Summoning Players into My Game

"Is the White Feather Gang's influence that significant?" Lin Qi was also a bit surprised after hearing this.

Businesses and companies on the outskirts of the city aren't something just anyone can start; they're usually opened by the children of big figures living in the city or by martial artists themselves.

As for children of the big figures in Chasing Light City's urban area, they wouldn't even glance at the White Feather Gang, ranked seventeenth among wilderness gangs, let alone the top-ranked wilderness gang, for fear of sullying their eyes.

And as for martial artists, it's even more needless to say; they're simply on different levels altogether. If the White Feather Gang dared to threaten a martial artist, they'd surely have a death wish.

"Lin, maybe you're underestimating the weight of being in the top twenty of wilderness gangs?" Luo Qi said somewhat speechlessly. "You might think those businesses and companies on the city's outskirts belong entirely to those big figures, and wonder how a wilderness gang would dare. But you might not know that those big figures never bother with these businesses and companies; they just collect Bits monthly, leaving all the tasks to the employees to manage and handle."

"On the surface, those employees have a decent status in the eyes of vagabonds and residents on the city's outskirts, but the reality is that they are merely slaves to those big figures. Those big figures don't care about anything else but how many Bits they get each month, and if it's less, they'll get fired in no time."

"This is something all the major wilderness gangs are well aware of, and I've often heard complaints from my friends who've joined businesses and companies."

"When companies and businesses commission transports, it's always them begging those big wilderness gangs. Some small enterprises and small companies even have special departments to build good relationships with the executives managing transport among those wilderness gangs."

"Otherwise, if any of those wilderness gangs become unhappy, the commissions of these small enterprises and companies get delayed."

"Don't these businesses and companies on the outskirts report to those big figures?" Lin Qi was shocked to hear this.

In his original perception, wilderness gangs were absolutely the lowest echelon of forces, specializing in dirty and exhausting work, with the least earnings.

Hearing Luo Qi now, the situation seemed incredibly promising.

"Do you think those in the companies and businesses haven't tried those things?" Luo Qi shrugged it off, with a hint of a bitter smile. "I once discreetly reported to the big boss while working in a quite decent business on the outskirts. What do you think the outcome was?"

"Promotion and raise?" Lin Qi was also curious.

"If I could've gotten a promotion and a raise, how could I possibly be just a regular employee at Cangjing Weapon Shop?" Luo Qi rolled his eyes, replied sullenly, "The next day I was fired, and the third day I got caught in a battle among several Extreme Apprentices on the outskirts, ending up seriously injured in the hospital, and lost an arm then."

"If it's truly as you say, would those big figures in the companies and businesses just let the wilderness gangs run amok?" Lin Qi was even more puzzled.

The big figures able to open companies and gangs on the outskirts, if aware, typically wouldn't tolerate it. After all, in their eyes, wilderness gangs are just useful dogs. It doesn't make sense to allow these wilderness gangs to affect the operations of their businesses and enterprises.

"I used to be perplexed too, but later I understood." Luo Qi said slowly, "If those big figures don't give way a bit, would they have to do the dirty and exhausting work themselves? It's clearly impossible. Perhaps they could deal with that particular wilderness gang, but once other wilderness gangs learn about it, who would dare to take on commissions from that company? Companies and businesses are plentiful on the city's outskirts, and such commission work isn't mandatory. It's quite normal for those big figures to concede a small portion of benefits. Everyone turns a blind eye."

"I was the fool back then, causing my boss to lose face, and the gang felt threatened, leading to the current outcome."

"In that case, the White Feather Gang's influence is indeed substantial." Lin Qi nodded, understanding the subtleties involved.

One has to admit, the White Feather Gang played it well. Though they wanted to deal with the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, they didn't confront openly. Instead, they secretly instructed people to notify those managing transport in companies and enterprises, who naturally knew what to do.

As a wilderness gang ranked in the top twenty, the White Feather Gang certainly had enough strength in the wilderness to ensure the security of goods transportation. In contrast, the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall was only ranked in the top fifty, and just a bit of probing could reveal that the hall's overall strength was nowhere near top-fifty level.

So the final choice speaks for itself.

"I've already rented the shop, just waiting for the goods to arrive, then the store will open," Luo Qi said helplessly. "There's nothing much on my side, but unless Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall has good products, opening this store will just incur losses."

Personally, as the store owner, she gets base pay plus commission. She couldn't rely much on the commission since the base pay from Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall wasn't low, came to a full fifteen thousand Bits per month. Such returns are comparable to a senior mechanician at Cangjing Weapon Shop, let alone a mechanician there having less freedom.

"When do you plan to open?" Lin Qi didn't respond directly but instead queried.

"I've hired two employees already. The shop should be tidied up today, so we can probably open in the next two days at the earliest." Luo Qi, although unsure why Lin Qi asked, still provided a quick timeline.

"Two days are enough," Lin Qi said with a smile. "Then just follow your plan and open the store at that time."

"Open the store? What will I sell?" Luo Qi couldn't help but ask, "A new store opening is significant. If customers come and see the store selling ordinary goods, they likely won't return."

Luo Qi knew well that Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall barely had anything to sell at the moment. At most, they could sell some blood essence rice, but this item was priced the same everywhere. Customers in the bustling city have no reason to come specifically to buy it.

"Who said our Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall store is to sell goods?" Lin Qi couldn't help but chuckle.

For opening stores on the city's outskirts, he had long considered it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have established a transit market in the wilderness, an act cutting off from Chasing Light City's outskirts.

Knowing the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall could set up stores on the city's outskirts, he was well aware the hall didn't have foundational goods to establish a firm footing there.

If there's anything to sell, it might be the Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rat meat.

But this isn't something to casually sell; a small mistake could wipe out the entire Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. It could only be sold privately to Xia Ling.

Without the Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rat meat, the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall had nothing much to sell, so trading rights in the city's outskirts became less significant.

After some consideration, Lin Qi suddenly realized something important.

He was running a Martial Arts Hall.

When operating a Martial Arts Hall, what else would primarily be sold apart from teaching martial arts?

Thus, he decided to recruit temporary students for the Martial Arts Hall in Chasing Light City. This was indeed a big business on the city's outskirts, as this is a world revering martial arts. Any business related to martial arts never lacks people.

"So what are you planning to sell?" Luo Qi was even more puzzled.

"We're the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, so of course, we're teaching others martial arts," Lin Qi said with a smile. "Once the store opens, your task is to attract newcomers to our martial arts training."

"Teaching martial arts?" Luo Qi was stunned, thinking she heard wrong, and couldn't help but confirm, "Lin, are you serious?"