Chapter 213: Chapter 213: Do You Want to Die?_1
"Money!?" Aiden was taken aback.
"Yes, they offered a sum of cash in circulation within the Empire, as well as some gold," Abigail recalled, saying, "Since we didnât really suffer any losses, we accepted their offer."
"The witchesâ coven... is short of money?" Aiden was somewhat surprised.
He found it hard to imagine that the witchesâ coven would be short of money, given that the seven Great Witches at the core of the coven commanded rare technologies. Just the magic potions that Lamia produced could fetch astronomical prices in the black market.
Even if items related to black magic couldnât be mass-produced, the derivative technologies developed in the course of their research into black magic also had promising prospects for monetization, such as the metallurgy techniques mastered by Vila, which could create high-end materials that even the previous world was unable to produce...
"It wouldnât be right to say weâre short of money, but money is essential to us. The personal cost of delving into black magic is very high. Now that The Covenant has basically spread throughout the entire Southern Continent, the most we can do with our status is make things in workshops to sell for money, and moreover, we can only operate and trade underground," Abigail replied, holding her teacup, "The funds obtained through black market channels are sometimes even hard to spend."
Aiden began to understandâthe witches had the means to make money, but their expenditures on black magic research were also rapid.
Due to their status as outlaws, they were unable to conduct large-scale production like entrepreneurs or farmers. With little cooperation among the witches, they could only resort to small workshop-style production for technological outputs, and the finished products could almost exclusively enter black market transactions, the money from which sometimes had to be laundered...
In short, even with monetizable technologies, the efficiency of monetization was very low.
"I see..." Hearing this, Aiden suddenly had an idea, "How about this, if you have any technology that can be mass-produced to make money, perhaps you could give it to us. We can produce it for you here in the prison, then weâll split the profits together."
In the autonomous prison, there was a considerable amount of autonomy in management. The prison had facilities, personnel, and production conditions all set upâit was essentially a medium-sized factory. If there was a product that met market demand and was convenient to produce, it could immediately generate profits.
Abigail stared at Aiden for a while, then a faint smile emerged on her lips, "Collaborate with witches? Youâre quite open-minded, just like what Qiqimora said. Alright, Iâll discuss this with them."
"What about the request I just mentioned?" Aiden pressed.
"Since Your Excellency has so kindly asked, we will, of course, do our best to assist, but... After all, we donât have any information on hand, so we canât guarantee weâll be of help," Abigail responded steadily.
"That will be enough," Aiden nodded.
After all, he didnât have much hope for their help.
"Well, time is almost up, I should take my leave," Abigail said as she stood up.
"Shall I walk you out?" Aiden also got up.
"Thereâs no need to trouble yourself, Your Excellency, as youâre still working," Abigail said as she walked toward the door, then suddenly, as if remembering something, turned around, "By the way, Your Excellency, although itâs just a minor detail, I think itâs better to inform youââMister Bloody Garmentsâ is not actually the founder of âBlood Red Full Moon.â"
Aiden was momentarily startled.
"The Blood Moon Cult, in fact, is a secretive organization that has existed for several hundred years, established by vampires and heretics pursuing immortality, worshipping the god of death," Abigail said nonchalantly, "I think that person either merely forged the banner or took over the power of that cult."
...
Meanwhile, outside the prison.
Blood clan Prince Kael Kaordo was squatting by the roadside, contemplating how to meet his sister.
After careful consideration, even if he found the prison leader, it was uncertain whether he could make his way through, as he had no connections...
Just as he was feeling troubled, someone walked past him and went straight to the prisonâs side entrance.
Kael turned his head for a look. It was a tall beauty; entering the prison through this gate, she must be a guard on duty here.
At that moment, Kael saw the female guard he had encountered at the reception desk earlier, now in plain clothes, coming out of the side door, conveniently bumping into the other person.
"Veronica, youâre on the night shift again today." Isabella greeted her colleague who was heading to work.
"Yes, how come you didnât have dinner in the canteen today?" Veronica responded.
"I have plans tonight... Oh right!" Isabellaâs face suddenly broke into a meaningful smile, "This afternoon the warden had a visitor, a great beauty Iâve never seen before. Since you guys made good progress last week, you better be on guard!"
"Be on guard for what?" Veronicaâs face flickered with a hint of panic.
"Hey, those who know, know. Iâm off." Isabella waved her hand and walked in another direction.
Having listened to the entire conversation, Kael stood up and narrowed his eyes.
The guard named Veronica seemed to have a close relationship with the warden, perhaps he could get some information about the prison leadership out of her.
Thinking this, Kael strode over and called out to her just before she entered the side door: "Miss, please wait a moment."
Veronica instinctively turned her head and, upon seeing the smiling strange gentleman before her, immediately furrowed her brow warily: "What is it?"
"Itâs like this, Iâm here to visit a family member whoâs incarcerated..." Kael began to explain.
"Ah, if you want to visit, please go to the reception to submit an application form, walk that way, enter through the main gate... But at this time, itâs already too late for visits, better come back tomorrow." Veronica, thinking it was an inquiry, relaxed her expression slightly and patiently explained to him.
"Ah no, actually my family member seems to have gotten into some trouble in prison recently and canât be visited right now. But I really want to see her, and you... you must know the leaders here, donât you? I was wondering if maybe you could..." Kael said with an insinuating smile.
"You want me to plead for you? Thatâs no use, if itâs against the rules to visit, even finding the warden himself will be of no help." Veronica waved dismissively.
"Please donât say that, surely a beautiful miss like you wouldnât ignore someone in trouble, right?" Kael smiled, raising his hand towards Veronicaâs face.
At the same time, he began to exude the charming power inherent to high-ranking blood clan members, a faint red light emitting from the depths of his dark red eyes.
SuccessâKael had just thought that when Veronica suddenly raised her hand and grabbed his wrist, twisting it forcefully.
A surge of intense pain shot through Kael, making him shiver.
"What are you doing!? Are you looking for trouble?" Veronica glared, each word heavy and deliberate.