Whoever I Help Wins

High above beneath the starry sky, a small skyship glided slowly by. Anbaixiu lay complacently in the cabin, humming a tune no one else had ever heard. Heji Stone was organizing his manuscripts from the past few days, editing, revising, and copying them out once more. But the more he wrote, the more irritated he became. He couldn't help asking, "What kind of tune are you even humming? There isn't an ounce of aesthetics in it." Anbaixiu sneered mockingly, "Not as pleasant as the sound of you mining back in the day?" Having known him for quite some time, Anbaixiu had gathered plenty of intelligence on Heji Stone. Before turning into a vampire, Heji Stone had been a dwarven miner. Heji Stone replied disdainfully, "A person has to grow. I may have mined back then, but that doesn't mean I'll be a miner forever." "Growing into an author of unofficial histories is something to be proud of? Is being the top seller for the supplementary issue of Legendary Spells some prestigious title?" "All you see is the 'wild' in wild history—you don't appreciate the literary artistry in it at all. I can't figure it out either: why does a money-grubbing fellow like you with zero aesthetic sense get so many benefits? I clearly joined the Elegy Poetry Society way before you did." This was something Heji Stone truly couldn't wrap his head around. He had been in the Elegy Poetry Society longer, had known Gareth earlier, and had a tighter bond with him. Yet now, even the Headless Horseman Gareth had become this lich's sworn buddy, not to mention how this lich could rally those high-and-mighty big shots scattered across the world several times over. Everyone knew he was greedy, and everyone knew he swindled mortals and deities alike. So why did people line up to hand him benefits every single time? He couldn't understand it, really couldn't. Heji Stone finally couldn't resist saying to Anbaixiu, "Brother, give me some guidance. I want someone to give me half their divine power too! I want people handing me benefits, too!" Anbaixiu glanced back at the dwarven vampire and said in bewilderment, "You're not short on money." Heji Stone instantly said in agitation, "I'm poorer than you!" Heji Stone merely possessed a dungeon full of gold, but this lich's wealth could no longer even be measured in gold. Anbaixiu chuckled. "Poverty is relative. For a lich like me who lacks artistic talent, material wealth is the only wealth I have. You're different. You're a great artist—art is enough for you. Being spiritually rich is far nobler than a money-hungry lich like me." Heji Stone gritted his teeth in fury, but still humbled himself and pleaded, "The wealthier one is, the less one is influenced by the outside world, and the better one can write an absolutely neutral and objective history. That's why a historian must be rich! Master, teach me, please! I want princesses, queens, and goddesses fawning over me and throwing themselves at me too!" "Throwing themselves at me? What nonsense are you spouting?" Anbaixiu said, utterly baffled. "Who did you see throwing themselves at me?" Heji Stone exclaimed, "You still deny it? Just now, Aige gave you her entire Silent Night Pirates! Not to mention her promise to share her divine power with you once she becomes a deity!" Anbaixiu retorted, "To help Aige attain godhood, I arranged for the Merfolk Goddess Eadro to descend and negotiate with her face-to-face, securing her a path to divinity. Then I conquered the entire Volcanic Sea for her and found tens of thousands of merfolk to serve as her believers. Do you really think I got all that just by flapping my jaw?" Heji Stone pondered for a moment and felt there was some truth to that, but asked again, "Then what about the Rose of Decay? The Underdark is practically your domain now. What did you do for her?" "Did all those people in Ryan die because they got tired of living and hanged themselves? Who summoned the Githyanki over? Me! Who supported Alan Watson when Ryan fractured from within, helping him raise the banner of rebellion? Me! And now that the orcs are beating the Ryanites half to death, who provided the orcs with massive stockpiles of war machines? Still me!" Anbaixiu couldn't help saying to Heji Stone, "You call yourself a historian and yet you don't even examine these things carefully? Just what kind of trash have you been writing lately? Hand it over and let me see." Heji Stone replied, "No way. These things can only be published after I die, or after you die. A final verdict can only be passed once the coffin is sealed—that is a historian's principle." "Only published after I die, or after you die..." Anbaixiu paused, then said, "Did you forget that you're a vampire and I'm a lich?" Heji Stone froze as well. Wait, something seemed off. This rule couldn't apply to the undead—undead were immortal! Yet Heji Stone quickly made peace with it. The way this lich was fooling around, he would either ascend directly into godhood or play himself to death. It would be published sooner or later; there was no rush. "Don't change the subject. Are you going to teach me or not?" Heji Stone still wanted to know what secret technique Anbaixiu had to make people willingly hand over money. Anbaixiu said helplessly, "What can I teach? I've always had only one principle: never take on a losing business. Calculate your costs before investing, project the potential returns, and if there's good profit to be made, do it. If there's no profit, walk away. Aim for a win-win as much as possible, and maintain good cooperative relationships. It's that simple." "By win-win, you mean you win twice, right? You're already infamous for scamming mortals and gods alike!" Heji Stone had heard all about it. The gods all knew by now that this lich specialized in swindling deities; more than one goddess had already suffered terribly at his hands. Anbaixiu shook his head. "That isn't business; that's war. I show no mercy to enemies, but as long as someone sincerely partners with me, I will definitely safeguard their interests." "You think I'll believe that?" "Believe it or not, it's up to you. But you don't take everyone else for fools, do you? So many people in the Elegy Poetry Society have worked with me—have you seen any of them lose out?" Heji Stone opened his mouth to retort, but found that Anbaixiu was speaking the truth. Everyone who partnered with him had walked away satisfied. Suddenly remembering something, Heji Stone asked excitedly, "Wait. Last time you mentioned a business with an extraordinarily high return rate and asked me to invest—you weren't trying to scam me?" Anbaixiu said as if it were obvious, "Of course not. The drow elf airship transport business has already taken off. It started turning a profit in its very first month, and at most within half a year, all initial costs will be fully recovered." It was hard not to make money in a monopoly. Furthermore, to support this project, the elves had shifted the transit of many magical materials from teleportation circles to airships. The speed was a bit slower, but the cost was drastically reduced. Most magical materials had volatile magical properties and contained immense mana. When transported via spatial teleportation, they inevitably suffered interference from the mana flux—at best suffering a degradation in quality, at worst resulting in teleportation failures that dumped them who-knew-where. Under these circumstances, the elves had to specially seal and insulate the materials to isolate magical interference, which cost an exorbitant amount. Airships had no such issue. The specially crafted cargo hold didn't even allow the dark magic of the airship itself to penetrate; it was a purely mechanical, manually operated cargo hold. Transporting magical materials required no extra packaging whatsoever, saving more than half the cost. While the speed didn't match spatial teleportation, the price was vastly lower. Many merchants didn't mind waiting a few extra days in exchange for a much better price. With such advantages, combined with heavy promotion from the elves, the drow elf air route had become the go-to choice for many merchants. As long as those drow didn't mess around at the control console and cause a crash, even a half-full cargo hold would rake in massive profits. This was a technological advantage. Others might drool with envy, but envy was all they could do. After hearing Anbaixiu's brief explanation, Heji Stone blurted out, "I'll invest! I'll invest right now!" "Invest my foot! In the beginning, I could have used my connections to give you a share. Now that the route is already up and running, everyone is just waiting to count their money. You think it's your turn to make additional investments now? Do you really think the elves are running a charity? They'd love nothing more than to open up additional investments and gobble up all of my shares!" Anbaixiu currently held sixty percent of the route's profits. The elves were deeply dissatisfied with this ratio, but Anbaixiu possessed the monopoly on the technology, so they were helpless. The moment Anbaixiu opened the door for further investment, the elves wouldn't hesitate to pour in massive funds to dilute Anbaixiu's stake. You couldn't expect others to put in more money while staying at forty percent, could you? The elves would seize the opportunity to turn the equity split into eighty-twenty or even ninety-ten, forcing Anbaixiu to become a minor shareholder. Therefore, this floodgate could not be opened—at least not until Anbaixiu had earned his fill or needed to liquidate massive amounts for some reason. Heji Stone was so racked with regret that his whole body ached. Everything the lich had said was true! A mountain of gold had been right in front of his eyes, and he had simply let it slip away. Heji Stone thought about it and said to Anbaixiu again, "Master Ultraman, do you have any other money-making ventures lately? You must bring me in! I swear I won't doubt you again!" "Lately?" Anbaixiu pondered for a moment, then said, "Actually, there is one. I just acquired a mercenary company and was planning to sell them to the orcs as cannon fodder. But I've been far too busy lately to pull away for such minor business. If you're interested, you could act as the middleman..." Anbaixiu explained the situation regarding the Githyanki to Heji Stone. The dwarven vampire counted on his fingers—this was indeed a surefire, zero-risk venture. If the Githyanki died, there was no need to pay death benefits; the orcs would pay for everything, while they merely collected the money without ever setting foot on the battlefield. Heji Stone said with sighing admiration, "You really are amazing. You went diving with that princess from the Raging Tide Kingdom and somehow ended up turning the Githyanki into mercenaries. The Goddess of Wealth is truly smiling on you. Don't worry, I'll take the job. We'll split the profits fifty-fifty." "What are you dreaming about? I'm the one who recruited the Githyanki, I'm the one who built the connection with the orcs, and I'll probably be the one handling the teleportation later. Fifty-fifty? Eighty-twenty at most—eighty for me, twenty for you!" "Only twenty percent?!" "If you don't agree, forget it. Do you think acting as a mere contact person requires any technical skill?" "That's a war! It's dangerous—I could lose my life!" "What's dangerous about chatting through a magic mirror? Is the Lord of the Dawn going to reach through the magic mirror and slap you?" ... The two haggled for quite a while before finally settling on a seventy-thirty split: Anbaixiu took seventy percent, and Heji Stone very reluctantly took thirty percent. Anbaixiu patted his head and said, "Don't complain it's too little. Others wouldn't even have the connections to get thirty percent. Besides, this war won't be ending anytime soon. These mercenaries will be put to use shortly. When the time comes, you can quote an exorbitant price, and the orcs won't dare refuse." Heji Stone sensed there was more to his words and asked, "What do you mean? The orcs have the upper hand right now, don't they?" Anbaixiu gave a chuckle. "Ryan will launch a counteroffensive soon. And even if the orcs can hold them off, it will be a bitter struggle." "How do you know?" Anbaixiu said with supreme confidence, "Because the Ryanites have already approached me to discuss cooperation. In this war, whoever I help is the one who wins!"