Walking into the Ruby Chamber of Commerce building, after entering the door and passing through a screen, there is a hall. The hall is divided into several areas, and each area seems to have a different function. Su Lie saw many people coming in and out here, it was very lively.
Zhang Rui introduced with some pride: "Mr. Su, our Ruby Chamber of Commerce is the leading chamber of commerce in the surrounding area. Our chamber of commerce's headquarters is located in Gaoshanbao, which is the building we are in now."
"Our caravan's footprints are almost all over the Eastern Continent, and with Gaoshan Fort as the center, the business of several nearby forts is basically ours, and it is difficult for outsiders to interfere."
Zhang Rui pointed to the hall in front and said, "There are no restrictions on this floor. In addition to our own people, people from outside can also enter and exit. Many deals are concluded here."
"In addition to providing a place for our chamber of commerce members to negotiate and discuss, this place also provides interest-free loans, pawn mortgages, living assistance and other services to the chamber of commerce's internal personnel."
"After all, not all caravans can make money, and some caravans encounter disasters in the wilderness, leaving some families without their backbone. Then, our Chamber of Commerce will provide relief and support to these families and try to help them overcome the difficulties."
Su Lie nodded appreciatively: "I didn't expect your Chamber of Commerce to be so humane."
Zhang Rui sighed and said, "The wilderness is always in turmoil due to the rampant evil. Accidents can happen to our caravans traveling in the wilderness at any time. With the support of the Chamber of Commerce, we can feel more at ease when we do business. At least we know that even if we die, our families will not starve."
"It is precisely because of these guarantees that our chamber of commerce has cohesion and can compete with other chambers of commerce."
"If there were fewer people like Lin Dong, you would probably be able to develop better." Su Lie smiled faintly.
Zhang Rui suddenly remembered Lin Dong's sudden death and looked at Su Lie a few more times. He was not sure whether Lin Dong's incident had anything to do with this man.
He calmed himself down and smiled again: "Mr. Su, please follow me, let's go to the third floor."
Su Lie followed him: "What's the third floor?"
Zhang Rui introduced enthusiastically: "You have seen the first floor. The second floor is the Chamber of Commerce Hall, which can accommodate more than a hundred people to participate in meetings. However, the Chamber of Commerce Hall is only used two or three times a year. After all, it is not often needed. Only when the future of the Chamber of Commerce is concerned and the development direction is decided, the Chamber of Commerce Chairman will call the leaders of each team together."
He walked up the stairs. “As for the third floor, it is the internal office of the Chamber of Commerce Council. It only receives caravan leaders or people brought in by the leaders.”
"Registration for the competition to decide the representative for the God of War Festival has started. The registration location is on the third floor, so we have to go there."
Su Lie said, "I see," and then said lazily, "Can't you come by yourself to register? There shouldn't be any need for me to show up, right?"
"Mr. Su doesn't know."
Zhang Rui smiled and said, "The Chamber of Commerce wants to prevent impersonation. For example, if someone signs up for the competition and is a Level 2 candidate, but the actual participant is a Level 5 candidate, then competitors will misjudge the situation and lose the competition."
"Therefore, for the sake of fairness, all contestants must be present in person and have their information registered and entered by the working group of the Council. On the day of the competition, the information will be compared and verified to be correct before they can enter the competition venue."
Su Lie touched his nose and smiled: "You are quite cautious."
Zhang Rui laughed along and said, "I heard that the working group spent several days coming up with these rules, and some people even lost all their hair because of it."
As they were talking, they arrived at the third floor of the building. As soon as they walked in, they saw a huge hall full of people.
Su Lie glanced at them casually and said calmly, "It seems that there are quite a few caravans participating in the competition."
Zhang Rui sighed, "After all, if you make it to the top three, you will be able to represent the Chamber of Commerce to participate in the God of War Festival. This is a great opportunity for every caravan, and no one wants to miss it. Even though I know my strength is limited, I still want to take a gamble and give it a try."
In the middle of the hall, there was a huge screen hanging, showing a topographic map that looked like the topography of a valley. And below the map, there was another window, in which was a divine evil.
This monster was humanoid, with white flames surging, and looked like a bride's wedding dress. As for the monster itself, it was certainly not a woman. It had a ferocious appearance, many glowing beards, eyes as big as copper bells, and a mouth full of debris. It had nothing to do with the word "beautiful".
"That's the 'Bloody Bride'." Zhang Rui pointed at the evil spirit on the screen and said, "It is the master of Death Valley. The competition will be held on the edge of Death Valley. In order to prevent the contestants from encountering the Bloody Bride, they are prohibited from entering the center of Death Valley during the competition."
"At that time, strong people from the Chamber of Commerce will go to the area to set up barriers and signs."
As he spoke, Zhang Rui led Su Lie to one of the tables. There was a long queue there, and it looked like it would not be Zhang Rui and his friends' turn for a while.
At this time, a light cry was heard in the meeting hall.
"Look, isn't that Xu Ao from the Donglai Caravan?"
"Lin Dong died suddenly, and the Donglai caravan is in chaos. I heard that it is leaderless now. What is Xu Ao doing here?"
"Isn't he planning to participate in the competition on behalf of the Donglai Caravan?"
People were talking about it, Su Lie and Zhang Rui also looked towards the entrance of the hall, and saw the dark-skinned Xu Ao walking in. He was wearing a black battle armor today, which was polished to a bright shine, almost like a mirror, and was very majestic.
Behind him were the guards of the Donglai caravan, all of whom were Xu Ao's old subordinates. Each of them had sharp eyes, and when they looked around, they made everyone in the hall bow their heads unconsciously.
Dengdengdeng!
There were footsteps coming from outside the door, followed by an angry voice shouting, "Xu Ao! Stop! You are just a guard, what qualifications do you have to sign up on behalf of the Donglai Caravan!"
Su Lie looked at the entrance leisurely, as if he was watching a play, and saw a middle-aged man chasing in. He had a big belly, was sweating profusely, and his features were somewhat similar to Lin Dong's.
Zhang Rui explained, "That's Lin Dong's eldest son, Lin Musheng. Lin Dong also has a son named Lin Taosheng, but this son has been weak and sickly since childhood and rarely intervenes in the affairs of the caravan. It seems that the matter of Lin Dong should be a fight between Lin Musheng and Xu Ao for the ownership of the caravan."
Xu Ao stopped, a smile on his face, and nodded to the young master of the caravan who was chasing him: "Young master, you are right. Xu Ao is a servant, so naturally he is not qualified to sign up."
"However, I just reached an agreement with the Second Young Master last night. Xu Ao is willing to assist the Second Young Master with all his strength, so I came to sign up today to follow the Second Young Master's wishes."
"The eldest young master wouldn't say,
I don't have the qualifications, do I?"
Lin Musheng was stunned for a moment, then cried out, "That idiot of a second brother has teamed up with you? He's such a fool, he actually did something like inviting a wolf into the house!"
"Even if Tao Sheng asked you to come, he is not the leader of the caravan. How can he be qualified to sign up?"
Xu Ao sneered and said calmly, "Master, I advise you to go home quickly. Your two precious sons might be kidnapped while you are away."
Lin Musheng was shocked, pointed at Xu Ao, and couldn't say a word for a long time. He turned around and left the hall.
Su Lie chuckled: "I didn't realize that this Xu guy has some skills. I guess he seems to be following his Second Young Master, but he is actually using his Second Young Master's name to manage the Donglai Caravan."
"I don't think Lin Musheng is his match. If the young master dares to do anything, his two precious sons will be gone."
Although he did not raise his voice on purpose when he spoke, he did not lower his voice on purpose either. Even so, the hall was very quiet at the moment, and most people heard Su Lie's words clearly.
Zhang Rui's face changed drastically, fearing that he would cause Xu Ao's dissatisfaction. But then, he remembered that he wanted to do something big, and he wanted to take this opportunity to expand his caravan. If he couldn't even withstand the pressure from Xu Ao, what would he do next
Zhang Rui barely straightened his chest and stood beside Su Lie.
Xu Ao looked over, and originally had an angry look on his face, but when he saw Su Lie, his expression changed, and he remained silent. He gestured, led the team forward, quickly completed the registration, and left.
After a while, it was finally Zhang Rui's turn. Just then, a team signed up and left. When they came over, a middle-aged man with a white face and no beard saw Zhang Rui, exclaimed, and said with a smile: "Isn't this Mr. Zhang from the Ruixiang Caravan? Why are you here to sign up too?"
Zhang Rui said neither arrogantly nor humbly, "Boss Liu, nice to meet you."
As they were saying hello, the team in front of them finished registering and the staff called out, "Next."
Zhang Rui quickly stepped forward and said, "I am Zhang Rui from the Ruixiang Caravan. We want to sign up."
"How many people are there in your team? Are they all here?"
"this... "
Zhang Rui couldn't help but look at Su Lie: "Mr. Su, how about I ask Murray and the others to come over?"
Su Lie smiled slightly: "No need."
He took a step forward, his eyes gentle, and said to the person in charge of registration: "Little brother, I am the only one in our team. My last name is Su, so you can just write Mr. Su."
"Please hurry up, I want to go somewhere else."
The staff member was stunned: "One person? Are you kidding me?"
He couldn't help but look at Zhang Rui.
Zhang Rui said in a deep voice: "I'm not kidding. What's wrong with just one person? Mr. Su alone is worth thousands of troops!"
The man who had just greeted Zhang Rui chuckled and said, "Zhang Rui, when did you learn to exaggerate? One against a thousand? This is too much of a compliment. If he loses, he can say it's because he didn't have enough people."
Just as he finished speaking, he was suddenly pulled over by someone, who whispered, "Don't talk nonsense, Boss Liu. Mr. Su, who was invited by Boss Zhang, is no ordinary person. Didn't you see that he embarrassed Xu Ao in public, and Xu Ao didn't dare to say a word?"