“Welcome home, little brother—and to these friends and... sister-in-law?”
Once the carriage came to a steady halt, Sui Yun jumped out first and spoke loudly to the others inside.
Unlike Po Kong and Xia Duo, who had yet to recover from their earlier embarrassment, Moen, sitting near the door, quickly pulled Starlight and Little Goldie out of the carriage and nodded to Sui Yun.
“Better to give them a bit of private time. Thank you, Mr. Sui Yun.”
Sui Yun raised an eyebrow slightly, glanced at the carriage, and nodded. “Of course! But first, let me show you around.”
Starlight followed the direction of his finger and found himself standing within a secluded and ancient manor. Looking around, the plaza where they stood alone spanned tens of thousands of square meters.
“Wow... you can’t just call this a ‘home,’ can you? You could house hundreds of people here without it feeling crowded,” Starlight murmured in awe.
It was important to remember that this wasn't some rural or fringe area; this was the heart of the Crimson City-State.
Even if the land here wasn't quite as prohibitively expensive as the grounds of the Central Spiritual Arts Academy, acquiring such a massive plot of land would surely cost an astronomical sum.
“Indeed. It seems Mr. Sui Yun was right before; he really is a master of business!” Moen added with a smile.
“Haha, you two flatter me. I just happened to come across an opportunity. Combined with the wealth accumulated by my predecessors, I was able to secure this place as a base.”
Sui Yun waved his hand dismissively and continued, “However, you won't find the same kind of extravagant service here that you'd see in other noble houses. We’re still just a small-scale operation, after all. We spend our money where it matters, so there’s no surplus to hire unnecessary servants.”
Hearing Sui Yun’s seemingly self-deprecating words, Starlight noticed that this vast manor did indeed lack the bustling atmosphere he expected. Under the late autumn sun, it felt exceptionally quiet.
However, Starlight didn't believe a word of Sui Yun's claim about having “no money.” After all, anyone who could snap up such a massive plot of land without hesitation wouldn't be short on the funds to hire a few servants.
Furthermore, after stepping off the carriage, he had sensed several faint, barely perceptible gazes sweep over them from within the manor before quickly vanishing.
Clearly, there were many powerful individuals hidden inside the estate. Knowing that, the real reason for not hiring servants wasn't hard to guess.
But since this involved someone else's family affairs and privacy, Starlight and Moen naturally wouldn't pry. They simply nodded politely to Sui Yun without further comment.
At that moment, Po Kong and Xia Duo finally stepped out of the carriage hand-in-hand. The unstable aura around Po Kong had completely vanished, and Xia Duo had returned to her usual cold and aloof demeanor, though a faint blush still lingered on her cheeks.
Just as Sui Yun was about to lead them inside, Starlight suddenly remembered something and called out, “Wait, Big Brother Sui Yun, please take a look at these.”
With a wave of his hand, he released a large pile of items from his storage space, which scattered across the ground with a series of metallic clangs.
These items were the wreckage of the magic crystal cannons left behind by the artillerymen led by Sima Red that day. Although the core components had been removed by the enemy, Starlight had collected the remaining barrels and mounts into his storage space, adhering to his philosophy of never letting anything go to waste.
After all, these things were cast from high-quality materials. Even if sold as scrap, they could be exchanged for a significant amount of gold coins.
Moreover, while Po Kong knew a bit about magic crystal cannons, he didn't know the specifics.
Sui Yun, who had spent years in the military, was different. Perhaps he could deduce some useful information from these remains.
Sure enough, Sui Yun’s interest was piqued the moment he saw the wreckage. He stepped forward to examine it closely.
“Hmm... these are the latest model small-scale magic crystal cannons. Even the city defense force hasn't been equipped with these yet! Where did you get them?”
After listening to Starlight's description, Sui Yun rubbed the sparse stubble on his chin and spoke slowly. “The House of Red quietly acquired a batch of the most advanced magic crystal cannons? And you encountered over a dozen just by yourselves... that means their inventory is definitely larger than this. This is information we hadn't gathered. Still, for those wealthy old fogies to just abandon them... it’s certainly a bit baffling.”
“Brother, can you figure out what they’re planning? Magic crystal cannons are restricted armaments. For the House of Red to do this is a major crime!” Po Kong said, stepping forward to join his brother.
“A crime? Little brother, you’re still too naive...” Sui Yun shook his head with an air of indifference. “For ordinary people, hoarding magic crystal cannons is indeed a grave matter, but for a titan like the House of Red, it’s nothing. Regardless, I’ll have people look into the clues regarding this batch of cannons. You don't mind if I keep some of this wreckage, do you?”
“Of course not, Big Brother Sui Yun. Take whatever you need.”
Just as Starlight agreed and prepared to put away the remaining debris, a light flashed in Sui Yun’s eyes. He stared intently at Starlight’s hand and asked, “Wait! Little brother Starlight, all of this came out of your storage space alone? How is that possible?”
Starlight then realized that in his momentary lapse of caution, he had forgotten to hide the secret of his storage space. He could only bite the bullet and explain, though he intentionally omitted any mention of Noah.
Fortunately, once he dropped Eventador’s name, Sui Yun nodded thoughtfully. His eyes then lit up as he looked at Starlight. “No wonder... so it’s an experimental masterpiece of Master Eventador! It’s a pity it can't be mass-produced yet. Tell me, Starlight, would you be interested in joining our merchant group? Name your price; I guarantee the best treatment on the entire continent!”
“Brother! That’s a bit much! Little Star is a member of my adventure team! How can you try to poach him right in front of me?” Po Kong immediately stepped in to interrupt Sui Yun, feigning annoyance.
“I was just speaking off the cuff! What are you getting so worked up for!” Sui Yun rolled his eyes and gave Po Kong a sharp pat on the shoulder.
That said, Starlight didn't feel for a moment that Sui Yun was joking.
Having been cautioned by Eventador and Mowei, Starlight understood perfectly well just how much strategic value his storage space held.
Take these dozen or so magic crystal cannons, for example. If he were in a battle between two armies, he could use space magic to quietly deliver this batch of cannons behind enemy lines, dealing an unexpected blow.
Alternatively, he could carry vast amounts of supplies for a team on a forced march, allowing them to move at maximum speed. Based on the full capacity of his space, he could even allow an entire army to completely abandon their supply train and baggage. How terrifying would such a scenario be?
With Sui Yun taking on the task of investigating the House of Red, the group settled in comfortably.
Since they had entered the city through the connections of the House of Mars and the House of Pride, Starlight and the others wouldn't encounter any major problems as long as they didn't intentionally visit sensitive locations.
Rate on N.U.
