Whose world-class drama are they criticizing?

As Ryan told dwarven jokes, many dwarven craftsmen angrily put down their hammers, craning their necks to look at Ryan, determined to remember the wretched man's face and draw it in their Book of Hatred.

Fortunately, Ryan had the foresight to not dismount.

The dwarves drew a horse's head in the Book of Hatred, noting that the person had a horse's face and long, flowing, jet-black hair.

Through a duel ceremony, the third young master of the Lu family spread the news of opening up the Wuguang Territory throughout the blacksmiths' guild in just half a day.

It was only a matter of time before Ryan visited the Blacksmiths' Guild, since development inevitably involves construction.

But I never expected this guy to be so rude!

They already remembered Ryan's face—a long face, not handsome at all.

Unless Ryan apologizes, none of the dwarven craftsmen will go; they'll just have to wait for that arrogant horse-faced young master to be finished.

Ryan squinted and scanned the Craftsmen's Guild. Just as the butler had said, the dwarven craftsmen were indeed highly skilled, even the worst apprentices.

All dwarves possess the 'Blessing of Craftsmen and Fire,' a blessing not bestowed upon individuals but upon the entire race. Unlike humans, only a few receive this blessing, and all dwarves are natural-born blacksmiths.

Given the dwarven craftsman's exceptional skill, Ryan's choice is undoubtedly...

I don't want any of them!

He wasn't looking for a blacksmith for himself, but for the players.

No matter how skilled a blacksmith is, they're still forging weapons for players; you can buy good weapons at a low price. With such high early-game strength and such generous benefits, how can Ryan possibly annoy players or drive them away?

He wanted to do the opposite and find the worst blacksmith!

As for whether players want it or not, there's only one blacksmith shop in the entire Wuguang Territory, which is a complete monopoly.

If they have never seen the light, they can endure the darkness.

His goal is not to serve the players, but to tame them.

Players can be tamed by Ryan as long as they have never seen a blacksmith with normal skills.

Ryan's gaze swept quickly past the dwarves and then turned to the humans in the guild.

Although the blacksmithing industry is monopolized by dwarves, a small number of humans become blacksmithing apprentices, but most remain at the bottom of the industry.

Only newly graduated blacksmith apprentices were willing to go to Wuguangling, since the jobs in the city were already saturated.

Blacksmiths are like civil engineers in another world. For newcomers, they are not worth much in their homeland. They can only earn money by supporting foreign construction projects.

When the butler saw that Ryan had given up on the dwarves, he nodded in agreement. Human craftsmen were cheaper and more suitable for Ryan's current situation.

Now we'll see if the young master has the discerning eye to recognize talent.

For a pioneering lord, this is the most important talent.

Ryan naturally has a keen eye for talent; as a semi-player, he can see a character's basic information panel.

【Name:??】

【？？】

However, this thing is tied to favorability; the higher the favorability, the more ability information Ryan can see.

It's the same as a visual novel.

When he first met these craftsmen, his relationship with them was at zero, and his favorability towards them remained at the "Stranger" level.

But it's okay, Ryan has his own way of doing things; he's the fucker of galgames.

He took out a copper coin.

It was given to a human apprentice dressed in coarse cloth.

The favorability rating will then increase.

This is the capitalist strategy!

Name: John

[Level 4 Blacksmith]

Strength 1.4, Stamina 2, Magic 0, Charisma 1

Skilled in iron smelting and forging, especially adept at forging horseshoes, but not skilled in forging weapons.

【？？】

"Your name is John, right?"

Ryan looked as if he knew everything, as if he had seen it all.

He's good at making horse harnesses, but not so good at making weapons.

I'm talking about a box?

John was instantly stunned. He was just happily receiving his money, how did he suddenly get his box opened by the kind boss in front of him?

How did he know?

The butler was even more bewildered. He knew that a lord with the ability to judge people could determine a person's talent and potential simply by their temperament and appearance.

He himself is a case in point. When he was poor, he was noticed by Archduke Lawrence and followed him to fight in the north and south to build a career. He only became the steward of the manor when he reached retirement age.

Ryan's gaze was even more exaggerated than his father's.

It's one thing to see talent, but how come they even knew your name?

Either he did his research beforehand, or he just guessed by luck. It's more likely the latter, since Ryan wouldn't need to investigate an ordinary civilian beforehand, and the names of civilians are quite different.

It's not a big deal if you just guessed a name.

The butler comforted himself.

But what happened next completely shattered the butler's worldview.

Because Ryan handed John two more copper coins.

"Your birth blessing is 'the blessing of harvest and rice fields,' so why did you become a blacksmith's apprentice?"

Chapter 19 I'm Super, Box? (Thanks to the Silver Alliance member who spent 100,000 on qread)

—"Your blessing is 'Blessing of Harvest and Rice Fields,' so why did you become a blacksmith's apprentice?"

Ryan's voice wasn't loud, but to those around him it sounded like thunder.

The butler was a little numb.

It's one thing to open the boxes of ordinary people, but how come they even opened the boxes of gods?

To attack the Heavenly Kingdom?

All species are born blessed by a god or spirit. As Ryan said, 'the blessing of harvest and rice fields' is a major category of blessings from the goddess of spring. Such people are born to be good at growing crops.

All blessings bestowed are considered important personal secrets that no one else would know about.

Analogous to a past life, it's like the last four digits of an ID number.

Apprentice John was even more bewildered. He was first given three copper coins for no reason, and thought that this young master Lu Ming was really generous and told good jokes about dwarves. Just as he was starting to like him, he was turned upside down.

So what's the deal with those three copper coins?

Should we try diplomacy first, then resort to force?

"Uh..." Having never seen such a scene before, he stammered, "Because there were already four farmers in the family, and not enough land to go around, my father sent me here to be a blacksmith's apprentice..."

It's so dark... John swallowed hard. He must have been overheard criticizing Lu Mingjia a few days ago. He felt incredibly regretful and vowed to be more careful with his words in the future.

“I see.” Ryan nodded.

"Would you like to hire this person?" Miss Jasmine asked.

“Not enough.” Ryan shook his head.

Not good enough?

“Not enough,” Ryan said. Although John had already pulled quite a bit, it still wasn’t enough.

He wants to find the most talented people.

The butler was completely baffled. It couldn't possibly be that Ryan and the apprentice had conspired to put on a show to fool them...

Unable to make up his mind, he had no choice but to seek help from the head of the Lawrence family through the magic prism under his shirt.

"This kid must have rehearsed it."

Archduke Lawrence dismissed it, saying it was all an act.

Ryan's behavior is too exaggerated. It's one thing to see his talents and flaws, but he even saw through the blessing.

The ability to discern talent and recognize character is indeed a lord's most important talent.

Grand Duke Lawrence understood this principle well; he was unconventional in his approach and promoted countless talented individuals, bringing the Lu Ming family's power to its peak.

Ryan's judgment couldn't possibly be better than mine.

"Let's see how he makes up his story next."

Ryan ignored Mr. John and continued walking along the road, knowing that the real person was definitely at the very back.

The entire Craftsmen's Association was quite large, with master craftsmen residing in the main hall. There was little foot traffic, and orders were expensive, primarily catering to the nobility. Leaving the main hall, one arrived at the back street, where various shops produced weapons and tools. Although it was considered a prime location, the shops were diverse and of mixed quality.

Ryan walked along, knocking on doors one by one.

Upon meeting the craftsman, he didn't say anything, but as was customary, he first gave him a small tip of one copper coin.

With his approachable nature and excellent modeling skills, he easily increased the other party's favorability.

Just as the person opposite was happily collecting their money, Ryan casually remarked:

"Your name is Jack, you are skilled at forging kitchen knives, and your blessing is..."

Damn it.

This is so ridiculous!

Mr. Jack was stunned. His personal information had been completely exposed. Could it be that the Lu family had their eyes on this land and planned to seize it by trickery and force? Was this copper coin their severance pay?

He had heard the rumor that Forging Street was going to be demolished and that Archduke Lawrence wanted to turn it into a love street.

All the master blacksmiths have to switch to mold making; that's where the money is.

Jack's expression was solemn. This young master had even prepared background information. It seemed that the rumors were true. He had come prepared!

Ryan frowned; he had only seen half of it before the information disappeared from his sight.

He immediately understood why the other party's favorability had plummeted.

Even though we gave them tips, these scoundrels are insatiable... Ryan's eyes couldn't help but show emotion.

He clearly only wanted to look at the entries.

"Here are two more for you," Ryan said, his smile innocent. "Is this enough?"

[The curse of ignorance and delusion: Your words will have a certain chance of being misunderstood]

Mr. Jack was even more horrified. He immediately realized that this was an ultimatum. If he didn't agree to the price of three copper coins, the city hall would come and demolish his house!

This is outrageous!

He turned to look at the butler, who was a veteran of the old battlefield, a fifth-level warrior, with a murderous aura, and looked like someone not to be trifled with. Moreover, he was wearing the Lu Ming family crest.

Jack then realized that these were thugs sent by Duke Lawrence.

Everything was at the Duke of Lawrence's behest.

The sky over Lu Mingcheng had darkened.

Mr. Jack dared not think any further.

This blacksmith shop is close to the association center, and the land there is extremely valuable; he certainly wouldn't be willing to give it up.

Now, there's only one option left.

bribery.

He then turned his ingratiating gaze to Ryan, a smile plastered on his face, "I heard the Lu Ming family is going to rebuild Wuguang Territory, that's really great news! My little shop doesn't have much to offer in terms of donations, oh dear, we just happen to have two extra pounds of Xuan Iron..."

Ryan smiled too. Sure enough, he really had a friendly personality. As long as he treated the people sincerely, they would be genuinely grateful to him.

I only invested three copper coins, and I already got a rebate.