Chapter 295: Planning

Chapter 295: Planning

“You, aren’t you overthinking this a bit?”

“Huh?” Zheng Yichen was slightly taken aback, looking at Dan Marina with confusion. “Do you think this consumption model can completely replace real buying and selling?”

“Uh, probably not.” Zheng Yichen thought for a moment and said. The Magic Weapon Summoning Book was nothing like a Mobile Phone after all; it required Mana support, unlike a phone that just needed charging and topping up. As for opening such a mode to ordinary people?

Zheng Yichen felt that would be a bit too meddlesome. Though there were many Magic Weapon Summoners now, none of them were ordinary people! So ordinary people wouldn’t shop through the Magic Weapon Summoning Book; they would still go to stores…

“That’s fine then. Even if it somewhat affects Tariffs, it won’t truly disrupt the balance.” Dan Marina analyzed for Zheng Yichen. “Do you really think those countries would have no other ways if they couldn’t collect Tariffs? With one less Tariff, they could easily raise other taxes on those merchant guilds. Of course, those guilds wouldn’t just take it lying down—there would definitely be some squabbling, but that has nothing to do with you.”

“Anyway, after the countries lose the Tariff revenue, even if there’s some tax loss, it won’t be too significant once they make it up elsewhere. As for ordinary stores, their stock is provided by the major guilds, so they’re shielded from the impact…”

“That’s not absolute, is it?” Zheng Yichen couldn’t help interrupting Dan Marina.

“Ah~ Of course not. Some merchants would indeed seize this opportunity to stir trouble, pretending to suffer great losses when they actually benefited, raising prices opportunistically. Even if it doesn’t disrupt market stability, it would cause complaints. What do you think would happen then?”

“…” Zheng Yichen blinked, feeling a huge black pot flying toward him. Pah! “Who has the guts to throw a black pot at the GM?!”

“Yes, who would dare throw a pot at you? You could easily resolve this.” Dan Marina chuckled softly. She wasn’t joking; if Zheng Yichen did nothing, this would indeed happen. “If handled well, the Trading Module you plan to add won’t cause much market disruption and can pass smoothly. Moreover, if used skillfully, it could bind those merchant guilds to the Trading Module’s wagon, because countries would never truly abolish Tariffs.”

“As for those countries, they can be dissatisfied all they want, but the influence of the trading and pickup function is already here. They can’t unanimously boycott the Magic Weapon Summoning Book.”

A joint boycott among several countries? Sure, but once they’re pressured by countries benefiting from the Magic Weapon Summoning Book’s functions, see if they can keep up the boycott. And countries that have tasted the convenience’s sweetness—how could they give up such an advantage? Only after truly experiencing this convenience would they realize its impact.

Given this lack of unanimous resistance, those choosing to boycott would likely give up eventually. Refusing to back down? As long as the country’s leader isn’t a fool, they’d see the situation and compromise. Hold out stubbornly? As if the Creator doesn’t exist!

“…So the things I was worried about are solved this easily?” Zheng Yichen muttered, feeling conflicted.

“Well~ It’s really not a big deal. Actually, if you didn’t care about the commoner market, you could just ignore this issue.”

Zheng Yichen shook his head. Not caring was impossible; he wasn’t that heartless. But after Dan Marina’s analysis, realizing the problem wasn’t serious, he felt relieved. “I’ll go see Qin later.”

Behind Qin was a large merchant guild she controlled. While Zheng Yichen alone could handle merchants trying to throw black pots and stir trouble, doing it alone wasn’t efficient. Plus, this could affect all major guilds, including Qin’s. Discussing it with her wouldn’t seem like asking for a favor; it was just to more efficiently stabilize conflicts the Trading Module might cause with the market and countries.

As for dealing with troublemakers? Zheng Yichen thought it was simple. He supported reporting them; if verified, they’d be banned from the Magic Weapon Forum for life, while reporters got some preferential opportunities…

“It’s better if I go.” Dan Marina stood in front of Zheng Yichen. “If you go, how will you explain? Reveal your identity?”

“…” For the previous ad slot matter, Zheng Yichen had used Dan Marina in his excuse. Later things… well, it was hard to explain clearly. “Then I’ll trouble you.”

Without further worries, Zheng Yichen focused on the Trading Module. Negotiations between smart people seemed efficient, or perhaps Qin really didn’t want Dan Marina, the walking trouble, around, so she was back in less than an hour with the news that it was settled.

Slightly distracted, Zheng Yichen shook his head, controlling his Alchemical Avatar to sit in a chair, squinting slightly as his attention shifted to his main body. His posture there was also lazy, reclining in a chair. As his attention returned, he flicked his tail comfortably, poured himself a drink, and checked the Magic Weapon Forum.

The trading function had been tested for two days. Zheng Yichen recorded all issues, except duplicates. For posts claiming this trading model would affect national war efforts, Zheng Yichen read them, then gently placed the huge teacup on the table beside him. Did they think he had no countermeasures?

Though Zheng Yichen created this Trading Module mainly to collect Mana, he didn’t intend to support wars between countries by solving supply issues. Using his Personal Space as a transfer warehouse? Too naive. He couldn’t completely stop determined individuals, but relative fairness was achievable. Once the Trading Module was officially added to the Magic Weapon Summoning Book, this could be resolved.

There were two trading modes. The first was the so-called ‘Online Store,’ requiring verified information to apply and register. For small Online Stores, verifying the Magic Weapon Summoner’s info was enough. For large ones, like those of certain guilds, verification was stricter. Zheng Yichen already had an idea—Dan Marina was the best auditor, right? He could grant her corresponding permissions later. After verification, a special mark would appear to prevent impersonation.

For ordinary Online Stores, accumulating enough credibility would earn a credibility mark. There were also measures against deliberate smearing—Dan Marina could handle that effortlessly. Troublemakers would likely become her toys when she was bored…

The second mode was the ‘Free Market,’ for those who occasionally got rare items but were too lazy to set up an Online Store. Both modes had the same caution: for those scammed when buying extremely valuable items.

Again, if you knew the item was extremely valuable and still chose ‘online’ trading, weren’t you foolish? Zheng Yichen couldn’t solve this now. Later, once the Magic Weapon Summoning Book was fully established, major guilds could mostly prevent this. If it happened, Zheng Yichen might not permanently ban them, but he could make them pay a sufficient price!

As for identification Magic like Appraisal spells, Zheng Yichen had asked Irene. Such Magic existed, but it required some Magic knowledge and experience. It wasn’t just casting a spell to see Name: XX, Attributes: XX. It let the caster see the item’s essence more clearly to determine its function, effect, and authenticity!

Without relevant experience, it was like a primary school student seeing advanced math—they could recognize individual numbers, but combined… what was this?

To avoid phishing, Zheng Yichen added a ‘safeguard.’ It applied to those who saw valuable items in the Free Market or Online Stores and wanted face-to-face purchases. They’d prepay some Mana as a deposit. If the other party tried to rob them during the trade, this safeguard would trigger, summoning (up to 99%) a powerful Magic Arms to assist and granting temporary strong Magical Protection!

This safeguard was passive and disappeared after the meeting period. If attacked, restrained, knocked unconscious, or controlled, it would trigger. As for cost, if the deposited Mana was insufficient, they’d make it up later. If all went well, 90% of the safeguard Mana was returned.

Or they could keep the 90% for the next meeting trade, with a 10% ‘service fee’ deducted each time. Zheng Yichen explained this safeguard function in detail, hoping to deter those thinking of robbery.

For purchases with money, to prevent buyers from misusing the safeguard, money had to be deposited in the Pick-up Zone in advance during trade—it couldn’t be faked. For item exchanges, buyers had to follow the trade process: both parties confirmed each other’s goods, then deposited them in the Pick-up Zone face-to-face for the next step.

Once either party got a pickup code, the other got a corresponding one. Items in the Pick-up Zone were locked and required the correct pickup code and Contract verification, preventing malicious retrieval by buyers or sellers.

Contract info was more accurate and binding than online real-name IDs.

If anyone distrusted the Magic Weapon Forum, they didn’t have to use this mode. This function was for weaker buyers, but it wasn’t exploitable—the safeguard was mutual, maximizing caution on both sides. With caution, no sneaky tricks; just honest trading.

Trading was based on fairness. Once unfair, forceful seizures could happen. This might seem nitpicky, but Zheng Yichen didn’t like seeing his designs used for malicious trouble.

“Hmm~ There’s also the trading tax… If it’s just Mana, people probably won’t mind. The Mana cost for storing and picking up items can be adjusted slightly—volume affects cost, and quality too? Add that.” After a short break, Zheng Yichen returned to his Alchemical Avatar and work mode. Seeing the desk covered in draft papers, he scratched his head. “That should be about it… A fair environment, proper review…”

“There must be fees too.”

Dan Marina, who had appeared behind him unnoticed, suddenly spoke.

“For the Forum or summoning Magic Arms, requiring only Mana is normal—it’s ‘normal’ consumption. For trading, demanding only Mana makes the purpose too obvious. Even if you can’t overcharge, there should be corresponding rules.”

“So, free things are suspicious, while paid things seem better?” Zheng Yichen’s mouth twitched slightly. Looking at Dan Marina’s nod, it seemed correct—wasn’t Earth the same? In that case, add fees. Qin’s guild would only start operating once the Trading Module was launched and rules were public.

As for the service fee, it wouldn’t be as high as taxes. Too high, even with simple, efficient, fast trading, wouldn’t spread widely. Charging a symbolic amount, as Dan Marina said, gave a ‘purposeful’ feel, even though his goal was indeed harvesting Mana.

The service fee had to be calculated carefully. While Zheng Yichen frowned in thought, Dan Marina waved a slip of paper with two numbers between her fingers in front of him. “Here, start from the lowest. Adjust within the upper limit later if needed; unless special, adjustments within half the limit are fine.”

“Is there anything you can’t do?” Zheng Yichen asked, looking at the two numbers. Simple as they were, they contained much information.

“Does Magic count?”

“If you wanted to learn it, could you not?” Zheng Yichen shook his head. With fee income settled, he frowned slightly, wanting to say more. Since it was a new section, extra ad slots and direct access slots were inevitable. Of course, the Magic Weapon Forum ad slots remained top-tier, since entering the Trading Zone still required going through the Forum.

“Tsk, let the merchants bid for new ad slots and direct access slots themselves. They’ll find a balance.”

“No problem, it’s another way to earn money.” Dan Marina had no objection. Letting others compete to give you money was still earning, with fewer suspicions. They’d just mutter about the Creator being sly. Fixed pricing gave them room to maneuver; no fixed price? They’d likely fight fiercely…