Chapter 635: Chapter 439: Leave or Exile_2
When Zachary heard Dong Tianyu ask this, Franklin didn’t speak directly. Instead, he glanced at Ye Liuyun next to him. Upon seeing Franklin’s look, Dong Tianyu instantly understood the reason behind this matter and said no more.
Perhaps having come to terms with it or simply having let go, Ye Liuyun temporarily stopped dwelling on the jumble of thoughts that had surfaced in his mind.
After calming his mind, Ye Liuyun spoke to Dong Tianyu, "I came to Kyoto this time to try again. Although I can’t conveniently return to Pengcheng right now, I haven’t given up on the business there.
"I’ve already handed over the channels to a cousin in the family. With my brother watching over there, there shouldn’t be any problems. As the ancients said, ’Living in Kyoto is not easy.’
"That’s why I’m here to see you. I want to establish roots in Kyoto as soon as possible. Although I left Pengcheng in a sorry state, I haven’t forgotten our original purpose for coming to Kyoto together, which was to settle down, stand firm, and then bring the whole family over."
Upon hearing Ye Liuyun say this, Dong Tianyu realized that Ye Liuyun’s mindset had mostly recovered. Although he was uncertain whether Ye Liuyun had completely returned to normal, Dong Tianyu at least felt that his investment wouldn’t simply vanish like ripples on water.
"Alright then, we’ve been friends for so long. If you ask for help and I can do it, I will absolutely assist you," Dong Tianyu assured.
With a smile finally breaking out on his face, Ye Liuyun responded, "Don’t worry, you won’t suffer a loss. I’ll pay, and you help me get some rare stuff."
Dong Tianyu wasn’t concerned about Ye Liuyun paying, but asked with a puzzled expression, "What rare stuff are you talking about? Be more specific."
"It’s nothing special, just get some fruit. If you have extra armaments, you could also spare some for me. I just arrived and am still lacking some fun things to toy with."
"Fruit is easy to handle, but what do you need arms for right now? You might not be aware of the current situation in Kyoto, but Franklin should know very well. To use that line from novels, now in Kyoto, those without the Body Tempering Realm ’don’t even qualify as dogs,’ and martial artists of the Inner Breath Realm are everywhere.
"Ordinary handguns pose little threat to martial artists of the Body Tempering Realm. Once someone reaches the Inner Breath Realm, let alone being able to predict a bullet’s trajectory in advance, if they aren’t riddled by rifle fire, three to five bullets, unless hitting vital areas, might not even pierce the skin when one is prepared.
"So, now regular small arms are basically useless. Although rifles still hold some lethality towards martial artists of various realms, rifles are too conspicuous as targets. Many martial artists have developed skills in using hidden weapons, originally intended to blind monsters’ eyes, that gradually evolved to specialize in disabling opponents’ weapons.
"Therefore, in clashes between martial artists, firearms are rarely used, which has resulted in ordinary weapons with moderate power having poor sales in Kyoto."
Hearing Dong Tianyu detail the drawbacks of weapons, Ye Liuyun couldn’t help but glance at Franklin beside him.
Upon noticing the inquiry in Ye Liuyun’s gaze, Franklin nodded. The advancement in martial artists’ cultivation had indeed started the decline of ordinary weapons, but what Dong Tianyu hadn’t mentioned was that the rise in martial artist cultivation, coupled with the emergence of new materials, had transformed some weapons that were only mounted on special launchers into handheld weapons. These new types of weapons were much stronger compared to traditional arms.
Franklin thought that Dong Tianyu hadn’t spoken about it because that meant Dong Tianyu didn’t have the means to obtain these weapons. After all, because these new weapons posed a lethal threat to most martial artists, the Imperial Court had no intentions of letting these arms circulate on the market.
Not only did they prohibit those weapons from entering the market, but they also started dumping ordinary weapons made before the cataclysm through various channels at low prices, so now the market value of ordinary weapons is very low. If Ye Liuyun wants to get involved in this business, not to mention whether it would be a loss, but it’s certain that it would be difficult to do well.
However, the fruit business was indeed a good one. Upon hearing that Dong Tianyu could get his hands on fruits, Franklin couldn’t help but swallow his saliva. Having grown up in Magic City, he lived quite a delicately before the cataclysm, with fruits nearly every day.
But after the cataclysm, the environment outside the cities changed drastically, and the original orchards had essentially vanished. Although each city built some greenhouses internally to preserve various plants, they would plant some fruits in the greenhouses as well.
But with that small amount of fruit production, let alone buying for consumption, Franklin couldn’t even get involved in the purchasing channels firsthand, and had to buy at high prices from others.
That’s why, after hearing that Dong Tianyu could get his hands on fruits, Franklin immediately couldn’t wait to ask, "Zachary, what kind of fruits can you get your hands on?"
Hearing Franklin’s question, Dong Tianyu casually replied, "Most of the fruits you could see in the markets before the cataclysm, I have channels to get. But the prices are a bit steep, and the other party only accepts precious metals."
Although Franklin was a bit surprised by Dong Tianyu’s requirement to only accept precious metals, he didn’t say much. After all, it’s different now compared to before the cataclysm. For small transactions, they still could use the money circulating in Kyoto, but for large transactions, it was mostly barter.
As for Ye Liuyun, she found Dong Tianyu’s request even less strange. After all, from her very first trade with Dong Tianyu, it had been a barter system, and the items Dong Tianyu bought were all sorts of metals, though he didn’t refuse anything at the time.
Although Franklin felt inside that Dong Tianyu might be boasting about being able to get his hands on almost every kind of fruit, he wasn’t planning to question it. After all, no matter what, Dong Tianyu was now the only seller in this exclusive deal, as long as he could get the fruits Franklin wanted, he didn’t want to get overly involved in other matters.
"Could you get me a batch of watermelons? You set the price. Try to give me a discount so I can buy more," he asked.
Hearing how frankly Franklin spoke, Dong Tianyu didn’t play any games and directly asked, "I have two types of watermelons here. One is regular watermelon, similar to what you’d find in fruit stores before the cataclysm. The other is a special variety developed in a lab after the cataclysm that can accelerate a martial artist’s cultivation speed. Which one do you want?"
When Dong Tianyu said this, not only Franklin, but even Ye Liuyun beside him, became curious. Fruits that could accelerate cultivation were unheard of for them—a claim usually reserved for meat from ancient creatures, as it contained more nutrients than regular livestock.
Since cultivation involves body tempering, a substantial amount of nutrients gets consumed during the process. Eat regular livestock meat, and you can replenish these nutrients, but it just means eating more. Spending more time eating naturally reduces cultivation time, thus lowering the efficiency.
If eating the meat of ancient creatures meant ingesting more nutrients and thus reducing meal times to improve cultivation, then what was the principle behind the watermelons Dong Tianyu claimed could increase cultivation efficiency?
Seeing the desire for knowledge in Ye Liuyun’s and Franklin’s eyes, Dong Tianyu hesitated for a moment before standing up and saying, "You two sit here and wait for me a bit. I’ll go get two watermelons to let you taste and compare them."
After finishing his words, Dong Tianyu turned around and left the room. Ye Liuyun, who initially wanted to gesture politely, feared Dong Tianyu would feel sorry for the watermelons and take back his offer, so she reached out half-heartedly, opened her mouth, but made no sound.
Seeing that Dong Tianyu had already left, Franklin pressed down Ye Liuyun’s outstretched hand and spoke with disdain, "Alright, he’s gone. No need for the act. If you want to eat, just eat. Don’t bother with fake courtesy. If Dong Tianyu really took back his offer, wouldn’t you be upset?"
