Chapter 490 - Candlelight Trading Firm

Without hesitation, Shi Feng requested the two most popular plots of Land in White River City. When Melancholic Smile saw the prices, her little mouth fell wide open.

These prices were outrageous!

An ordinary plot of Land in White River City cost over 1,000 Gold. If the Land were in the densely populated central district, it would cost more than 3,000 Gold.

As for the two plots Shi Feng had set his sight on, each cost over 8,000 Gold. If they converted 8,000 Gold to Credits, they could establish a relatively large company in the city in reality...

However, Shi Feng did not consider his choices to be expensive. In the future, these two plots would become extremely valuable. In the past, he could not have obtained them even if he wanted to.

Players frequented both the Auction House and the Bank. Hence, the traffic was guaranteed. If not for his need for money right now, Shi Feng would have preferred to purchase several more plots of Land. By the time White River City became the number one city in Star-Moon Kingdom, the value of the city’s Land would soar by more than a hundredfold.

“Lord Viscount, for the two plots of Commercial Land you have chosen, one costs 9,200 Gold, while the other costs 8,800 Gold, coming to a total of 18,000 Gold. After including the 10% discount, your total is 16,200 Gold,” the male manager said with great excitement. “In addition, after purchasing these two plots of land, there will be a 15% property tax each month. If taxes aren’t paid for in three months, these plots will be locked. If the taxes aren’t paid for in half a year, the city will reclaim the Land.”

“This is a scam!” Melancholic Smile nearly shouted when she heard the male manager’s explanation, flushing with anger.

They had already spent so much money to purchase these two areas, yet, they were still required to pay a 15% property tax every month. In total, they were required to pay 2,700 Gold in property taxes for the two plots of Land. Not even first-rate Guilds had that much Gold. Most importantly, they had to pay this tax every month!

“Here is 16,200 Gold.” Shi Feng handed over the money without hesitation.

Shi Feng was very familiar with God’s Domain’s rules, so he had expected this.

Moreover, the Main God System had implemented this property tax with the purpose of avoiding someone powerful from monopolizing a city’s Land.

Although the property tax seemed absurdly expensive, Gold Coins would become easier to earn as players leveled, resulting in their depreciation. Gold Coins would not remain as valuable as they were now. Hence, paying 2,700 Gold each month was no big deal.

A short moment later, the manager passed the Deed for the two plots of Land to Shi Feng. With this, Shi Feng could now establish Shops on these two tracts anytime he wanted to. Moreover, these two areas were relatively large; they were in no way inferior to the Starstreak Trading Firm.

At the end of the day, the Starstreak Trading Firm did not belong to Shi Feng. Even if he managed it well, the Firm still belonged to NPCs. However, if he established Shops on the plots he had purchased, he could do whatever he wanted to them; it was a lot more convenient.

Soon after, Shi Feng chose two relatively good building models in the City Hall, with both being three-story buildings. He could use the first floor to sell products and use the second to establish a warehouse, Forging Rooms, and other necessities. Finally, the third floor could be an office area.

However, to construct these two Shops, Shi Feng had spent another 2,000 Gold. After which, he hired over 20 Advanced NPCs to conduct daily management and sales in each Shop.

After spending all this money, little remained of Shi Feng’s funds. Fortunately, the Dragonscale Set Equipment sold consistently in the Blackwing Auction House, and a large sum of Gold Coins would fill Shi Feng’s pockets every now and then.

“Smile, I’ll leave the management of these two plots of Land to you for now; I’ve already given you the authority you need. Begin transferring our members from Starstreak little by little. As for our products, we’ll set the Strengthened Armor Kits as our main focus; there is no need to sell them over at Starstreak,” Shi Feng said.

“Guild Leader, if we only sell the Strengthened Armor Kits at these two locations, it will divert traffic from Starstreak, impacting our business there,” Melancholic Smile said, concern filling her voice.

“That is precisely my intention. I want to lure all of the old customers of Starstreak to the new Shops. Just do as I say. As for the price for these Strengthened Armor Kits, set them at 7 Silver Coins minimum; we can’t afford a loss from selling them,” Shi Feng laughed.

Although the Starstreak Trading Firm was still somewhat useful to him, its greatest purpose to Shi Feng lay in the initial business. Now that he had accumulated sufficient capital, he had to abandon it, little by little. After all, the moment he earned the 30,000 Gold and completed his quest, the Starstreak Trading Firm would sever all ties with him. If he did not prepare for it now, it would be too late in the future.

“Guild Leader, rest assured; I will make sure the prices of the Strengthened Armor Kits stay above 7 Silver Coins,” Melancholic Smile said. She was very confident about the Strengthened Armor Kits they had produced.

Even as Basic Forgers, their success rates at producing the Strengthened Armor Kits were below 30%. Meanwhile, the material cost for producing each Strengthened Armor Kit was over 1 Silver. In other words, the actual cost for producing a complete Strengthened Armor Kit was more than 3 Silver. In reality, selling them for only 7 Silver Coins was simply too cheap.

Even if Shi Feng had not given the order, she had intended to set the initial price of the Strengthened Armor Kits at 10 Silver. After all, with the current average level of players, a price of 10 Silver Coins was definitely affordable.

“Guild Leader, you haven’t named the Shops for these two locations yet. What will you call them?” Melancholic Smile asked as she looked at Shi Feng.

“A small spark may kindle a raging fire. Let’s call it the Candlelight Trading Firm,” Shi Feng sighed as he looked at the Deeds to the two golden real-estates in his hand.

At this moment, he finally had his own capital. With these two plots, he had taken a large step ahead of the other Guilds. His Guild would have a relatively stable source of income in the future, and he wouldn’t have to fear becoming any Guild’s target.

Shortly after, both Shi Feng and Melancholic Smile visited to the two plots of Land they had just purchased. At this moment, however, the buildings were still under reconstruction, so they could not view the Shops’ full elegance. It would take several more hours before the reconstruction work would be completed. At that time, they could open for business.

“There sure are a lot of players in White River City right now.” Shi Feng examined his surroundings, discovering a sea of players near the Auction House. The area was even more crowded than it had been in his previous life.

“Guild Leader, this is a given. Zero Wing and Overwhelming Smile are constantly competing over White River City. Zero Wing is also the first Guild to own a Guild Residence in Star-Moon Kingdom. In addition, there are Overwhelming Smile’s impressive offers to consider. As a result, many players from other cities were tempted to migrate and develop themselves in White River City. Based on the statistics published the day before yesterday, White River City is currently the second most populous city in Star-Moon Kingdom; it is only slightly behind Star-Moon City.”

An ordinary city could not compare with a capital. Even if White River City offered a massive advantage, many players still preferred to mingle in the capital city.

“Star-Moon City?” Upon hearing Melancholic Smile’s words, Shi Feng suddenly remembered something.

He had befriended someone in Star-Moon City before and had intended to purchase Land through him. Originally, he had planned to direct Zero Wing’s development towards Star-Moon City. In the end, he had dismissed this notion and focused on making White River City the number one city in Star-Moon Kingdom. After all, unlike in Star-Moon City, Zero Wing had an extraordinary background in White River City.

Currently, although he no longer intended to develop Zero Wing in Star-Moon City, the capital city’s population was still very attractive. After all, in God’s Domain, players were a city’s resource.

The more powerful a city was, the more powerful the Guild controlling said city could become.

“It seems I need to make a trip to Star-Moon City.” Shi Feng suddenly thought of a plan that could advance White River City’s development further.