When the group reach the Trade Federate, Xuan Xian was first to rush in to find her daughter. During their incarceration, Xuan Xian had stuffed her daughter Ling Er to Lyla, and they escaped with the help of Serge.

But now, after this period of separation, her daughter gave no response as usual after seeing her. A strangled, heart-wrenching cry escaped her throat as she embraced her.

Lyla shook her head in disappointment. After all these while, the little girl’s condition had not improved. No matter what another did to interact with Ling Er, she behaved no differently from a beautiful porcelain doll.

After freeing everyone, there were some that wanted to let bygones be. Revenge would not rewind the time they had lost, but when Xuan Xian struggled to tear herself from the embrace and looked into Kairos’ eyes filled with a need for vengeance, everyone was riled up.

“Are we going to strike back, boss?”

“Let’s give them a nightmare they will never forget. Young master, please lead us!”

“Please lead us!”

The Grand Elder Feng’s quarters quickly became the temporary centre of operations for the Snowdrifts. While the others are catching up, Kairos excused himself.

Within a private room in the Trade Federate, isolated with sound-proofing talismans and powerful barriers, Kairos is making a call using a small platinum token.

“Fritzgen, I require your help,” Kairos spoke to the metal in his hand. It is the membership card he received from the Treasures Pavilion in Vox Shalua, and it allows him to communicate with the shop even from far distances.

“You!” The metal vibrates, humming to form a familiar voice that replied, “You are Kairos, Viscount of Saint Empire, am I right?”

Fritzgen had recently found that he had traded the best items of his stores for the Pseudo Immortal Ranked weapon that was sold at a shop in Saint City.

Though he still considers the price he paid is reasonable, but it devastated his confidence as a merchant because he had been overpriced a hundred fold.

“Recently, I’ve received Earldom… Along with a 3rd Class Official rank… ahhh, and I've received a Red coloured robe with a dress sword from my Emperor,” Kairos replied.

All complains that were on their way out of Fritzgen throat, suddenly ceased when he heard this.

“O…Official Rank? Earldom?”

“Yes.”

“What can I help you with?” He replied with a mildly friendly tone.

The change in Fritzgen’s attitude was contrasting from just seconds before but nevertheless executed perfectly. Kairos could only marvel at the speed of the merchant’s modification of his words.

To be able to quickly assess that offending Kairos would cause problems that far outweighs his possible benefits is an ability honed from Fritzgen’s years of experience as a trader. Furthermore, it seemed as though his emperor highly favours the boy.

In the first place, it is difficult to say if he could get anything in return for the previous trades he had done with Kairos. Though he had paid too much, in the Undercity, trading is all fair game. One party wished to purchase while the other wished to sell, and the price has been set in stone the moment the items transacted. There are no pills for curing regret.

Fritzgen understands this, and now that Kairos’ position in Saint Empire has changed, it would be better to gain a good relationship and perhaps haggle for future transactions. Since the boy is young, he would surely not be like those greedy old foxes in Vox Shalua that tries to swallow people whole.

The two conversed for a while, and after striking a deal with him, Kairos came out to meet Grand Elder Feng.

“Grand Elder,” Kairos begins, “I’m here to talk to you about my shop.”

The Grand Elder’s face turn slightly sour when he heard it. He had tried to protect the kid’s shop, but at the face of bankruptcy, they could not bend the rules for him.

Now, to repurchase their shop, it would require a large amount of payments. It is not only because of the costliness of repurchasing the shopfront itself, but the debts incurred, the paperwork, the court work costs, backdated bills and the penalty of all the contracts they breached.

Every supplier to their shop has a contract for providing a consistent amount of resource, but because the Snowdrifts has ceased operations in the middle of the term, they have to pay for the damages they did to these merchants.

Not only so, but even the land their shop is on also belongs to the crown and is considered leased to Kairos. But it has missed nearly two months of land rental fees after their business closed down, and even this is considered a breach of their terms.

With a face full of unease, Grand Elder Feng told him that the amount they racked up for a short five months of being away was one platinum and 38 white gold.

“I know it is quite a large sum… B..but.. if it is difficult I can lend you some…”

Before the elder finished his words, Kairos smiled. He can see how hefty the cost are, yet the elder was still willing to help. No matter if the elder believed in him or was it for more selfish reasons, Kairos felt heartened by the offer.

He lifted a pouch from his belt and gave the Grand Elder and asked, “Will this be enough to pay for everything and restock the shop for reopening?”

Grand Elder Feng looked at the boy with hesitation, thinking how much the boy could come up with in a moment’s notice, but he still took the time-space pouch in hand.

Yet, when he looked in it, he thought that his heart was going to fail him. Sending his conscious into the container to look through its contents, the Grand Elder found things that even he in his position had hardly laid eyes on. There were a great amount of white gold, spirit stones and a few rare materials that are highly sought after.

Selling everything within should be net him about three to four platinum.

“W…where did you get all these?!” He asked. The yearly turnover for the entire Trade Federate within Saint Empire is only about five platinum, and that is including the cost they have to incur for salary, resources and all sorts of things.

Compared to this boy, he had given more with greater ease. Could his movable funds be much more?!

However, Kairos shook his head unwilling to reveal the source of his wealth, and said, “Grand Elder, I’ll leave the restocking to you. Let me know if it is not enough.”

The Grand Elder looked at the pouch in wonder as Kairos left.

With this amount, it would be hard for those three families to try and bankrupt the boy’s business again.

The Elder did not know that Kairos’ intention was not merely to maintain a business for the people of Snowdrifts.

…..

A week later, Fritzgen surprisingly arrived into Saint City via the teleporter. Kairos had requested his aid for the counterattack, but he had not expected the merchant personally rush over at top speed. He didn’t expect that the deal he offered was this enticing for the merchant, and also a chance to solidify business relations with an Earl favoured by an Emperor.

The Teleporters Fritzgen used are stratagems found in most major cities, allowing anyone to travel across vast distances, but requires a truckload of spirit stones to activate. A heavy cost but a valuable investment, the merchant thought.

Though this is a convenient way to travel until now Kairos’ team did not have the chance to use one, even when this could have saved them most troubles they faced in their mission to rescue Jones. After all, they had to search for his whereabouts a step at a time, and after freeing him, they were forced to avoid cities.

Therefore, when compared to Fritzgen, they took a much longer time for their entire trip. Four entire months for their round trip to the Silent Lambs Empire.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Now, two more weeks has passed since their return, leaving only 60 days till Saint Cadets Academy reopens. But Kairos plans to finish this affair before then.

Later that day, within a meeting room Fritzgen and Grand Elder Feng sat before Kairos. The three are now in the process of planning.

“This gentleman is…?” The two of them asked Kairos at the same time.

With a light smile on his face, he introduced them, pointing first to the one seated on his left, then the person on his right, “This is Grand Elder Feng of the Trade Federate, he has helped me quite a lot so far, and much of my success is because of his support. And, this is Fritzgen, owner of the greatest shop in the Undercity of Vox Shalua.

The Treasures Pavilion.

He has struck a deal with me and came here. You can consider him a sponsor of the Snowdrifts’ shop.”

He explained in a single breathe, leaving the two men to smile and nod at each other in mutual recognition.

A Grand Elder of the huge Trade Federate?! No wonder this boy has such confidence! His backer is no ordinary person.

Fritzgen was most surprised when he heard the origins of this unassuming person before him. The place they are at is within the Trade Federate, and a beautiful room to add, but he did not suspect the other man’s status is a Grand Elder, simply because this organisation for merchants allows the general public in. As long as one pays for the fees, they could rent a room like this.

The power of the Trade Federate is the extent of their influence. Not only could their buildings be found within these two neighbouring Empires, but they have also stretched far into the Savage lands, the Southern Countries, and most of the known world.

Becoming a Grand Elder grants an extraordinary amount of power, fame and money. Of course, Grand Elder Feng has also benefited much from his position, and in terms of position, he could be considered an equal to Cannot Hope head of the Hope enterprise.

However, Fritzgen was not the only one surprised.

The Grand Elder gave Fritzgen with a polite smile, but beneath his calmness was as much astonishment.

This is the backer that the boy has? No wonder he could easily pay that many platinum to redeem his shop and pay for all the bills.

The fame of the Treasures Pavilion is like a resounding thunder in the elder’s ears. Singlehandedly creating a merchant enterprise considered to be the number one in Vox Shalua, and collected a warehouse full of incredibly rare top grade pills, equipment, skill manuals and artefacts, even those of the Trade Federate highly respects Fritzgen.

“We shall be moving forward with our plans,” Kairos said with confidence, then added on, “But first, we will need to set up our base.”

During this week, all the paperwork to repurchase their shop had finally been processed, and once again Kairos held the keys to his building. However, that is not yet enough to fulfil the purpose he has in mind.

Together with Fritzgen and the Grand Elder, Kairos stormed into the main compound of the Trade Federate bringing along his friends and father. Having arrived late from his closed door training, it is the first time for Vouno to come into such a place and he marvelled as the boys did months ago.

They walked straight to the department which sold shop outlets, and with the Grand Elder next to them, this time they did not have to wait in line.

The lady at the counter was surprised to see the group, instantly recognising the elder but confounded with why he is here with so many people in tow. If the elder wanted to use any of the available shop fronts for sale, all he needed to do is to submit a request, and with his status, it would be a breeze to gain approval.

Does the elder intend to purchase a shop for himself privately? It is not unthinkable, as other elders had done so before in the past, but Grand Elder Feng had always been an exception. A highly respected individual who focused on grooming the younger generation into the future of the Trade Federate.

She quietened her thoughts and greeted them, “Grand Elder, it’s rare to see you here, are you looking for a shop?”

“Hehe… Young lady, your customer today is not me,” He said and pointed to Kairos instead.

A little boy?

This lady is a different person from the one who attended to Kairos the previous time, and she did not know he is the owner of the Snowdrifts’ Shop. But with the elder personally here to lead him, she could guess that Kairos’ status must be something special and did not dare to be rude.

There are rare cases where an elder will accompany the young heir of a great noble house, and Kairos certainly looks fair too extraordinary to be a normal person.

Even a non-combatant like her could feel a powerful, harmonious spirit radiated from him, though she couldn’t identify its cause.

“Young sir, please come with me,” She invited them over and then gestured extravagantly with her hand at three beautiful golden doors at the back of the room.

Then, she explained, “We have the outlets available separated by their sizes. The smallest outlets will be suitable for businesses like Pill hall, and they are between thirty square meters to a hundred square meters. The medium outlets…”

At this time, Kairos politely shook his head. She did not know, but he had heard this once before and did not require another introduction.

The lady noticed his reactions and gave him an inquiring look, and he replied, “We will require all of the available outlets you have. Of course, we will still need to judge if the location itself is suitable. Can you unlock every section for us to peruse?”

All?!

Kairos' extravagant intentions shook three people in this place. The lady before them, Grand Elder Feng, and Fritzgen were stunned speechless, but it is also because they did not think Kairos was jesting.

The boy’s request are purchases of entire buildings within Saint City, the capital of Saint Empire! If anyone else had said such a thing, the three of them would have burst out laughing.

With a highly impressed expression on their faces, Friztgen and Grand Elder Feng turned to look at each other, instead of Kairos.

Both of them gave the other a nod, but in their hearts, they thought: This man is investing this much on the boy?! Exactly how wealthy is he!?

They never suspect that all the funds came right out of Kairos’ pockets.

Of the three, only the lady attendant stared at Kairos like she had seen a ghost. Her mind was unable to wrap itself around what Kairos just said.

Are they going to look through all the shops and purchase everything possible? Just how much commission will I get from this? If this is true I…, I don’t think I ever need to work again…

What happened the next few days was like a hurricane had blown into town.

When the Snowdrifts’ Shop reopened, the employees cheered and created a huge opening ceremony that caught the attention of all the nobles within Saint City.

But few attended, fearing the three families that would be targeting the Snowdrifts once again.

However, unlike the expected result which most people have, that the store will close down once again shortly after, the Snowdrifts aggressively expanded their business.

The locations of those shops are spread across the city until over 80% of the empty shop buildings within Saint City has been taken over. And they dealt with all forms of businesses from Pill Halls to Rouge shops. But their focus of their trade is on Pawn shops.

Right now, Kairos had all the funds he needs after raiding the Phrixus’ treasury and taking their war funds. But he knew that they have very limited amount of products to sell. To fix this problem, he introduced a large number of Pawn shops, offering very good prices for people to sell their pills, equipment, artefacts, skill manuals or any other valuables they have. In turn, these items will be moved to the other Snowdrifts’ businesses to be sold.

For those that did not wish to part with their belonging, they can choose to keep it in the pawn shop for several days to several months, as collateral. In return, the Snowdrifts would provide them with a loan, lower than a direct sale, but worthy of their pawned item, as traditional pawn shops would.

Because of this, the assortment of items was expeditiously increasing by the day, and an auction house was opened by the Snowdrifts, near their original shop.

This auction house becomes an overnight success, because not only does it sell the rarest valuables taken from their pawn shops, but it also included priceless items which were taken from the Phrixus.

With their bar set to the highest standards and quality, their auction quickly become a place only the most powerful and influential men of Saint Empire would flock to, and likewise only the rarest and most desirable valuables would be brought by sellers to this place.

As an additional benefit, Kairos and his group have priority to make offers for any precious item that found its way to their auction.

With Fritzgen’s assistance, several rules were created to manage each shop which helped them run the newly established conglomerate efficiently.

All these development of events struck the city like a storm. His target to suppress all the shops belonging to the Devilheart family, the Hope’s merchant enterprise and the Steel Rose’s multiple pill stores, were effective, to say the least. In fact, the leaders of the three families could only weep tearlessly at their opponent’s merciless advance.

At this time, Calculus was forcefully removed from his position, and his father, Calculate, and mother, Calculative, stepped in to save the day.

But by then it is already far too late. Kairos’ counterattack was swift and unstoppable. Just within a week, a fifth of all the shop fronts within the city belonging to these three families has been forcefully taken over by the Snowdrifts.

Whichever product that the shops of these three families sell, Kairos would try to undermine their prices with his products, even at complete losses.

During Kairos’ Earldom Conferment party, most of the gentry were laughing at this young man’s declaration of a trade war against the high nobles, but now they were silenced by these astounding events.

Seven days later, Kairos secretly contact many of the nobles that had attended his ball, because even now, many of the shops that he had purchased are still left empty.

They no longer judged him as an ignorant rubble from a backwater village, but very respectfully answered him even beyond what the title of an Earl obliges.

If Kairos had not directly confronted his opponents before their eyes, they would have thought the boy as a reckless child for daring to purchase shops after shop to challenge the three families. Now everyone could see as clear as day that the boy had far greater abilities and confidence than they credited of him.

He was planning on taking them down right from the start…!

Because of what he spoke during the party, many nobles have been won over by his guts, his calm demeanour towards the overwhelming opposition and in particular the ease he handled them recently. It showed them that he truly have a chance, and those that are wise knows that this equates an opportune time.

The content of Kairos’ messages is largely similar. He requires their workshops and is most willing to pay any reasonable amount for their service.

Soon enough a few nobles accepted his proposal, and the Snowdrifts outsourced their production needs to them. All kinds of goods were immediately invoiced, and their prices sold in the Snowdrifts' shops are much lower than what the three families could offer.

In the business world, there are no everlasting partners, only everlasting profits. If Kairos had declared war as a cultivator, none of them would have answered his call, for they will fear the retaliation they invite. But such reprisal does not exist in the free trade market, those that sought profit are predators always seeking for a better hunting ground. When Kairos presented them with profits, they gladly flocked to him.

Now, the only tactical advantage that the three has over the Snowdrifts is the Hope enterprise’s extensive trade routes, but Kairos' aggressive plans are quickly devouring even that.

Yet, in the face of all these, they are still far from panicking.