Game: Civilization Paradise

Hearing Long Ming, Xiaopang quickly nodded.

"Got it!"

Long Ming sat quietly on the ground, watching the potion’s price plummet.

7,400, 7,300...

Several hours later, their opponent had successfully pushed the price down to 6,900.

Xiaopang’s expression grew excited. "Boss," he said to Long Ming.

"Boss, it broke 7,000!"

Long Ming decided not to wait any longer. He immediately bought out the 1,000 potions their opponent had listed at 7,000, ignoring the smaller, scattered listings.

「Star Tower City.」

「Inside the Jinglan Trading Group Tower.」

Connor sat on a sofa, a screen in front of him displaying holographic projections of the trading group’s core members alongside the marketplace interface.

"Push the price on high-explosive grenades down a bit more."

"Yes, sir!"

Glen replied respectfully.

Just then, a notification box popped up. Their listed potions had sold out.

Glen saw the notification and reported with a hint of surprise.

"Young Master Connor, our Fast-Acting Recovery Potions have been completely bought out. It looks like that guy is making trouble again."

"He’s overestimating himself. He actually thinks he can crash my market? How arrogant. Fine, we’ll release more stock to stabilize the price."

A disdainful smile spread across Connor’s face as he listened to Glen.

"Yes, sir!"

Glen immediately picked up his phone and sent a message.

Instantly, twenty new listings appeared, each for 1,000 potions priced at 7,000.

「Back in Starry City.」

When Long Ming saw the new potions appear, he didn’t hesitate. He lifted his wrist device and bought them all with a few taps.

"Boss, why are you buying the ones listed at 7,000? You’re ignoring the ones at 6,800 and 6,900!"

Xiaopang stared at Long Ming, completely baffled. ’Is he just burning money for fun?’

"Don’t worry about it. Just watch."

Long Ming replied calmly.

「Inside the Jinglan Tower.」

Glen watched the potions get bought out and reported back to Connor.

"Young Master, they bought up all our stock."

Connor’s expression darkened instantly upon hearing Glen’s report.

’This guy is intentionally causing trouble. I’ve always been the one controlling this market. He’s trying to humiliate me in front of all these people!’

"What nerve."

"Is he provoking us?"

"Hmph. If you ask me, he’s got a death wish."

...

The trading group members on the video call all started chiming in.

Connor let out a cold laugh.

"List more. We’re stabilizing the price!"

"Young Master, is that wise? What if he just buys up whatever we list?"

Glen cautioned worriedly.

"How much can he possibly afford to buy? List another twenty groups."

Connor shot back disdainfully.

He believed he had already gauged his opponent’s true financial strength from their earlier moves.

"Yes, sir!"

Glen once again listed twenty groups of 1,000 potions.

「In Starry City.」

Long Ming waited patiently. When he saw the new listings pop up, he took a deep breath.

He began buying the stock, but after buying out ten of the groups, his purchases of the remaining ten slowed to a crawl, creating the illusion that he was running out of money.

Seeing Long Ming still desperately buying, Xiaopang grew extremely anxious, but he forced himself not to interfere.

Connor watched the marketplace stock disappear bit by bit, a brilliant smile spreading across his face. ’Just as I thought. He already showed his hand when he was trying to prop up the price earlier.’

"Haha, running out of capital, are we? You dare fight me with so little? I’ll show you what true despair looks like! Everyone, list all the stock you have. Lock in the price. Then we’ll keep pushing it down until we bleed him dry!"

Connor announced to everyone on the call.

As long as he controlled the pricing, he could buy back inventory at an infinitely low price. The price his opponent paid would then be considered high, making the potions impossible to sell for a profit. In the end, his rival would have no choice but to sell at a massive loss.

"Brilliant, Young Master Connor!"

The people on the call replied, their faces all smiles.

...

「In Starry City.」

Long Ming kept his eyes glued to the marketplace, slowly buying up the stock without any rush.

Xiaopang was so anxious he was practically tearing his hair out. The more they bought, the more they were losing. After all, tons of smaller sellers were now listing at 6,500, and the price was still dropping.

Just then, the marketplace interface refreshed again. Instantly, their opponent listed eighty new groups of one thousand potions each.

"Holy crap, that many? We’re totally screwed now!"

Xiaopang was completely dumbfounded.

But when Long Ming saw this, he let out a sigh of relief. The weight on his chest finally lifted.

He glanced at the marketplace. The highest-priced potion listed was only 9,600—everything was under 10,000.

He tapped his wrist device a few times, selected every potion in the marketplace, and bought them all in an instant.

SWOOSH!

In the blink of an eye, the entire interface for Fast-Acting Recovery Potions was empty.

「Inside the tower.」

Glen saw the empty marketplace screen, and his face drained of color.

"Young Master... he swept the entire stock."

"Damn it, we’ve been had!"

Connor’s expression changed drastically as he instantly realized what had happened. ’The bastard was baiting us.’

"No way... What do we do now?"

...

The men on the call asked one after another, their faces grim.

Connor gritted his teeth and barked an order.

"List another fifty groups!"

"But..."

"I told you to list them! Didn’t you hear me?"

"Young Master, we’re out of stock."

Seeing his master’s fury, Glen explained helplessly.

"What? Out of stock?"

Connor was so furious his facial muscles were twitching, but he finally managed to rein in his emotions and spoke in a cold voice.

"Everyone, that’s all for today’s meeting. I have something to take care of."

"Understood."

The trading group members all agreed.

Young Master Connor disconnected from all the calls, then picked up his phone, found a number, and dialed.

BEEP... BEEP...

After a few seconds, the call connected, and a low voice came through the line.

"Connor, what is it?"

"Elder Romage, I’ve run into some trouble. My stock of Fast-Acting Recovery Potions has been bought out. Could you transfer the reserves for this category to me?"

Young Master Connor asked respectfully.

"You idiot. How could you make a mistake like this at such a critical time?"

"You’re right, my lord. I never expected them to be setting a trap."

"I can’t give you that stock. If this is a trap set by one of the other two major guilds and they swallow that batch too, what will I be left with? I’d be letting them lead me by the nose."

"You’re right, my lord!"

"Figure it out yourself."

After dressing Connor down, Romage hung up.

Connor stared at the disconnected call, the muscles in his face twitching uncontrollably. A murderous light glinted in his eyes.

"Young Master, what now?"

Glen asked in a low voice.

"Abandon this category."

"Yes, sir!"

"Also, investigate who exactly is working against us."

"Young Master, could it be one of the other two major guilds?"

"No. The three major guilds may not like each other, but they have a tacit understanding when it comes to the market. They generally wouldn’t do something like crash a category. If one did, the other two could simply follow our lead and buy up stock, which would only benefit them. It’s more likely another trading group or some up-and-coming minor power."

Connor analyzed rationally.

"Understood!"

Glen nodded.

"When I find that guy, I’ll kill him!"

Connor said, his voice brimming with killing intent.

As the saying goes, cutting off someone’s livelihood is no different from killing their parents. And Long Ming’s actions had also caused him to lose face completely. A grudge had been forged.

...