Chapter 473 - 472: Autumnight Plateau

Chapter 473: Chapter 472: Autumnight Plateau

001’s eyes went wide.

It slowly turned its head to look at Seraphina Sinclair, its lips trembling. "M-My Lady... is what Gray said true?"

Seraphina Sinclair nodded.

001’s legs gave out, and it nearly slid off the stone stool.

"But... but..." Its voice was shaking. "Wasn’t that President a member of the Greyscale Clan? It had backers! Powerful ones..."

"It’s dead now," Seraphina Sinclair said nonchalantly. "I killed it."

001: "..."

001’s eyes looked ready to pop out of its head.

It opened its mouth, then opened it again. It took a long while before it could squeeze out a single sentence. "You... You killed the Merchant Association President?"

"Mhm."

"And... and then you had me take its place?"

"Mhm."

fell silent.

It looked down at its hands, at its own wrinkled clothes, at the dust-caked shoes on its feet. Then, it raised its head to look at Seraphina Sinclair.

Its expression was indescribably complex.

There was shock, terror, and bewilderment, but also a hint of... hidden excitement?

"My Lady," it said, its voice soft. "Do you know what being the Merchant Association President means?"

Seraphina Sinclair raised an eyebrow. "Tell me."

took a deep breath and began counting on its fingers. "First, control over the entire Traveling Merchant network in The Black Mist World! All shipments, pricing, and profit-sharing for every Traveling Merchant must be approved by the President."

"Second, control over resource allocation for all Traveling Merchant Zones. The President has the final say on which Zone is lacking what, and which Zone has what."

"Third..."

It paused abruptly.

Seraphina Sinclair watched it. "Go on."

swallowed hard, its voice sounding a bit distant. "Third, the Merchant Association President is one of the positions that can communicate directly with the ones above."

Seraphina Sinclair’s eyebrows shot up.

"The ones above?"

"Mhm." 001 nodded, pointing upward. "The ones... who truly control this world. I don’t know who they are, but I know the Merchant Association President has to submit a report every three months. A report that goes directly to them."

Seraphina Sinclair was silent for a moment, then slowly smiled.

"Perfect," she said. "You’re the President now. You’d better think carefully about what to write in that report."

hadn’t expected such a response from Seraphina Sinclair at all. The emotions were still swirling in its eyes, and it didn’t know who to share this joyous news with.

After holding it in and holding it in, it finally couldn’t resist. It threw open the door of the mobile cabin and let out a few monkey-like shrieks.

Seraphina Sinclair, who had just exchanged a few words with the waiter: "..."

Gray, who had been watching 001 the whole time: "..."

After it was done shouting, 001 turned around to meet two pairs of eyes and realized what it had just done.

Its face flushed red.

"Uh... I... I was just... so happy," it stammered, twisting its fingers together. It wished it could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Gray tsked, all three of its eyes rolling at once. "Is it really that big of a deal? So you’re the president. So what?"

glared at it. "So what? You—"

It stopped, then suddenly let out a villainous cackle, "Heh heh heh heh."

Just as Seraphina Sinclair was wondering what was going on, she heard the answer:

"Whether your Stardust Gallery can continue to operate... isn’t that all up to me? And as for you, Manager..."

shot Gray a sidelong glance, let out a proud little huff, and gloated, "Isn’t it all up to me now?!"

The smile froze on Gray’s face. All three of its eyes widened in unison, and its tentacles stopped trembling. It was as if it had been struck by lightning, frozen to the spot.

"You... you..." It pointed at 001, its lips trembling, unable to form a complete sentence for a long time.

lifted its chin even higher, puffed out its small chest, and clasped its hands behind its back. It began to pace back and forth in front of Gray with a stately, swaggering gait.

"Oh, dear. Let me think," it said, pinching its chin and feigning deep thought. "The Stardust Gallery’s recent Traveling Merchant quota seems a bit high, doesn’t it? Perhaps it’s time for a little cut? After all, some Managers are so high and mighty they look down their noses at everyone. Why should someone who doesn’t respect their superiors get such a large quota?"

Gray’s face turned green.

"Oh, that’s right." 001 suddenly stopped and turned back to Gray, an innocent smile on its face. "Are the Traveling Merchants in your Zone particularly busy lately? How about I transfer a couple of the best slackers over to you? I guarantee they’ll be run off their feet every day without getting a single thing done."

Gray finally snapped.

It whipped its head around to face Seraphina Sinclair, all three of its eyes glistening with tears. "My Lady! You have to control it!"

Seraphina Sinclair was in the middle of sipping from her cup. Hearing this, she just raised an eyebrow, looking completely unconcerned. "Control what? I think 001 is making a lot of sense."

Gray: "..."

Gray’s mouth opened and closed, opened and closed. Finally, it managed to force out, "My Lady, you can’t do this! This thing gets a little power and it gets this arrogant. How is it supposed to serve you wholeheartedly in the future?!"

Hearing this, 001 immediately grew anxious. Fun and games were one thing, but how could Gray joke about its professional competence?!

It instantly looked at Seraphina Sinclair and began to explain earnestly, "My Lady! That’s not true! I’m truly grateful for the trust you’ve placed in me. In the future, I will serve you with even more devotion—"

"That’s enough."

Seraphina Sinclair interrupted softly. Her gaze fell on 001 for a second before shifting to Gray, who had realized its slip of the tongue.

She shook her head. She had just returned from the Coliseum, barely escaping with her life, and was utterly exhausted. ’I don’t have time to be a mediator for these two.’

’If they came to offer congratulations, we can all be happy together.’

’But if they came to argue...’

’I’m not having any of it!’

"Good, you’re both here." Seraphina Sinclair placed her cup on the stone table, cleared her throat, and asked, "You two are knowledgeable. Have you ever heard of something called the dew of the Life Spring?"

Gray froze for a moment. "The dew of the Life Spring?"

Its tentacles twitched slightly. "My Lady, what do you need that for?"

Seraphina Sinclair gave a brief explanation.

After hearing her out, Gray couldn’t suppress the corner of its mouth from turning up. It spoke in a tone that was clearly proud yet feigned nonchalance. "That stuff is indeed rare. But... what a coincidence. I happen to know exactly where to get it."

Seraphina Sinclair found its tone strange, but out of courtesy, she played along. "Where?"

Gray glanced at 001, then back at Seraphina Sinclair, lowering its voice as if sharing a secret. "Three days from now, on the Autumnight Plateau. The news is already spreading through the inner circles."

Seraphina Sinclair frowned instinctively. ’It only appears at a specific time and place? Is this material really that hard to get?’

was also stunned. "How come I didn’t know about this?"

Gray shot it a sidelong glance. "You? You may be the President now, but your information channels aren’t established yet. This level of intel is only known to those at the Manager level."