Hong Niu was the owner of the second largest trading company that arrived in Elm City. His Red Bull trading company was second only to Zhang Chun’s Blazing Winds merchantry in the metal ore business.

When Zhang Chun recounted his humiliating experience at the Pleasant Dream Inn, Hong Niu sensed a slight bit of hypocrisy in his words.

As a fellow Citizen of the Furnace Fire Empire, Hong Niu thought that he had the right to judge Zhang Chun. But what right did the people of the Holy Wood Empire have to expose the flaws of Zhang Chun?

Being a patriotic Citizen of Furnace Fire Empire, he was enraged that one of his fellow merchants was treated this way by the people of Holy Wood Empire.

Since there were plenty of other Inns in Elm City, Hong Niu had no trouble boycotting the Pleasant Dream Inn. He also had no problem when Zhang Chun asked them to embargo a single person called Ikasa.

Hong Niu was willing to keep both of these promises when Ikasa appeared. He acted in solidarity with Zhang Chun and refused to buy whatever few Prime Gold Ores Ikasa wanted to sell.

However his will wavered when he heard that it was not just a few Prime Gold Ores but a Hundred dings of them!

‘A Hundred Dings!’ Hong Niu thought excitedly in his heart. His brain quickly started to calculate –

‘The Imperial family offers a 2-Star Spirit Coin for each ding; that is 1500 gold! I make a profit of 1000 gold for every ding of Prime Gold ore. If I can buy the entirety of the ore in his hands, I will make a profit of 100,000 gold!’

Hong Niu widened his eyes as soon as he reached this conclusion. This number was more than what Zhang Chun would earn in a year!

‘If my Red Bull Trading Company wants to surpass the Blazing Winds Merchantry, I need to close this deal!’

Hong Niu came to a decision. He raised his hand and called to Ikasa,

“This… Brother Ikasa, please wait! I am willing to buy all hundred dings of your Prime Gold Ore!”

His shout caused the merchants around him to look at him with disgruntlement. He was not the only one who had calculated the profits, others were also able to see it.

However, they did not dare to act for the fear of angering Zhang Chun and their fellow merchants.

They turned to see the reaction of Zhang Chun to this blatant challenge to his dignity. Just when he had declared that no one would do business with Ikasa, one of their fellow merchants stabbed him in the back!

As they expected, the face of Zhang Chun had turned into an ugly shade of purple. He spat fire out of his eyes as he looked at Hong Niu who was walking towards Ikasa.

To make matters worse, Ikasa smirked while looking at Zhang Chun and then asked Hong Niu, “Which stall belongs to you?”

This was the final straw that broke the camel’s back. The dam of emotions broke and a vein on Zhang Chun’s forehead began to throb.

“Hong Niu, you dare?”

Unable to control his rage, Zhang Chun shouted. Spittle flew out of his mouth and drenched the merchants standing between him and Hong Niu.

The leader of the Red Bull Mercenary Company stopped and looked at Zhang Chun. In a calm manner, he asked, ” What is wrong? I am simply conducting a business. Isn’t that the reason why we are here?”

The nonchalance of Hong Niu caused the other merchants to shout ‘shameless’ in their hearts while at the same time they admired him for standing up to Zhang Chun.

As for the leader of the Blazing Winds merchantry? He was left speechless by Hong Niu.

“You… You… You…!”

Zhang Chun was so enraged that he struggled to find words. He looked at the merchants and noticed their displeasure with Hong Niu.

‘If they could not trade with Ikasa, why should Hong Niu be allowed to?’ This was what most of them were thinking.

Zhang Chun decided to take advantage of their discontent and turn Hong Niu into a Villain.

“Hong Niu! Do you feel nothing when betraying your fellow countrymen? Why are you trading with the enemy, someone who disrespected our Furnace Fire Empire?”

This finally caused Hong Niu to stop in place. He was, after all, a citizen of the Furnace Fire Empire.

Even if he made a huge profit from this deal, if he was boycotted by all these merchants, his Red Bull Trading Company would be in huge trouble.

Ikasa frowned at this turn of events. He knew that if Hong Niu decided to turn back, he would have to return empty handed. He decided to take things into his own hands.

“Brother Hong, What do we merchants want the most?”

All of the merchants as well as Xin Ruo and Yan Xiao looked at Ikasa with puzzlement. They had no idea what move Ikasa was trying to pull.

Hong Niu looked at Ikasa and hesitantly answered, “Profits? Riches?”

“Yes!” Ikasa exclaimed, jumping on the answer. He continued,

“We merchants pursue the profits and the profits know no boundaries! Businessmen like ourselves work for the prosperity of the Humanity. If we cannot look beyond our Empires, how are we supposed to enrich every human’s life?”

The merchants did not expect Ikasa to spout such profound words. Their eyes went wide and their gazes held admiration for Ikasa. They mumbled the lines that made the most impact on them.

“Profits know no boundaries! This is a sentence to live by for every merchant.”

One of the merchants in a red and black jacket said, sighing with admiration.

“We Businessmen belong to mankind! We cannot be bound to one Empire! How broad his vision must be to say such words!”

Another merchant wearing a yellow jacket and red pants spoke, looking at Ikasa with reverence. In his eyes, Ikasa’s figure had grown larger than the sky.

Hong Niu found his voice amidst the support from the other Merchants. He stepped out to pave the way for them to conduct business with Ikasa.

“I completely support these words of Brother Ikasa. We are Merchants. We serve mankind. When compared to the prosperity of Humanity as a whole, what is the Furnace Fire Empire? What is the Holy Wood Empire?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep