The person under the black robe was naturally Chu Tian. When he returned, he passed by the Clothiers' Guild and picked out the largest black outer robe, the hooded kind.
Covering his entire body, he did not want everyone to know that he was the boss behind the three shops yet.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the two left the auction house and headed straight for the "Everything Available" Pharmacy.
Before long, the "Everything Available" Pharmacy posted notices recruiting alchemists, purchasing herbs, and so on.
Next was the Engineering Store, recruiting engineers, acquiring minerals, and other materials.
Chu Tian was the only one who came out this time. The future "Demon Master" had been left behind in the shop by him, along with a thousand gold coins. He was also granted management rights for the pharmacy and engineering store, and was tasked with recruitment work when he had nothing else to do.
As for purchasing materials, Chu Tian had long ago set the prices and hired NPCs to be responsible.
All that was needed was for players to craft items and put them up for sale. Apart from crafting, all other matters were handled by NPCs.
The auction house, on the other hand, required no management. After setting the commission rates, it was completely handled by the system, saving operational trouble and ensuring the security of players' interests. If an individual took over and embezzled or misappropriated consigned equipment, wouldn't that be chaotic?
Therefore, opening a shop in the game was still very convenient, but the prerequisite was that you had money.
After finishing these things, Chu Tian bid farewell to the dumbfounded "Shang Da Hao Mei Dai Zhi". Everything was in order now, and he had even found someone to manage it.
Whether the person would genuinely follow him, Chu Tian no longer cared. Holding the contract he had signed with him, he was not afraid of him running away.
Looking at the terms of the contract, Chu Tian felt a little sorry for the guy. The future "Demon Master" was utterly astonished by his actions.
In a daze, he signed this contract for two hundred years of servitude.
The main contents of the contract were: all output of crafted items by "Shang Da Hao Mei Dai Zhi" in the future would belong to Chu Tian. If there was any profit generated, fifteen percent of the profit from the item would belong to "Shang Da Hao Mei Dai Zhi".
In return, Chu Tian would provide him with all the material supplies.
Another was an employment contract. He would also temporarily be responsible for the management of the two shops, "Everything Available" Pharmacy and "Everything Available" Engineering Store. Zero point five percent of the net profit generated by the two shops would belong to him. During his tenure, Chu Tian could change the person in charge at any time without any objection.
Actually, apart from the long duration of the servitude contract, requiring him to follow Chu Tian until death, the profit-sharing aspect was quite good, and it was a guaranteed win, a no-loss situation. This was because most guilds offered a profit split of at most around ten percent, or even a meager five percent.
His contract's profit split was fifteen percent, so he was quite surprised when he saw the contract Chu Tian gave him.
"Are you sure you want me to sign this contract?" Shang Da Hao Mei Dai Zhi asked in surprise.
"Yes, do you have any questions?"
"You might not know, but I've always made things at a loss. Occasionally, when I do manage to make something, I sell it for less than what it cost to make. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been kicked out of the guild. If you lose money, don't blame me." Shang Da Hao Mei Dai Zhi looked at the agreement, not paying attention to the contract period at all, but instead saying these words to Chu Tian.
Inwardly, he was extremely excited. Although he said this, he was very afraid that Chu Tian would retract the offer, and looked at Chu Tian with a hint of apprehension.
"Am I someone who lacks money? Even if I lose money, I'll accept it. But my judgment has always been very accurate!" If Chu Tian wanted to win over someone like Shang Da Hao Mei Dai Zhi, he had to show trust first.
Hearing Chu Tian's words, a surge of emotion stirred within the future "Demon Master." This was undoubtedly an affirmation and recognition of him. When a person is down and dejected, what they need is not charity from others.
What they need is comfort and recognition, even if it's just a single sentence.
Chu Tian's casual remark penetrated the "Demon Master's" psychological defenses, striking directly at his heart.
Shang Da Hao Mei Dai Zhi's trembling hand paused at the signature line. After a moment's thought, he said to Chu Tian again, "Isn't fifteen percent a bit too high? Life players who sign with guilds usually get ten percent of the profit, which is considered quite high."
"Stop talking nonsense and sign quickly. You're worth this price!" Chu Tian pretended to be angry.
But to the "Demon Master," it sounded incredibly warm.
Seeing him sign his name on the contract, Chu Tian smiled and said, "Alright, from now on, you're my person. Your name is too unpleasant. From now on, I'll call you Demon Master! Look after the shop for me, I'm going to be busy."
Without waiting for the other person's reply, Chu Tian left the engineering store.
When he arrived at the plaza, the foot traffic was still as high as ever, but it was no longer as noisy.
The players who were setting up stalls had all disappeared. At the auction house across the street, many players were entering and exiting.
At the pharmacy next door, quite a few people were transacting with NPCs, selling herbs.
Looking at these three shops that belonged to him, Chu Tian was absolutely confident that he would not lack money in the future.
Although he had invested a lot this time, a total of four thousand gold coins, in the near future, these three shops would provide him with a continuous stream of funds.
The services would only connect to real-world currency after half a year, at which point the server would officially start auctioning or selling in-game assets such as auction houses, shops, and land.
And Chu Tian had opened these half a year earlier, which would definitely put him a step ahead. By then, players would have already formed habits, and shops opened later could only pick up the leftovers.
This was the benefit of being at a higher level, gaining preferential access to resources. Even when real-world currency integration arrived, he wouldn't be afraid.
Even if various financial groups entered the market, wanting to get a piece of the pie from him, they would have to pay hundreds or thousands of times more capital than now.
If Chu Tian didn't still need the gold coins he had on hand, he would have wanted to go to the other two cities and upgrade all the shops.
However, the remaining ten thousand gold coins in his hand were still useful, and that was for guild upgrades.
Currently, the "Reverse God Alliance" was still a Level 2 guild, only able to accommodate a thousand members. The guild slots were already full. If it weren't for the red name preventing him from returning to the city.
He had wanted to upgrade the guild long ago. Seeing that he still had ten thousand gold coins, Chu Tian knew that he would have to spend a lot this time. Upgrading the guild to Level 4, which could accommodate ten thousand people, would require six thousand gold coins.
There was no other way; if he wanted to be strong, he had to have his own power.
He went to the guild hall and without saying a word, directly paid six thousand gold coins, leaping from a Level 2 guild to become the second Level 4 guild in Shengjing City.
With all affairs settled, it was time to improve his equipment.
At this point, he didn't have any good equipment and was reluctant to use the Wishing Box for reinforcement.
He first took a look around the guild warehouse and found nothing that caught his eye.
So, he returned to the auction house under his name, planning to look for something there!
As he walked, a figure suddenly appeared in his peripheral vision.