The city-building order is in hand!

"So... when are you sending the money?"

Chen Ming got straight to the point.

His sole purpose in winning over the Thorn Family was gold coins.

Whether it was constructing a main city or its subsequent upgrades, it would require a massive amount of gold.

Although Chen Ming could gather enough gold on his own with his gold-farming abilities,

doing so would inevitably affect his leveling speed.

Therefore, the best solution was to recruit a faction to serve as his reserve treasury.

The gold required for the future construction and upgrades of the main city would be supplied by the other party.

And the Thorn Family was the perfect choice for this reserve treasury.

As for Dragon Soul, besides acting as a reserve treasury, a large part of why Chen Ming sought their cooperation was to use them as a check against the Thorn Family.

With the two sides balancing each other, he could save himself a lot of trouble.

"Gold coins are naturally not a problem."

"But the issue is, in this cooperation, you are getting tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of trillions of gold coins and a city building token for nothing."

"What does our Thorn Family stand to gain from this cooperation?"

Daenerys stared at Chen Ming with burning eyes.

Hearing this, a smile played on the corner of Chen Ming's mouth: "Being able to cooperate with me and become my ally is the greatest gain your Thorn Family will get from this event."

"In the future, once I rise to power, no one will dare covet your Thorn Family ever again."

"Is that not enough?"

As the wealthiest family in Eternal, the Thorn Family was naturally a constant target of greed.

In particular, the Thorn Family's top-tier combat power was not strong enough.

If it weren't for Daenerys playing all sides over the years and entangling herself in interest-based relationships with various factions,

the Thorn Family would likely have been forcibly annexed by those large guild forces long ago.

"What you say is indeed true."

"Being able to cooperate and become allies with you is indeed the greatest gain for our Thorn Family."

"But you also understand in your heart that while you have infinite potential right now, who can guarantee you will truly rise?"

"If you were to meet an untimely end midway, wouldn't our Thorn Family lose everything?"

Daenerys stared at Chen Ming with a half-smile.

"So, what do you want?" Chen Ming asked in return.

"That!" Daenerys decisively pointed her finger at the Eternal Forge.

"Do you think that's even possible?" Chen Ming looked at Daenerys as if she were an idiot.

As an Eternal-Grade piece of equipment, the value of the Eternal Forge could no longer be measured in gold coins.

"You misunderstand. I don't want your Eternal Forge; I want to discuss a partnership," Daenerys said with a beaming smile.

"You want to use the Eternal Forge to produce a large number of Eternal Stones for sale?"

With just one glance, Chen Ming saw through Daenerys's thoughts.

"Exactly." Daenerys nodded repeatedly. "The Thorn Family will cover the cost of producing the Eternal Stones, and we split the profits fifty-fifty. You just need to sit back and collect the money."

In Daenerys's eyes, this was simply a guaranteed profitable business.

"I refuse!" Chen Ming shook his head decisively.

Daenerys: "?"

He's turning down free gold?

"If you put a large number of Eternal Stones up for sale right now, do you think your family's current strength can protect them?"

"Or do you think those large guild forces won't be tempted at all after seeing your Thorn Family selling Eternal Stones in bulk?"

As soon as these words were spoken, a cold sweat broke out on Daenerys's back.

In the face of absolute profit, she had indeed subconsciously ignored the underlying risks.

Chen Ming was right.

With the Thorn Family's current strength, if they dared to sell Eternal Stones in bulk, it wouldn't be long before they were wiped out by the combined forces of those large guilds.

Opportunity and risk coexist.

On the other hand, if they only sold Eternal Stones sporadically, the profit would be too meager.

"I was overthinking it," Daenerys nodded with a bit of lingering fear.

"In the future, once I am strong enough, we can consider selling Eternal Stones on a large scale."

"As for now?"

"It's better to stay low-key."

Chen Ming spoke calmly.

"You're right." Daenerys nodded. "In that case, pretend I never mentioned the sales."

"However, you must agree to two conditions."

"First, after you rise to power, if the Thorn Family encounters a crisis, you must step in to protect us."

"Second, in the future, if my Thorn Family wants to build a main city, you must lend me the Eternal Forge for free."

Both of Daenerys's conditions were reasonable, so Chen Ming naturally wouldn't refuse. He immediately reached out his hand and said, "Pleasure doing business with you!"

"Let's sign the contract."

...The next morning.

Above the Wuyuan Mountain Range.

Daenerys sat cross-legged on the back of the Ice Abyss Dragon.

"When I return this time and purge the traitors in the family, I will send you ten thousand trillion gold coins."

"Every month after that, I will send you another ten thousand trillion gold coins."

Daenerys spoke.

"Mm!" Chen Ming nodded. Under the constraints of the contract, the two had already formed an alliance.

Chen Ming also told Daenerys the information about the traitors hidden within the Thorn Family.

Since they were now allies, Chen Ming naturally wouldn't allow traitors to exist within the Thorn Family.

Their interests were aligned.

"Roar, roar!!"

With a dragon's roar, the Ice Abyss Dragon carried Daenerys away and disappeared into the horizon.

Chen Ming turned back to the worm nest, took a deep breath, and slowly took out a golden token from his backpack.

It was precisely the city building token that had been in Daenerys's hands.

[city building token]

[Quality: Rare]

[Level: None (Special item, no level)]

[Durability: 1/1 point]

[Effect 1: Can trigger the hidden quest — Rise of the Main City.]

[Effect 2: The main city built with this item can randomly obtain a powerful buff.]

[Effect 3: The main city built with this item gains +20% defense and comes with defensive buildings — Light-Breaking Arrow Tower x2, Obliteration Cannon x4, Plasma Defense Tower x1.]

[Description: A city is the torch of civilization, the kindling that remains.]

..."Whew!!"

After reading the specific effects of this Rare tier city building token, Chen Ming took a deep breath and decisively activated his Forbidden Talent to enhance it.

[Ding! You have used Forbidden Talent on the target 'city building token', obtaining a Tier 3 enhancement.]

[Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained the special item — city building token (???)]

[Ding! You have used Forbidden Talent on the target 'city building token', successfully obtaining the Golden Affix — Immortal.]

...