The most important rule in business isn't "buy low, sell high." It’s "control the supply chain."
If you control the product, you control the market. If you control the market, you own the people. And right now, my market cap was sitting at precisely zero.
"Boss," Gub said, his voice trembling as he held up a glass jar filled with glowing blue sludge. "It... it tastes like burning."
"That’s the flavor of efficiency, Gub," I projected, zooming in on the jar with my sensors. "That isn't just sludge. That is Mana-Gro, the first unchecked, unregulated, high-potency cultivation supplement in this kingdom."
It had been three days since Seraphina’s audit. In that time, I hadn't slept. Mostly because I’m a rock, but also because the interest on my soul debt was compounding. I owed the System 1.3 million Mana now. The daily "vigorish" payments were eating me alive.
I needed a whale. A big investor.
I looked at my production line. It was crude. My six goblin employees were mashing glowing blue mushrooms—which I’d grown using my [Edit Terrain] skill—into paste.
Here’s the secret the Church doesn't want you to know: Mana potions are just concentrated magic water. The Church sells them for 50 gold pieces a pop, diluted to 10% purity. My mushrooms? 90% purity.
I wasn't just making a better product. I was making meth. Magical, highly addictive meth.
"But Boss," Gub asked, wiping his sticky hands on his loincloth. "Who buy? We are goblins. Humans stab us."
"We don't sell to the adventurers, Gub. Adventurers are broke. We need to sell to the people who sign the adventurers' checks."
I pulled up the local map overlay.
My dungeon was situated near the King’s Highway. Usually, it was quiet. But today was the Summer Solstice Gala in the capital. The road was clogged with carriages carrying the only thing more ruthless than a CEO: high-society socialites.
"Gub," I commanded. "Take the 'Roadblock' team. Go to marker 3A. I want you to create a localized infrastructure failure."
Gub blinked. "Huh?"
"Dig a hole in the road," I sighed. "Make a wheel fall off the fanciest carriage you see."
ns216.73.216.10da2
and then Add to home screen.