Chapter 424 - 69: Mission Redemption
"It won’t do," after understanding Yue Jinghua’s purpose, to her surprise, Yun Luo flatly refused Yue Jinghua’s proposal regarding the task redemption.
In the Mercenary World, there are task commissions, and there are task redemptions.
Task redemption refers to a private settlement reached between the client and the mercenary.
Once a task is redeemed, the points lost by the mercenary due to the task cannot be recovered, but other matters can be exempted as a result, including Compass who has been imprisoned in Shang Country’s Heavenly Prison.
The Star-falling Diamond Sand that Yue Jinghua used for the task redemption had just been excavated from the Xingluo Mine.
Yue Jinghua took out a pouch, and when she poured out its contents, there was a "whoosh" sound. This bag of Star-falling Diamond Sand, so valuable and radiant, even when Yun Luo and Teng Wu saw it, it caused them pain to the eye, the pain of being burned by the light of the Star-falling Diamond Sand.
Yue Jinghua had thought that with the relationship between her and Yun Luo at this time, the latter would surely agree to her proposal.
After all, this batch of unpolished Star-falling Diamond Sand, once in the hands of Yunhu Commerce, would play a role that could not be matched by her own.
"Why? This bag of Star-falling Diamond Sand is already close in value to the loss caused by the earlier transportation of the Dark Beast Egg, and you know that our chances of finding the damaged, missing Dark Beast Egg are almost zero. Dragging this out is not good for anyone," Yue Jinghua is not one to give up easily, but this time with the Dark Beast Egg incident, there really was no clue to follow.
Yue Jinghua had been in the Xuan Beast Ridge for a full three months now.
From the beginning of spring to the onset of summer, and even after re-assembling the Second Generation Soldier Mercenary Team, despite Yue Jinghua constantly inquiring around town and entering the Xuan Beast Ridge several times, she found no clues about the damage to the Dark Beast Egg.
All signs indicated that among the batch of Dark Eggs escorted by the Second Generation Soldier for Yunhu Commerce, one of them was likely the Jiao Long Egg that had escaped from Kalan Peak. As to whether it was a Juvenile Flood Dragon that emerged from the shell and damaged the other Dark Beast Eggs, Yue Jinghua was unable to verify at the moment, with nowhere to investigate.
"Star-falling Diamonds are indeed rare, and this bag’s value is enough to compensate for the loss on that transportation. However, I cannot agree to your request. Let me tell you the truth, this escort task is not just a simple escort; it is a trial to determine whether I can become the family heir," Yun Luo also showed difficulty in her expression.
On the Canglong Continent, there is no particularly pronounced ideology of male superiority over females; typically, commerce or families adhere to the principle of the strongest ascending to leadership positions.
The Yunhu Commerce is no exception. In recent years, as Yun Luo’s grandfather’s health has been declining, and with the second-generation heirs passing away early – Yun Luo’s parents – and her several uncles being of no use, as for the well-known Yun Lang, he is a completely hands-off manager, never meddling in commerce affairs.
In such a scenario, Yun Luo’s grandfather had no choice but to select a successor from the third generation.
"Every third-generation member of the Yun Family capable of completing their respective tasks is eligible to participate in this heir selection. I’ve never spoken of this to outsiders, and in fact, I never really considered it myself. Due to my physical condition, I had no plans to take part; that’s why I casually picked a task to transfer the Dark Beast Egg to Shang Kingdom. I simply thought this task was like a leisurely excursion, and when the one-year assessment period was over, I would return to the Imperial City and report back. But then, I met you, and my physique improved to a certain extent. I gave up my initial plans and decided to win this heir selection. It doesn’t matter that the Dark Beast Egg was damaged, but I should at least bring back a reason that can convince the other members of the commerce," Yun Luo didn’t hide anything, revealing the reason for her refusal.
The Yun family values responsibility above all in their hires. Damage to the Dark Beast Egg is not considered failure, but if the cause of the damage and the person responsible are not found, that is an utter failure.
"But as long as the mission is not settled, Compass cannot leave Shang Country’s Heavenly Prison," Yun Luo was insistent, and Yue Jinghua had her own considerations.
In the eyes of most people, whether Compass returns to the "Second Generation Soldier" might not be important, but to Yue Jinghua, its significance is quite different.
As long as someone is a member of her Mercenary Team, she has the responsibility to protect them.
Unable to negotiate with Yun Luo, Yue Jinghua had no choice but to summon three active members of the "Second Generation Soldier" and explore another method to redeem Compass—circumventing the Yunhu Commerce, sending people directly to Shang Kingdom, and obtaining Compass’s release by paying bail.
"Use an entire bag of Star-falling Diamond to redeem a fatso who only eats and drinks? Impossible, are you still the Yue Jinghua I know?" Shalman exclaimed, recognizing the precious stones. When she was with the Sha Family, she had seen Sha Fei, now the Regent Empress Dowager of Shang Kingdom, wearing earrings made of similar Star-falling Diamond.
It was said that a pair of Star Falling Earrings the size of rice grains could be sold on the continent for the high price of a hundred Fifth-Order Xuan Pills.
The bag full of Star Falling Mine that Yue Jinghua had was an astounding wealth enough to purchase an entire county.
Yue Jinghua observed the changes in expressions of those present.
Qin Dongting still had his coffin face, saying indifferently, "It’s not worth it."
However, what surprised Yue Jinghua the most was not the reactions of the other two but the unusual flicker in Weiwei’s eyes upon hearing the news. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "Perhaps, we could delay the redemption of Compass Captain, we... we could use this bag of diamonds to redeem the Treasure Map mortgaged at the Mercenary Branch."
"Treasure Map?!" Shalman got excited; after spending time on Xuan Beast Ridge, she too had picked up some bad habits of a mercenary, such as getting all pumped up at the thought of an adventure, or else she would appear drowsy and listless, seemingly embodying the mercenary spirit.
"Compass’s map might not be genuine," Qin Dongting also remembered that treasure map; Compass was all talk, and it was unclear which words were true and which were lies. The supposed family heirloom treasure map’s authenticity was also questionable.
"It is real," Weiwei blushed, articulating each word: "It must be real. One day when Compass Big Brother was drunk, he mentioned that his mother said the map is genuine."
With Compass, nine and a half out of ten sentences were false, but the ones about his mother were true.
After hesitating for a long time, Qin Dongting also squeezed out a sentence: "He, doesn’t lie when he’s drunk."
Yue Jinghua rolled her eyes, thought for a moment, and could only say: "Then let’s go to the Mercenary Branch and redeem the treasure map first. Perhaps, we could get ridiculously lucky and find the treasure left by the Dragon Slayer Hero, then stumble upon a fortune so vast that we could buy the entire Shang Kingdom Prison."