"Then I will go out and meet him first. If his attitude is very tough, it means that his background is very strong. He is probably a big merchant group." Gavin said politely to Bed. This matter is not good news for the newly established Qianshou Chamber of Commerce, but it is a good thing for Heijing, which means that they will have more choices. Once a competitive relationship with the Qianshou Chamber of Commerce is formed, Heijing will gain more benefits. "You go, I won't go out." Bed is unwilling to meet his future competitor. This matter has sounded the alarm for him to some extent. He must speed up his pace. Heijing's fat piece of meat must not be snatched away by others no matter what. If you want to tie the other party tightly, feelings and so on are all false. The most important thing is to benefit. Gavin can feel the arrogance of the new businessman through a door. It seems that the other party's visit here is a great honor for Gavin and his friends. The new businessman is a young man, only in his early twenties and less than thirty years old. He looks handsome, but his habit of looking down on people has seriously lowered his image. Even though Gavin pushed the door open, he still sat steadily on the chair and said arrogantly: "Are you the leader of this kobold tribe?"
"I am." Gavin's expression was calm, not affected by the other party's attitude at all, "I don't know, how can I help you?" "Do you recognize this?" The young businessman didn't waste any words, and directly lifted his cloak to reveal the logo on his chest. It was a white circle with a scribbled "Z" in the middle. Seeing this logo. Gavin's eyes narrowed involuntarily. More than just recognition? It was simply unforgettable, because in the previous life, this logo was printed on his forehead for more than ten years. In Faerun, there is only one organization that uses this as a logo - the Zhentarim, nicknamed the Dark Intelligence Network. At the beginning, the Zhentarim was just like the Thousand Heads Trade Association organized by Bede, a pure merchant organization. Later, in the development, it gradually changed, especially in the past ten years. With the support of the Church of Bane, he gradually developed into a great tyrant in the Moon Sea region, owning Zhentil Castle in the Moon Sea and actual control over the surrounding areas. They not only have a large number of assassins and spies, but also have their own army. Their means of accumulating wealth is mainly trade, but they do everything they can. Hiring monsters and bandits to attack hostile merchants is child's play. Robbing the opponent's goods, turning around, and then selling them to the robbed merchants is the most common method used by the Zhentarim. Especially since last year, the gods were in turmoil, Bane fell, and Cyric was deified. After combining conspiracy, tyranny, fear, illusion, and death, many powerful priesthoods, the Zhentarim became his main source of faith. The Zhentarim's style of doing things has undergone a great change - it is not an exaggeration to say that it is turbulent. After all, the death of Bane, the god of tyranny, was too sudden, and Cyric was abruptly promoted from a mortal to a god, and his foundation was seriously unstable. It is not an easy task for Cyric to get Bane's old followers to join his sect. This fuse will explode in the next ten years. First, there will be a series of massacres of Bane's followers by Cyric's church. Then Bane will be reborn by taking back the tyranny priesthood and launch a crazy revenge on Cyric and his church.
These are all later stories. The most important business pillar of the Zhentarim is the Black Road that crosses the Anauroch Desert and connects the Moon Sea area with the Sword Coast area. They have made huge profits from this trade route. But there is a big problem with this trade route - it is too unstable. This threat does not only come from the natives of the Great Sand Sea, such as the Bedai barbarians, the Ethib lizardmen and the gnolls. The most important thing is the cruel living environment of the Great Sand Sea itself. Once the sandstorm that covers the sky and the earth blows up, even the Zhentarim merchant caravan equipped with flying mages will disappear without a trace. In recent years, the Zhentarim have been seeking new trade routes to supplement the Black Road. Through the Moon Sea Highway and then through the Rocky Land of Cormyr, there is the trade route that Gavin had previously taken from the Sword Coast - the High Road. This is the focus of the Zhentarim's future plans. For this reason, they have already taken down the Dark Castle in the north of the Sunset Mountains and established roots on the other side of the trade route. As for the Rocky Land, their development has not been smooth. Let's not talk about the others for now. They can't get through Cormyr alone. How could Arsane III allow a notorious and ambitious organization to run around and operate in his territory at will? If they really did this, it wouldn't be long before Cormyr would lose even the nominal control over the Rocky Land. Gavin's expression did not hide from the young businessman of the Zhentarim. He showed a hint of satisfaction in his arrogant expression and said, "Since you recognize this symbol, the rest of the things will be easy. Now I will show you a bright road to success. As long as you set foot on this road, power, beauty, and strength are just a matter of a simple sentence." Gavin had guessed the other party's intention, but still pretended not to know and said, "Is there such a good thing in the world? Please tell me, how should I go on this road?" "Recite the name of Bane, and my god will provide you with protection. Join the Zhentarim, and we will provide you with endless business opportunities." The young businessman stood up and said solemnly. "Bane?" Gavin couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. He thought they were Cyric's followers. That's right, Cyric's followers have always been sneaky, and their behavior will not be so simple and rough. The young businessman was very sensitive to the change in Gavin's expression, and said angrily: "What's wrong? Do you dare to look down on the God of Tyranny?" "Ahem..." Gavin quickly adjusted his expression and said with great solemnity, "I have always respected the God of Tyranny. Look, what is this?" Gavin turned his back and took out a holy emblem from Howard's convenience bag. Although it was carved from wood and the strokes were extremely crude, he could still tell that it was a clenched fist, with light radiating from it. out. It is the holy symbol of Bane, the former god of tyranny. Of course, Gavin is not a believer of Bane. This is just a piece of cake. If the other party is a believer of Bane, what he takes out is the Holy Emblem of Bane. If the other party is a convert of Cyric, what he holds is Cyric. Holy emblem. Not only these two, but also Tempus, the God of Victory, Mystra, the Goddess of Magic, Lathander, the Lord of Dawn, Ilmat, the God of Suffering, etc. Gavin also has the holy emblems of a series of powerful gods. The biggest advantage of Howard's convenience bags is that they can hold these bits and pieces of gadgets. They take up little space, are small in weight, and can be prepared in dozens. How did the young businessman know that Gavin was so courageous that he risked his soul being nailed to the wall of the unbelievers after death and carried the holy symbols of most of Faerun's gods with him? His expression suddenly softened a lot and he said: "No. Thinking of meeting someone with the same idea here, it is a special period now, so you are right to be careful. Cyric, that despicable thief's lackey, is making things difficult for us everywhere, but this difficulty is only temporary. It won't take long for our lord to return. When the time comes, he will definitely let those sneaky guys know what they are doing. Call it fear, what is power. " "I believe this. I am here to implement the concept of the God of Tyranny and wait for the moment when our God returns." Gavin nodded heavily. He was extremely convinced of this matter because he had witnessed it with his own eyes. get through this. Due to the common belief, the arrogance in the young businessman's expression has been reduced a lot: "Since you are a believer in our God, things will be simpler."
"What do you need us to do, sir?" Gavin asked casually. Gavin's approach was a bit beyond the young businessman's imagination. After all, he only came with a lobbying mission, so he could only delay the attack and said: "There is no specific mission yet. When there is something that needs you to do, someone will naturally notify you." "Hmm..." Gavin nodded repeatedly, and finally showed a businessman's lewd smile, "Sir, what are the benefits mentioned earlier?" "This..." The young businessman was obviously a little unprepared, "The benefits will naturally be determined according to the task. Don't worry, you will definitely not suffer a loss." "Oh!?" Gavin said in a long tone, with a look of disappointment on his face, "I thought that you, sir, could provide some assistance to our tribe. As you know, my side is just in its infancy, and the kobolds It’s okay to be stupid, except for mining, and the merchants are working together to exploit it. If you can provide food or equipment, I believe that you will be better served by the time. " "This..." the young businessman was a little embarrassed, "I will try my best to fight for it." "grown ups……" "grown ups……" "grown ups……" Every time Gavin called him "Sir" affectionately, the young businessman couldn't help but tremble, because the other party would definitely raise new and tricky questions or demands. When he came out of the Black Well tribe, the young businessman had not yet woken up from the ecstasy soup and was a little dizzy. The other party was always respectful and agreed to everything, which made the young businessman feel like he was too powerful to use. There is always a feeling that everything is floating in the mist and clouds, and it feels unreal, but I can't figure out what the problem is. On the contrary, there were all kinds of requests, and a lot of them were agreed to in a confused manner. When he returned to the temporary station, the young businessman was still a little distraught. "Brooke, where have you been?" A serious female voice stopped the young businessman. "Ms. Stephanie." The young businessman shivered and hurriedly bowed and saluted. There was no arrogance like that of the Black Well tribe, but only restraint and timidity. The lady in front of him had an appearance as majestic as her voice and wore the same clothes. Even the meticulous, loose robe could not hide the outline of her well-trained muscles. "You haven't answered my question yet." Stephanie's eyes were like sharp knives, seeming to pierce into the young businessman's heart. "I...I..." the young businessman said hesitantly, "I went to the kobold tribe and persuaded their leader to join us. The leader is also a believer of our Lord and has agreed to join our ranks. Wait until we assign them tasks..." "Who asked you to go?" Stephanie asked sharply, not only was there no joy at all on his face, but it was so gloomy that it was about to drip. "I...I...I..." The young businessman muttered for a long time, but could not explain clearly. "Do you know that your private actions will ruin all my plans." Stephanie's tone became more severe. "I have repeatedly emphasized that recently, we must keep a low profile and keep it secret, and we are strictly prohibited from acting alone. Have you forgotten our Lord?" dogma?" "No." Brooke's head was already drooping, wishing he could stuff it into his crotch, "But we have been hesitating and observing for too long, and we need to take actual action, otherwise we will be overtaken by Xirik's group..." "Whether to take action or not is up to me. In our team, only one voice is allowed, and that is mine." Stephanie shouted angrily, "You still haven't realized where you are wrong. Your current style of behavior is not like a believer of my Lord, but more like a convert to Xirik, the thief."