Apocalypse Gachapon

Chapter 2333: Return

"Boss!"

Helsky called out without any formality, his attitude so friendly that no one would guess he had once been a dominant figure in Europe before coming up here.

"I've already sent word down to my people—they'll fully cooperate with Cloud Peak's great campaign. If anyone doesn't cooperate, just tell Cloud Peak's people to kill them. My organization is no exception."

Ye Zhongming had already discussed Cloud Peak Villa's European campaign with Helsky, and he couldn't care less—because his wife and child would be coming up from Earth on the next pickup day. Everyone else was outside his concern.

"Are you confident about this? I mean the Novice Battlefield. If not, I can bring them up through other channels."

One of Ye Zhongming's entry tickets had been given to Helsky. If he thought it was too dangerous for his wife and child to participate in the Novice Battlefield, Ye Zhongming would smuggle them up instead—though that would be costly, since even getting to Earth's outer space was time-consuming and extremely expensive.

Helsky thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No, let them go through the storm. It'll be harder for them to survive up here otherwise."

"Besides, won't your people be looking out for them?" By now, Helsky's face was full of sycophantic smiles.

Ye Zhongming nodded—that was fine. At least after the Novice Battlefield, he'd have two more capable and reliable people.

He sat quietly to the side, smiling as he watched them.

"I have two tasks for you this time. First, use the connections you've built to gather materials. Here's the funding."

With that, Ye Zhongming handed Helsky a spatial container and said, "Inside are twenty million Moonspan Gold. Use fifteen million to buy the materials on this list, and the remaining five million for the items on the second half of the list."

Along with the container was a storage card. Helsky took it with a serious expression.

He knew that Ye Zhongming wouldn't buy this much material under normal circumstances—the scale was too large, and the value it would generate was beyond imagination.

He felt that the boss was about to do something big.

"Spread your sources across multiple channels and try not to attract attention. If necessary, use proxies—pay a little extra for safety."

Ye Zhongming cautioned.

"If you have trustworthy trade organizations or shops, you can take out loans from them—pay interest to get more materials. Keep it within ten million Moonspan Gold, with interest capped at thirty percent."

If earlier Helsky had known the boss was doing something big, now he was alarmed.

If everything went smoothly, Ye Zhongming was buying thirty million Moonspan Gold worth of materials—and was willing to pay a high price for it!

What could he possibly need that much money for?!

"While buying and sourcing, continue to stabilize your existing sales channels and open new ones. You can lower prices a bit, but make sure you get paid promptly and reliably. Use both carrots and sticks—if anyone tries to default, tell me immediately, no matter which race they belong to. I want their corpse hanging at their doorstep within the shortest time possible, so everyone knows our money isn't to be defaulted on."

"If you can't handle it yourself, you can use the contact method I gave you."

Ye Zhongming spoke seriously, and Helsky listened carefully, committing every word to memory.

"By the way, what about the evolution potions I asked you to get?" Ye Zhongming asked.

"They're ready—already handed over to Xiao Min."

Helsky hadn't forgotten that.

"Good. That's all for now. Take this mask—I'll send you its functions later. It'll keep you safer and more discreet."

Ye Zhongming gave Helsky a silver mask, specially crafted based on the Bronze Order Leader's mask. It was the highest-grade mask he could currently make, far superior to the special masks that had appeared on Earth.

But because the materials were rare and hard to come by, mass production wasn't possible.

Helsky took the mask and left.

"My people are very grateful to you. Here, we can finally live openly and normally." He smiled as Ye Zhongming's gaze fell on her.

"I should thank you too—your potions and your assistance and medical support in several campaigns have been invaluable."

"Let's not be so formal—it's like we're meeting for the first time." He smiled and transmitted a file to Ye Zhongming.

"This is what we have on hand now—including what Helsky retrieved from our various ruins, our stockpiles, and what we've recently refined."

Ye Zhongming looked at the list, which ran over fifty pages, and thought to himself that if all his partners were like He, things would be so much easier—not only worry-free but also wholeheartedly devoted.

Finally, he noted that the number of Changxu Water Race members now in the manor exceeded a thousand.

That was a surprising number.

From what Ye Zhongming knew, progress in buying Changxu Water Race slaves from various races and trade organizations had been slow. Even with ample funding, not many races were willing to sell—usually requiring exorbitant prices or trades with high-grade equipment, and a bit of luck.

Also, not all Changxu Water Race members were willing to return to their kin—many had grown accustomed to other races and even started families there.

Some who had returned also left for various reasons, which had frustrated He and other respected elders.

Though the process wasn't smooth, Ye Zhongming understood what this number meant.

A thousand master alchemists. A thousand dedicated healers. A thousand defensive supporters!

Put that out there, and even the supermajor races would fight over them.

Fortunately, for now the Huo'er Star people weren't paying attention to him—they had other concerns, and they probably assumed he had at most a few dozen Changxu Water Race members. Other races didn't care much either.

The value of these people in combat hadn't yet been tested, but just looking at the sheer volume of newly manufactured potions gave a sense of their power.

To date, they had produced over a hundred thousand potions ranging from first to sixth turn, including thousands of rare fourth-turn and above potions, and even several dozen sixth-turn potions.

Though the materials were all provided by Ye Zhongming, and there were inevitably losses and failures, a simple calculation showed that the value of these potions was at least three times the cost!

Not a ten-thousand-fold profit, but still an extraordinarily high margin. If all of it were sold, Ye Zhongming could instantly earn tens of millions of Moonspan Gold.

The massive funds Ye Zhongming had poured into the Changxu Water Race were finally starting to pay off.