Chapter 1182
Grandet.Dead Eye
“I am moved by our reunion, my benevolent Excellency Moriarty.”
A deep, magnetic voice slowly echoed from the depths of the Dawn City palace. “May all the gods bless you for your mercy, radiance, sanctity, and for all the rites and good deeds you have performed.”
If one were to solely listen to this voice, their mind would conjure an image of a mature, elegant, and composed gentleman.
He might be wearing a suit, or perhaps the robes of a clergyman, or even the classical attire of a nobleman. He would likely have neatly styled hair and a beard, with gentle and tranquil eyes. The words flowing softly from his throat would be like the deep chimes of a temple bell, bringing a sense of peace and pleasure.
However, the reality was quite different.
Bowing respectfully before Eivass was a goblin of extreme ugliness.
His face was misshapen and twisted, with one eye visibly larger than the other, making him even more hideous than an ordinary goblin. He was slightly taller than a normal goblin, and his skin was a rare, dirty mottled green—as if pale green, grass green, and dark green had been roughly mixed on a palette, resembling a human with vitiligo.
One of his teeth, as white as jade, protruded from his face, revealing a scarlet gum. The muscles on his face were contorted in peculiar ways. He appeared lopsided, yet possessed an inexplicably striking demeanor.
In contrast to his grotesque face, his attire was impeccably maintained. He wore a soft, high-quality black formal suit, unstained by dust even in the desert.
—This was precisely “Dragon Merchant,” “One Who Hides in a Horse’s Belly,” Grandet.Dead Eye.
He was also an old friend of Eivass.
Grandet had been responsible for the construction of Avalon’s railway and its western port. He had even lent Avalon a significant sum of money to support its development.
The goblin merchant guild Eivass sought out this time was the very same one Grandet belonged to.
Back then, Grandet had addressed Eivass as “Minister Moriarty,” and Eivass had to rely on Little Crow to help him suppress this dual-path powerhouse.
After the Ouroboros Ring ritual descended for one cycle, Grandet would be Fifth Tier on the Path of Wisdom and Sixth Tier on the Path of Balance. This meant he should currently possess at least Fourth Tier Wisdom and Fifth Tier Balance, or possibly even Fifth Tier on both paths.
By any measure, this made him a top-tier powerhouse.
The fact that someone of this caliber had come personally to discuss the construction of a short section of underground waterway was enough to demonstrate his importance and respect for Eivass. After all, when Eivass had conducted business with him in Avalon, he had been merely the “Queen’s Spokesperson.”
This meant that Eivass at the time represented Avalon as a whole, and even the Church behind Avalon. Only then was he qualified to conduct business directly with Grandet.
And now, Grandet looked at Eivass with complex emotions.
Eivass back then was only Third Tier. He even needed to carry a pocket watch that could obscure his extraordinary power to prevent it from appearing too overbearing.
While strictly speaking, only superiors on the same path could clearly discern the energy level of their subordinates, when a subordinate came into close contact with a superior, they could easily feel a sense of pressure and anomaly. Just as he had realized that the crow beside Eivass was not ordinary back then.
Even the slightest bit of pressure that might alert others and reduce their friendliness needed to be eradicated as much as possible.
And now…
At some point, Eivass simply sitting there began to exude a faint pressure that Grandet could feel.
…This was too outrageous.
In just a few months, had this child ascended from Third Tier to Fifth or even Sixth Tier?
Because he himself was of that level, Grandet knew precisely how difficult it was.
It felt like a researcher in their fifties or sixties, who had spent most of their life trying to crack a research project, had been easily surpassed and completed by a teenage prodigy. Even though he knew that geniuses truly existed in this world, this feeling was enough to drive one mad with imbalance.
Now, Eivass had even become the acting Pope. The Church had recently released news that Eivass had stepped down normally and was enjoying the treatment of a Saint. His underage sister had become the unified monarch of the Hrasal Empire, while he himself had come to the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi to become a Lord who could dictate the life and death of mortals.
—Back then, he only needed to greet “Minister Moriarty.”
After all, Avalon was a small, island nation surrounded by the sea. the goblin merchants possessed far greater influence than an impoverished land like Avalon… The goblin merchant guild had thirteen factions, and only two had established themselves in Star Antinomy. Yet, if just one of those two factions wanted to collapse Star Antinomy’s economy, Star Antinomy would be on the verge of collapse, and countless lives would be ruined.
This was an era of economy and trade. Land comprised only thirty percent of the world, while oceans made up seventy percent. The goblins, who controlled the entire ocean, were now the uncrowned kings of this era.
It was precisely because of the existence of the Silver Crown Dragon, whose authority suppressed widespread wars, that global conflicts had significantly decreased. Otherwise, in times of chaos, nations of this scale would be commonplace. If not for the Church behind them, Avalon would not have been worth much attention.
Instead, High-Tier Extraordinarys were the ones truly deserving of respect, for they represented violence and possibility.
If Star Antinomy had not known that “Meg is dead,” they would never have dared to attack Avalon. For an Extraordinary of the Fifth Tier, equipped and prepared, the influence of numbers was practically meaningless… He himself was Fifth Tier and naturally understood this.
National wars were, to a large extent, wars between High-Tier Extraordinarys.
But now… when he faced Eivass, he had to perform a full bow.
Whether it was the Church, a Lord, or an Extraordinary of the Fifth Tier, they all deserved his utmost respect.
—That was the nature of a merchant.
Speaking humanly to humans and devilishly to devils, offering different terms and attitudes to different clients, taking from the abundant to supplement the scarce—this was also a form of balance.
“I have reviewed your contract,” Grandet said, calmly and elegantly accepting the contract. “My side has no objections. We can begin construction tonight if you wish. A 79-kilometer underground waterway, approximately 3 meters in diameter, from the East Moluo water station in Daffodil Territory of the New Hrasal Empire to the border, a distance of 56 kilometers, and from the border to Dawn City, 23 kilometers. The main body of the waterway can be preliminarily completed in just three days. If you require additional widening and reinforcement, the construction period may extend to the seventh day at the latest.”
“This is faster than I had imagined,” Eivass said with admiration. “It seems I underestimated you. If the waterway were widened to 2 meters, how much more time would be needed?”
“The main body would require an additional two days. However, subsequent repairs might take another week… but I don’t think it’s necessary, Your Excellency. A standard waterway of approximately 3 meters in diameter is sufficient to accommodate the full flow of the East Moluo water station, and even more so. If it were too wide, additional slopes would be required, and it might actually lead to sedimentation in some curved sections or junctions due to insufficient water pressure impact.”
Grandet seemed to have guessed Eivass’s intentions, and thus he spoke directly, “Why don’t you hear my thoughts?
“In fact, I have a suggestion—”
