Nie Yan and Xie Yao drove around Huahai together. The cityscape of Huahai was quite impressive, but more importantly, both of them were very familiar with the city and shared a special emotional attachment to it.
Nie Yan drove while glancing at Xie Yao from time to time. Under the night sky, dressed in a white long dress, Xie Yao looked especially radiant, like an enchanting spirit of the night.
“My dad called me and said my grandfather wants you to visit their villa in Xiangdong when you have time,” Xie Yao said, looking at Nie Yan, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks.
Nie Yan was silent for a moment before replying, “Let’s wait a bit longer.” He didn’t want to visit Xie Yao’s family yet; doing so now would inevitably mean facing the cold expressions of people like Xie Yi.
“Okay, I’ll let my father know,” Xie Yao nodded, understanding Nie Yan’s thoughts.
They continued enjoying the peaceful moment together. However, Xie Yao needed to return home to be with her parents, and Nie Yan had many things to attend to in the game. As it neared the time for him to log on, Nie Yan and Xie Yao parted ways and headed home separately.
Back home, Nie Yan ate something and then logged into the game.
Time in Faith resumed its flow after a day’s halt.
To build a territory on a large scale would require an astronomical amount of money. Nie Yan checked the finances of the Bull Player Tribe guild and found approximately 2.2 million gold coins remaining. The Star Pharmacy had nearly 2 million gold coins, the Assassin Union had 2 million, and Nie Yan’s personal vault had accumulated nearly 3 million gold coins from auction houses and shop revenues.
However, this sum was still far from sufficient for building a territory. A territory could expand from a small settlement into a large city like Carol City, and fortresses could be constructed in suitable locations, each project requiring massive expenditures.
What Nie Yan looked forward to most was the ability to establish his own laws and tax rates on the territory, freely recruit NPCs as his mercenary army, and even hire powerful high-level elites if he paid enough.
If he could build a strong NPC army, the Bull Player Tribe’s foundation would be solidified, and they could attack Angel Empire anytime.
Yet, the costs of building a territory were enormous. Where would the money come from?
The Mist Dispelling Scrolls and the previously acquired gems had mostly been sold, bringing in a large sum for the Bull Player Tribe, but Nie Yan needed even more ways to generate income.
Nie Yan had a plan. Ordinary methods could only earn limited amounts—tens or hundreds of thousands of gold coins, which were merely drops in the ocean for the Bull Player Tribe.
He had to think bigger!
Nie Yan recalled ruthless real-world strategies—dumping and monopolization. The British Empire had built its legendary “Empire on which the sun never sets” using these very tactics.
When a country’s production capacity reaches a certain level, it often employs dumping and monopolization to dominate another country’s market. By flooding the market with large quantities of cheap goods, the prices of those goods are suppressed, leaving local producers unable to profit, eventually forcing them into bankruptcy. Once monopolization is achieved, prices are gradually raised, generating massive profits.
Nie Yan set his sights on completely controlling the potion markets of the Saturn Empire and the Greenlan Empire. The most powerful commercial force at his disposal was the Star Pharmacy.
Currently, all three Grandmaster-level alchemists in Greenlan and Saturn Empires were employed at the Star Pharmacy. They didn’t reach that level on their own but had worn the “Necklace of Yearning,” which increased their alchemy skill level by one. Nie Yan had previously dispatched people to gather materials for the necklace, successfully crafting three of them. Additionally, out of the 26 Master-level alchemists, 21 worked at the Star Pharmacy. Among the 5,000+ Expert-level alchemists, nearly 90% were employed there, along with numerous Advanced and Intermediate alchemists.
After a long period of development, the Star Pharmacy’s production capacity was astonishing, accounting for nearly 60% of the potion market in Greenlan and Saturn Empires. Although the Bull Player Tribe had partial control over potion pricing, the remaining 40% of alchemists still posed a significant challenge. Whenever the Bull Player Tribe raised the price of a potion to increase profits, many alchemists rushed to produce that potion, causing its price to drop again. Thus, the Star Pharmacy had not yet achieved true monopolization. The key to monopolization was complete control over pricing.
Nie Yan estimated that if the Star Pharmacy could capture over 90% of the market, profits would increase at least fivefold. That was the terrifying power of monopolization.
Dumping was one way to seize that remaining 30% of the market, but it required substantial financial backing.
Currently, the Bull Player Tribe had 9 million gold coins in liquid funds. The daily revenues from the Star Pharmacy, guild strongholds, shops, auction houses, and the Assassin Union, after deducting expenses, generated a net profit of about 1 million gold coins. If fully utilized, this financial strength would be formidable.
Although short-term gains might not be immediate, once monopolization was achieved, the profits would be sufficient to cover the massive costs of building a territory.
Nie Yan already had a perfect plan in mind. He immediately summoned Guo Huai to begin preparations.
Upon receiving Nie Yan’s message, Guo Huai hurried over.
“You called for me. What’s up?” Guo Huai asked.
Nie Yan briefly explained his plan. As he listened, Guo Huai became increasingly astonished, exclaiming, “This plan is brilliant! If it succeeds, the Star Pharmacy will be the only potion supplier left in Greenlan and Saturn Empires!” Guo Huai could hardly imagine the immense profits that monopolization would bring. Even if the plan failed, the Bull Player Tribe would still profit, benefiting both in the short and long term.
Guo Huai suddenly thought of something. “But we should be cautious. Guilds like Angel Empire might try to interfere, possibly using their financial resources to block us.”
“Even if they manage to interfere, we’ll still make our profits. As long as we maintain secrecy and proceed step by step, they won’t be able to react in time,” Nie Yan replied confidently.
“Alright, give me the tasks, and I’ll get started right away.”
“We’ll start with the first step. We need to dispatch trusted individuals to various cities to begin purchasing herbs secretly. The operation must be discreet and avoid drawing attention. Additionally, we need to raise a significant amount of funds. The 9 million gold coins we currently have won’t be enough. We should mobilize all Bull Player Tribe members and subordinate branches, pooling their resources together. We’ll offer them a 30% monthly interest rate,” Nie Yan explained. In the real world, a 30% interest rate would be considered usurious, but in the game, it was relatively normal due to the severe depreciation of in-game currency. Ordinary loans typically carried an interest rate of around 20%.
“How much do you plan to borrow?” Guo Huai asked.
“The more, the better! We need at least 30 million gold coins,” Nie Yan replied. Given the wealth of the Bull Player Tribe and its branches, 30 million gold coins wasn’t an excessive amount.
Guo Huai hesitated. “Isn’t this approach a bit too aggressive? If the plan fails or doesn’t generate enough profit, we might have to tighten our belts for a while.”
“Trust me. I know what I’m doing,” Nie Yan said firmly.
“Alright, I’m with you,” Guo Huai immediately began mobilizing personnel. About a hundred trusted individuals, all people Guo Huai knew and trusted in real life, were dispatched. Each carried nearly 70,000 to 80,000 gold coins and headed to various cities.
Nie Yan’s plan was simple. Faith was an intelligent system, and the daily supply of herbs was fixed and relatively scarce. Players collected a portion of these herbs, which were then purchased by alchemists and processed into potions for sale to other players. Since herb supplies were limited, potions generally maintained a balance between supply and demand.
However, with Nie Yan’s massive influx of capital, this balance would be disrupted. As Nie Yan’s forces began stockpiling herbs, scarcity would increase, driving prices up. Once Nie Yan’s stockpiles reached a critical mass, the value of his herb reserves would skyrocket.
But this was only the beginning. As herb prices rose, potion prices would follow. Alchemists would add processing fees to their increased raw material costs to maintain profits. At this point, Nie Yan would utilize his previously acquired low-cost herbs to mass-produce potions. By selling these potions at market prices, which were based on the now-inflated herb costs, the market dynamics would shift dramatically.
The Star Pharmacy’s potion production costs were based on previously purchased low-cost herbs, meaning they still generated profits. Meanwhile, external alchemists, who hadn’t stockpiled herbs in advance, would find themselves selling at the same prices as the Star Pharmacy, resulting in no profit or even losses. Over time, these independent alchemists would be unable to sustain themselves. At that point, Nie Yan would announce high-paying job offers at the Star Pharmacy, attracting desperate alchemists to join. Once all independent alchemists had joined the Star Pharmacy, Nie Yan’s goal of monopolizing the potion market would be achieved.
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