Chapter 449: Making Money, Making Money

Chapter 449: Making Money, Making Money

A dragon that could be observed! When Augusta had swaggered into Kaja before, although some people had seen him, it was only from a distance. Now with the possibility to see a dragon up close, many people were tempted!

They were not just tempted, they wanted to act immediately. After all, the ticket price wasn’t something just anyone could afford. The ticket prices here were based on status. Children under 1.2 meters tall got half-price tickets… Free? In families in this world, a decent one usually had more than two kids. Free? Forget about that… Half-price was good enough.

Anyway, pricing based on status brackets was already a very fair practice. Of course, regarding this status-based pricing, although many wanted to say something, they all quieted down after learning who was in charge of collecting the tickets.

A shady deal between dragons. Otherwise, why would Augusta do something so obviously idle as letting himself be watched like this?

Even though he could make money from it, without the proper status, anyone who went to discuss this with Augusta would just get their head smashed in. Status determined whether a conversation could even proceed. As for whether anyone would be willing to come?

Was that even a question? Knowing it was safe and being able to see a dragon, why wouldn’t people come?

And then came the infuriating time-limited concept. Augusta said he was a dragon with dignity. Did they think they could just stare at his magnificent body for hours on end? What were they trying to do?

It wasn’t like he was a Mother Dragon being stared at so intently. Augusta said he wasn’t interested at all. That led to the timed ticket idea. Anyway, there were plenty of willing fools willing to come, not to mention those here for the Auction. Many of these attendees were wealthy and distinguished. With background information secretly provided by the Purple Vine Guild, Zheng Yichen said his ticket pricing wouldn’t be too unfair.

It all matched their status. Dissatisfied? Well, don’t come then…

“Hmph~ Honestly,” Augusta swept his gaze over the eyes fixed on him and gave a light snort. Thinking these were all people paying him money, he let it go. Especially the children looking at him with starry-eyed gazes, those hopeful expressions. Hmph, his charm was truly immense!

Time to shift position!

For ordinary people, a ticket was to observe a Red Dragon for fifteen minutes. With safety guaranteed, ordinary folks were happy to come take a look, especially when their children longed to see it. As long as you were an ordinary person, the ticket price was very low, completely affordable. If you missed it, you might never get the chance in your whole life.

Zheng Yichen? He was a dragon alright, but right now he was moving around in an Alchemical Avatar, which had little to do with being a dragon. How could it compare to the awe of seeing a real dragon?

The rest had other motives. They wanted to use this time to try and get a word in with the Red Dragon. A dragon’s whole body was a treasure. Dragon Blood, Dragon Scales, Dragon Teeth, etc., all could be utilized. Even if they couldn’t directly ask the dragon to let them clip its nails or pull its teeth, or even give it a checkup and tell him doing such things regularly was good for its health…

Even if they couldn’t do those things, getting some of his old shed scales or teeth would be nice. After all, naturally shed and replaced Scales or teeth were no different from freshly removed ones. Zheng Yichen himself had a habit of collecting such things, as he occasionally used items like Dragon Scales or Dragon’s Claws for experiments… For example, some Special Ammunition in the Armory had Dragon’s Claw powder as an additive on the tips, making them significantly better at piercing and Magic-piercing!

It was just that this Red Dragon largely ignored these people. Mainly because Zheng Yichen had discussed it with him beforehand. In the beginning, he shouldn’t pay them any mind. Even if he really had old Scales or claws to dispose of, he should string them along for a while first. That way, setting a price later would be easier.

“Hmm… Speaking of which, I’m a bit curious. Why exactly are you thinking this way for me?” Augusta narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at Zheng Yichen, his expression extremely serious. Then he rested his chin on his hand and thumped his palm. “Oh! I get it. If this is your compensatory act for Lord Augusta, then that’s acceptable.”

This time, Zheng Yichen had come and shown him that income statement. In just one day, there was already quite a substantial sum. Most of it came from those powerful or high-status individuals. The portion from ordinary people was a smaller amount.

I am doing it to earn extra cash! Zheng Yichen slightly curled his lip. He couldn’t just say that he had a new research project recently and needed more funding, so he had to seize every money-making opportunity around him. Wasn’t having enough money to spend sufficient? Zheng Yichen once thought that way, especially after getting his share from the Magic Potion sales. He felt he could pretty much slack off.

But the more money he had, the more places he found to spend it. It was precisely because he had more money that his aspirations grew higher—not in terms of money, but higher levels. Yet these higher-level pursuits were ironically built upon a large amount of money. He didn’t have a Supernatural Ability like “I am very rich.” To avoid a future where his expenses outweighed his income, he had to seize every money-making opportunity available.

The ticket money was also a huge income.

“Uh…” Seeing Zheng Yichen’s somewhat embarrassed look, Augusta nodded, taking it as him being caught in his thoughts and showing awkwardness. “Also, when will my Alchemical Puppet be ready? Even though you gave me this idea, I won’t let you delay!”

“No problem, my main body is working hard to make it over there. I guarantee it’ll be ready before the Auction officially begins.”

“That’s fine then.” Augusta saw a new wave of spectators arriving, cleared his throat, and immediately struck a majestic pose again. Hearing the gasps of those little kids, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. Mhm mhm! This kind of life was much more interesting than holing up in his Dragon Lair all day. He wondered why his fellow dragons wanted to abandon the Continent.

Also, those humans who kept wanting to exchange things for his old Scales and nails. Tsk, did they really think he was blind? Couldn’t he tell the value of their stuff? Even if he couldn’t, he had plenty of books to look up information. They dared try to trick him?!

“I want to say, as Witches, shouldn’t you two be very rich?” In the laboratory of the Underground Base, Zheng Yichen looked at the thick stack of lists in front of him, feeling a headache as he looked at Annie and Irene. A small part of the list was his own; the rest was all from these two. Zheng Yichen even wondered if they were just taking this chance to fleece him.

He was quite wealthy, but the usual expenses of the Underground Base were huge. The Underground Base was under construction every single moment. Without him as the lead, it was just Alchemical Puppets passively building according to the plans he set. The efficiency was very low, less than one-twentieth of when he led the construction himself.

Zheng Yichen had no intention of increasing this slow pace; as long as no mistakes were made, it was fine. However, slow as it was, one thing never changed: it cost a lot of money!!

“Huh? Who told you Witches are very rich?” Annie gave Zheng Yichen a strange look, reached into her Personal Space, and pulled out two gold coins. “This is all the money I have on me.”

“…I have no money.” Irene tilted her head slightly and stated bluntly. For accumulating materials or such, she had her own ways to get them, and those ways didn’t require spending money. Witches controlled many resources, but these resources weren’t closely tied to money. Although their other resources were indeed a wealth that could rival a nation’s, it wasn’t actual gold.

“But the things on this list, what about them? You must have some stored up, right! And now you want me to go buy them?”

“Oh, we do have some stored,” Annie said, “but we aren’t collectors, so we only keep what’s necessary. The things on the list are the part beyond what we can provide ourselves.”

Zheng Yichen felt the “necessary part” would probably double the thickness of this stack of lists. He sighed softly. Although Annie and Irene were willing to participate in the Transformation Magic research, their pursuits differed from his. Annie was at a block in her own research and wanted to change her approach. Since she hadn’t figured out how to proceed yet, she simply joined the Transformation Magic research. As for Irene, she was aiming to research it as a complete Magic system from the start!

Looking at his own pursuit again, it suddenly felt quite lame… Ah, whatever. As long as it progressed smoothly, it would be fine. A solid foundation would be good for Zheng Yichen himself too. He couldn’t end up with a Transformation Magic that was patched together and would revert with the slightest lapse, right?

If it could make his own goal more perfect, Zheng Yichen didn’t mind the research taking a long time. With no worries holding him back now, taking a bit longer was fine.

“Alright, let’s leave it at that for now.”

“By the way, there will be more to be added later, but those will depend on the research progress and need adjustments. Would you prepare ahead?”

“I know, I know!” Zheng Yichen said in a heavy tone. He took out a small notebook and started calculating the budgeted expenses. He scratched his head and looked around. Perhaps he should find a competent and trustworthy butler?

Dan Marina… Hmm, she was very capable, but she obviously wouldn’t devote much energy to this. Better to pick a suitable one from the Ghost Maids first. Tch, since they would be needing them, dedicated versions of Alchemical Puppets for the Ghost Maids would need to be researched and made quickly too.

Such a full schedule!

Slapping the small notebook onto the side, Zheng Yichen pulled a sealed box from his Personal Space. Inside were the materials for creating the Red Dragon Augusta’s Avatar. Never mind other things, he would make this first, save that easily-swayed dragon from making any more trouble.