Above the mage!

Chapter 375 Exchange List
The 50 ice jade sycamore leaves brought from the north exchanged for a total of 17000 plantagenet coins for Gao De.

It may seem like an astronomical number at first glance, but it actually works pretty fast.

Most of the money was used to acquire the Harland Shipyard. After the acquisition, Gaode invested another 2000 gold as the initial operating capital of the shipyard.

Then I spent nearly 2000 gold to recruit crew members, craftsmen, purchase supplies, and prepare to go to sea.

Adding in the labor and material costs for making [Winter's Coming], the cost of purchasing [Healing] spell potion materials and other miscellaneous expenses, Goder was left with only 4733 Plantagenet Coins.

Still looks like a lot.

But he spent money in more places next.

Purchasing a shop is one thing, and after purchasing the shop, if you want to run it, you also need a large amount of capital investment.

In addition, he also needs to buy at least twenty copies of the [Fast Digging] spell potion and bring them back to the North to improve the construction efficiency of Phoenix, which will cost nearly one thousand gold.

There is never enough money to spend... this is indeed a truth.

Gao De sighed in his heart.

Once this task is completed, it will basically be enough for him to eat for a year.

Even if Gaode starts to lie low and do badly, at the end-of-year evaluation, with the three second-class merits, its ranking will definitely be in the top 10%.

As soon as the "KPI" pressure disappeared, Gaode suddenly felt a lot more relaxed, although he didn't have much pressure originally.

But at least for the next six months, he can focus on his own business without worrying about the Sea Sentinel.

It would take a few days to evaluate the military merits, so Gao De did not sit around waiting and continued with his established plans.

The first step is to purchase a shop.

After preliminary investigation and screening, he finally chose three stores.

The more attractive ones are a herbal medicine store in the North District and a grocery store near Troll Skull Alley in the East District.

These two have their own advantages and disadvantages, and Gaode is a little conflicted.

But don’t worry about it now.

——Because he found that during the more than 20 days when he was out on a mission, the herbal medicine store in the North District had already been taken over by someone else.

Now the grocery store is the only option.

In order to avoid repeating the same mistake, Gao De did not dare to delay any longer and went to visit directly the next day.

This grocery store is located on Dezo Street in the East District. It is a typical two-story store along the street, with the first floor as a shop and the second floor as a residential area.

Dezo Street is an old neighborhood, so most of the buildings on both sides of the street are very old-fashioned. The weather today is average and there is no sun, so these buildings look even darker under the haze.

"Old Harlem Grocery Store".

The words on the shop sign have faded a little.

Harlem is both the name of the store and the owner's surname.

This is a traditional family-run retail store with several decades of history. Unfortunately, Harlem Sr.'s only son, Harlem Jr., does not want to inherit the family business.

In addition, the competition is becoming increasingly fierce, Old Harlin is old and has limited energy, and his business is not very good. Finally, he had no choice but to sell the shop.

It can be seen that the merchandise on the store's window shelves is sparse, which is both a reflection of the sluggish business and the result of the owner not being interested in running the business and not choosing to restock.

Gao De entered the grocery store and first looked around the store. After the only customer in the store besides himself left, he walked forward and politely stated his purpose.

"Boss, I saw your transfer information in the quotation list within the Dorne Grocers Association. I happen to be interested in opening a magic material store. The location of your store is suitable. Shall we talk?" Goder came straight to the point and stated his purpose directly without any unnecessary beating around the bush.

First, the preliminary survey work has been done, and second, he is now wearing the mage uniform of the Sea Sentinel.

Old Harlin raised his head, and his slightly cloudy eyes swept over Gao De's face and the neat uniform on his body. He pursed his lips and said, "Sir, let me be frank first. This store is not doing well right now."

"Don't worry, I've certainly understood this," said Gao De.

"Okay, let's sit down and talk." Old Harlin pursed his lips and sighed.

To be honest, he was actually not very willing to make a deal with the "officials".

How do the people fight against the officials?
The inherent weakness will result in being at a disadvantage in negotiating prices during the transaction process.

Another thing is that if the business with the "officials" is not doing well in the follow-up, he is somewhat worried that the other party will vent their anger on him.

But he would never dare to refuse.

So Old Harlem had no choice but to hang a sign at the door saying it was temporarily closed, and then move Gaode to the second-floor residential area.

This type of private grocery store is generally not too large, with a single-floor area of ​​only about 50 square meters.

However, because it is located in an old street and was built relatively early, the land price was much cheaper at that time, so the floor area of ​​the Old Harlem Grocery Store is slightly larger, about 70 square meters.

The second floor is used as a residential area, and its area is similar to that of the first floor shop. It is divided into three rooms: a master bedroom, a second bedroom, a living room and a simple kitchen and bathroom.

Sitting down in the living room, Old Harlin took out his best tea leaves to make tea for Gao De, and then slowly told Gao De the details of the store.

Including the store's coverage, existing customer base, past monthly profits, customer flow and the competition it faces.

Old Harlin basically told the truth without any embellishment, because he would be happy if he could persuade Gao De to quit.

But unlike what Old Harlem thought, after hearing the details of Old Harlem's grocery store, Gao De was not discouraged, but was even more satisfied.

Because the questions raised by Old Harlem were not problems in his opinion.

For example, the most serious problem facing Old Harlem right now is that just one street away, the Black Chamber of Commerce's large grocery store opened last year.

With its lower cost advantage and better product quality, it instantly took away most of the customers of Old Harlem Grocery Store.

But Gaode's ideal customer base is the group of people coming out of Troll Skull Alley.

Since the industry you are in is different, many disadvantages will naturally disappear.

"I see that your offer within the guild is 650 Plantagenet coins?" Gao De took a sip of tea and asked slowly.

This price is actually very good.

It’s expensive, but their store area is indeed larger than that of ordinary grocery stores.

It’s not really a good deal, after all, the location of the store is not good. It’s in an old neighborhood and close to the black market, which poses some safety risks.

"If you want, I can give you a discount." Old Harlin glanced at the sea sentinel uniform on Goder and said with a bite of his mouth.

"No need for that. Since this is already the internal price, let's just go with it." Gao De waved his hand.

When it comes to reimbursement, no matter how small a mosquito leg is, it is still meat and you should not miss it.

But when doing business, Gaode will not take advantage of this by using his status as a sea sentinel.

He draws a clear line between the two.

For a grassroots mage like him, reputation is very important, and such behavior that can easily leave a stain is absolutely unacceptable. Gao De was very straightforward, so Old Harlin naturally would not insist on it.

After the two agreed on the price, they quickly moved on to the next stage, which was to finalize the transaction method and handover time.

Of course, this is just a preliminary discussion.

During the Plantagenet dynasty, transactions involving real estate and estate such as shops had to go through official procedures, rather than being like buying vegetables, where the price was negotiated, money was exchanged, and goods were delivered.

However, as long as the buyer and seller have reached an agreement in advance, the so-called official procedure is just a formality.

"According to the general rules, the land tax for the transfer of a shop is paid by the seller, and the stamp duty is borne by both of us. It's just a small amount of money, and it's troublesome to calculate it. I think I should pay it all. What do you mean, sir?"

The official procedures are not in vain. The most important purpose of their existence is to collect taxes.

This is also one of the important sources of funds for official finances.

Land tax is to estimate the land value based on the area and location of the store, and then collect taxes proportionally. The tax rate is generally around 2%.

As for stamp duty, it is a tax levied on the transaction contract amount.

The stamp duty rate in Dorne is 0.5%, which means the tax is 0.5% of the contract amount, which is 0.25% when divided equally.

The transaction amount is 650 gold, so the stamp duty that Gaode has to pay is less than 2 gold.

When acquiring Harland Shipyard, more stamp duty was paid.

Even though the tax rate in Lagos was lower than that in Dorne, at only 0.4%, the final stamp duty paid was close to 20 gold.

"Okay." Gao De nodded.

Such a small amount of taxes and fees does not fall into the category of bullying. It is a normal trading activity and there is no need to be particularly shy about it.

"See you tomorrow then." After everything was settled, Gao De got up and left.

In the meditation room.

Gao De was calm and focused, with his eyes slightly closed. Beside him, three or four bottles of pulse-opening tincture were scattered all over the place.

The transparent glass flickered slightly. The medicine in the bottle had long been gone, leaving only the strong and stimulating smell of the medicine filling the small space.

His body was constantly vibrating slightly, and his breathing rose and fell with the vibrations of his body, like a breeze blowing across a calm lake, creating ripples, with a unique charm and rhythm.

The Amitabha Breathing Method is one of the oldest breathing methods and also one of the most orthodox breathing methods.

It belongs to the real Dharma.

When Gao De was in Seres College, his instructor also talked about the so-called breathing method.

But the two are just the same in name; they are not actually the same thing at all.

However, it is not a coincidence of the same name, but because the breathing method is a top-secret inheritance. The small principality knew something about it, but was unable to obtain the true method, so it had to create a low-profile version of the breathing method based on some of its knowledge.

This low-end version of the breathing method is not completely useless, but compared with the orthodox breathing method, the difference cannot be said to be huge, but it can be said to be a world of difference.

With the help of the Infinite Breathing Technique and the power of the Meridian-Opening Tincture, Gao De opened up the tiny magic veins in his body, and then reshaped and expanded them.

After a moment, Gao De opened his eyes, took out another bottle of Kaimai Tincture from the box beside him, opened the cork, drank it in one gulp very "generously", and then threw the bottle on the ground.

If someone else saw this scene, they would probably doubt whether Gao De was a human or a beast?
The medicinal properties of Kaimai Tincture are very strong and the drug toxicity is quite serious, so others should be extremely careful when drinking it.

The amount that Gaode drinks at one time is already more than what an ordinary wizard drinks in a week.

Generally speaking, only wild beasts can withstand this dose of pulse-opening tincture.

Another half hour passed.

Gao De opened his eyes again, and this time he did not continue, but slowly stood up.

Leo Meng's magic network requires the construction of a total of 365 magic veins.

It has been exactly two and a half months since he started learning the Infinite Breathing Technique.

The number of magic veins that Gaode has built now has reached 108, and the construction speed of each main magic vein is getting faster and faster.

This is due to the fact that [Adaptive] is constantly evolving his body's metabolic capacity and immunity to toxins through the stimulation of Kaimai Tincture, which allows him to drink a larger and larger dose of Kaimai Tincture at one time:

[Your immunity to toxins increases by 50.1%, and your body organs' ability to digest, metabolize and excrete various toxins increases by 51.4%].

According to what Master Naxi said at the beginning, if he chose Leomon's magic network, he must be mentally prepared to waste several years on it.

But at this rate, Gaode will be able to completely construct Leomon's magic network in less than half a year.

This is the importance of expertise, Gao De let out a breath and thought to himself.

[Adaptation] is not a combat specialty and cannot directly improve his combat power, but its growth and comprehensiveness bring him benefits that are much stronger than combat specialties, and it also indirectly helps him improve his combat power.

Because we have fully experienced the power of [Adaptation], Gaode attaches more importance to the second-ring expertise.

His current mage level has reached the middle stage of the first ring.

According to the current progress of cultivation, it will actually take at most two to three years to be promoted to the second ring.

Before being promoted to the second ring, he must increase the number of spells he masters.

For Gaode, learning magic itself is not a difficult task.

The second-ring mental power constructs the first-ring spell model, just like a junior high school student solving elementary school math problems.

It's hard just to get the spell recipe.

As far as the current situation is concerned, his most stable channel to obtain spell formulas, even rare spell formulas, is to exchange military merits from the Sea Sentinels.

As the official wizard organization of the Plantagenet Dynasty, how many can compare with it in terms of magical inheritance and heritage?
This is why Gaode attaches so much importance to his development in the Sea Sentinel.

"They said it would take a day or two to decide, but five days have passed and there is still no news. Has something unexpected happened?" Gao De frowned, a hint of doubt flashing through his mind.

Five days had passed since he came back, and he had successfully completed the purchase process for the "Old Harlem Grocery Store". However, the Sea Sentinel had still not finalized his military merit rating, which made Gao De start to think too much.

"A few second-class merits are great achievements for me, but they are nothing to the sea sentinels. They shouldn't hold me back." Gao De shook his head to himself, no longer thinking about those groundless speculations, and prepared to go out to the "Old Harlem Grocery Store".

The shop transfer process was completed, but the other party still needed time to clear the goods and move, and could not leave immediately. Considering the other party's advanced age, Gaode gave Lao Harlin five days.

Today is the last day of the agreement, and the other party should have moved out.

As a result, as soon as he went out, he ran into the messenger staff of the Sea Sentinel.

"Master Gaode." The other party was looking for him.

"What's the matter?" Gao De actually already had the answer in his mind.

"Your military merit has been evaluated. I have been ordered to deliver the notification letter and the military merit exchange list to you." The staff member lowered his head slightly and handed a roll of parchment and a thick sealed book to Gao De.

(End of this chapter)