what they need, inferior quality can drive out superior quality, and the other lineage's ability to cultivate talent can be damaged.'

Locke instantly realized that the special-grade grant was very likely a hotbed of conflict every year.

This was probably not unique to Golden Crown Mountain. Other wizard academies were likely the same.

The fact that Golden Crown Mountain had reached the level of the special-grade grant application before this kind of vicious competition appeared was already quite impressive.

Because at lower-tier wizard academies, the severe problem of inferior quality driving out superior quality had probably already manifested at even lower levels of grant applications.

Witch Rose settled back onto the sofa. "Mr. Augustine, you understand far too little about wizard shoe materials. I looked at the sales report for your first Second Circle wizard shoe. A large part of the reason you could succeed on your very first attempt was two things."

Locke grew serious and said to Witch Rose, "Miss Tacitus, please continue."

Witch Rose said, "First, your first pair of wizard shoes had many of your friends and fellow lineage wizards purchasing them. But in a short time, their demand has already been satisfied."

"For some reason, you did not build planned obsolescence into your wizard shoes."

"That is, deliberately having your wizard shoes reach an expected point of obsolescence after a certain period. We magical textile workers of course have the means to make a pair of wizard shoes last thousands of years without frequent use, and even last over a decade in dangerous void environments."

"We certainly have the ability to repair severely damaged wizard shoes rather than requiring customers to simply buy a new pair. We certainly have the ability to extend the lifespan of wizard shoes through regular annual maintenance."

Witch Rose curved the corner of her mouth in a sardonic smile.

"Only if we were to do all that, where would we earn our money?"

"Based on our experience at Solas Light Foot and Melechi's Magic Steps, when we compromised with customers, customers did not respect us. When Solas Light Foot and Melechi's Magic Steps were first established, like every newly founded shop alliance, we were full of hope for our customers."

"But the reality was that we were hurt again and again."

Witch Rose said, "Customers flow like water, and the shop alliance is like a reservoir. How much we can hold back depends on our own capabilities. If you pour too much useless sentiment into your customers, you are only wasting your own energy."

Locke furrowed his brow. He was at least certain now of one thing: whether it was Witch Rose or the Rose Throne, their philosophy and that of himself and his teacher did indeed have some kind of fundamental conflict.

Witch Rose said, "So, the first point: because you did not implement planned obsolescence, your customer base's demand is now saturated."

"Second, your first pair of wizard shoes sold very well because of the low price, and many people bought them with saving money in mind. But your second pair of wizard shoes is priced at two million. That is already the price of the Vicos shop alliance's wizard shoes."

"This means your original low-price advantage no longer exists, and you are missing something very important from your wizard shoes."

Locke asked, "What are you missing?"

Witch Rose said, "A combat record. This is also the most important thing I came this time to remind you of."

"Whatever you do, do not think of wizard shoes as a clothing item or a piece of sporting goods. Second Circle wizard shoes and First Circle wizard shoes have undergone a serious positioning shift because of the different primary activity environments and different levels of Second Circle and First Circle wizards."

"First Circle wizard shoes are at most sporting goods and magical equipment, but the essential nature of Second Circle wizard shoes is a critical single-soldier weapon. During void exploration, without a good pair of wizard shoes, progress will be impossible."

"When Melechi and Solas Light Foot were just starting out, both spent heavily to hire large numbers of void explorers to enter various planes, broadcasting the entire process live and recording the usage records of their wizard shoes in depth, pushing into extreme environments and testing the limits of the wizard shoes they had designed."

"The reason this point is now obscured is not that we deliberately sealed the information, but because our shop alliances' reputations are already established and we no longer need to do this."

"But void explorers look at a wizard shoe's combat record."

"All weapons ultimately live or die by their combat records. Your wizard shoes have no combat record, no combat reputation, and therefore it will be difficult to gain traction among void explorers."

Under Witch Rose's wake-up call, Locke snapped to attention and realized that the poor sales this time were indeed the result of a positioning error on his part.

His second pair of Second Circle wizard shoes was positioned for use in extreme void exploration.

That is to say, primarily targeting void explorers.

This was the main direction Solas Light Foot had developed in.

But as a weapon-grade wizard shoe serving this purpose, his shoes lacked a combat record.

That is to say, what was most important for a weapon: real-world battlefield testing.

He had actually encountered something similar when selling magical plants in the southeast corner region before.

Locke thought: "I see. The thinking needs to shift, to handling my Second Circle wizard shoes with the mindset of selling a weapon. Since it is a weapon, it needs a combat record."

Witch Rose said, "However, you may be somewhat short on time now. Organizing a void exploration takes at least about half a year. You also need to purchase a void warship, hire void explorers, and so on. The cost is enormous..."

"Your little shop alliance should not currently have any void explorer teams on staff. Solas Light Foot and Melechi's Magic Steps no longer need void explorers for promotional purposes since their reputations are already established, but they still need to keep some void explorer teams through hire or contract arrangements, to conduct plane exploration and development and search for new materials."

Locke realized that Witch Rose did not know he had recently gone to the infinite void in his main body to conduct plane exploration, probably because the information she had accessed about him was from at least several months ago.

Locke thought: 'So the problem was here.'

Locke looked up at Witch Rose and said, "Thank you for the reminder. We can indeed become temporary allies, until you and I have removed the current administrative heads of Solas Light Foot and Melechi."

"Only, are you not afraid of the danger in making a deal with a tiger?"

Witch Rose's pupils focused again and looked at Locke. "I have absolute confidence in my own abilities. I will soon advance to star ring wizard. I will also take control of the administrative authority of both shop alliances and have the support of the Tacitus family, and thereby obtain the assistance of Sun Ring senior martial brother Hades."

"As long as my plan is realized, I will gain all of this. What is there for me to be afraid of?"

"Our cooperation is not me raising a tiger for future trouble. It is you trying to make a deal with a tiger. You are creating the greatest enemy in the wizard shoe market's history."

Witch Rose fixed her gaze on Locke's eyes, the corner of her mouth carrying a provocative smile. "People who cooperate with me rarely get to walk away unscathed. It is worth telling you that."

"Not because I backstab others. I never voluntarily break agreements. It is just that when I want to cooperate with someone and make them an ally, it means I have absolute confidence that I can eventually absorb them. Locke, it is you who are walking toward a dead end, not me."

"Are you afraid? You can also refuse."

Locke ignored Witch Rose's provocation and began to think it through carefully. Witch Rose was certainly very dangerous, but this cooperation was a gain with minimal loss for him.

Because this was something he was going to do regardless.

Whether or not he cooperated with her, challenging the two entrenched giants of the wizard shoe alliance world was something he was already doing and would certainly continue to do.

Cooperating with Witch Rose would at least provide him with extra assistance in the near term.

And the source of this assistance was somewhat beyond his expectations.

Locke said, "Miss Tacitus, let us enjoy a pleasant cooperation. We can add each other as friends on the water hyacinth system."

Witch Rose glanced at Locke and said, "It seems you do not defer to me. That is fine. At least until we achieve our common goals, we will indeed be the best of allies."

Witch Rose took out her Ganoderma magical plant and touched it against Locke's, the two of them becoming friends in this way. Then, before she left Private Room No. 1, she said, "I will share intelligence with you. We currently have common enemies."

Witch Rose left the private room.

Locke then, in Private Room No. 1, organized the information she had provided.

"Right now, someone from Solas Light Foot's side is backing Wizard Brandy, wanting to support him to compete against me and increase the pressure on me, wasting my energy on the special-grade grant application."

"I do not know if they will stop at supporting just Wizard Brandy, or if they will support others as well. Based on the current situation, if they can support one person, they can support a second..."

"And Witch Rose, in order to enter the power centers of the two shop alliances, chose to cooperate with me, the commercial rival of both shop alliances."

'In other words, one must pacify threats from without before settling affairs within. If I simply let them act freely, they will create a great deal of trouble for me.'

Locke thought. It was not that Golden Crown Mountain could not investigate all of this. The key was that even if they did, there was not much that could be said openly.

Because if a wizard could pull in a project and find a project for themselves, that was also a demonstration of their personal ability.

If Solas Light Foot flat-out claimed they admired this wizard and therefore kept channeling resources to him, there would be nothing irregular about that.

In fact, from Golden Crown Mountain's perspective, having outsiders freely sending resources into the Origin Academy was itself a net gain.

After all, Golden Crown Mountain did not only have his lineage as the only one on its side.

Locke said, "So, if I want to ensure I obtain the special-grade grant application slot this year, in order to reduce the possibility of outside interference, I need to deal Solas Light Foot a decisive lesson in commercial competition, leaving them with no spare resources to secretly fund my rivals in the special-grade grant application."

"One must pacify threats from without before settling affairs within."

"Resolving the external threat means that the competition between myself and my colleagues will not, under external support, devolve into vicious competition aimed specifically at me personally."

Locke organized his thinking.

Witch Rose's timing for visiting was very clever. Had she come any later, he would have missed the weapons testing opportunity during his main body's plane exploration.

But as it happened, his main body had only just entered the Three-Hole Plane.

Locke left the Witch's Kitchen, boarded his Rainbow Sparrow, quickly headed to Little Peach Mountain, passed through the Peach Garden, entered the Dune Plane, and arrived at floor ten of Group Two's research institute.

Locke looked at the Bloodline Proliferation Pool. Countless partially replicated copies of his own blood, mixed with the Name Potion, were flowing to water the Large Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow grafted onto the Magical Dragon Rose rootstock.

At that moment, the Large Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow was approaching adulthood.

In total he had spent five million magic stones and one dose of the Zero Potion on this Large Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow.

Still, it was fortunate that the Large Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow was finally about to reach adulthood.

Locke observed it and judged, "One more week and we should be able to attempt the atavistic evolution."

"However, if the atavistic evolution is attempted right now and fails, we would need to start over. That would be far too costly in time and resources. After it successfully completes growth, I had better use the Flowers Bloom and Fall spell to transform it into three reproducible seeds, then cultivate them individually. Although this will cost approximately another five million magic stones, it is the safest approach."

"And it can also be used to confirm whether a true grafting cultivation has been completed rather than just a simple graft. At the same time, the significance of this plane exploration for me has now increased."

"First, I can test the various newly cultivated magical plants."

"Second, in that plane, I can make a third attempt at Grand Magic forging."