Chapter 25: Wealth Moves Hearts

Li Fan dragged the fat man's body into the Taiyan Boat, then simply cleaned the bloodstains from the ground, and afterwards, as if nothing had happened, returned to his room.

"Truly nonsensical," Li Fan commented.

The fat man clearly hadn't grasped the situation. Relying on a bit of cleverness, he'd discovered that Li Fan might have sneaked in under false pretenses, and then he'd impatiently come to threaten him, likely hoping to extort some benefits from Li Fan.

But he didn't consider that while Li Fan had indeed infiltrated Glass Island, weren't their group of "Outworlders" also using false identities as disaster victims to obtain household registration?

What was the fundamental difference between them and Li Fan?

Once they obtained Glass Island household registration, they truly started to see themselves as native residents.

Li Fan saw it very clearly: the Immortal Master who had previously concealed his face and come to meet them, and Sun Zhang's Treasure Pavilion, had acted with extreme caution, fearful of being discovered.

It was clear that their identities as mortals from the land of exile were meant to be kept hidden.

Precisely because of this, Li Fan casually killed the fat man who had foolishly come to threaten him.

He didn't believe that Treasure Pavilion and the group of Outworlders would launch a full-scale investigation over this.

Furthermore, even if they investigated and found out the fat man had visited Li Fan before disappearing, since no body could be found, as long as Li Fan adamantly denied seeing him, they couldn't do anything to Li Fan.

After all, if the matter escalated, it would benefit neither party.

Conversely, if Li Fan had hesitated, refrained from acting, and left the fat man alive, it could have potentially led to various troubles.

Therefore, Li Fan decisively chose to nip any potential threats in the bud.

Just as Li Fan had anticipated, a few days passed, and aside from Su Changyu's brief inquiry, the fat man's inexplicable disappearance drew no other attention.

This incident was merely a minor interlude in Li Fan's island life and was quickly forgotten.

In the following days, Li Fan gathered information about various affairs on the island while planning how to legitimately utilize the treasures from within the Taiyan Boat.

Gradually, Li Fan developed a general understanding of Glass Island, where he was currently located.

This sea area was called Congyun Sea.

The Congyun Sea was vast and boundless, dotted with tens of thousands of islands of varying sizes.

Glass Island was located in the south-central region of the Congyun Sea and was considered medium-sized.

The island was named Glass Island because the surrounding waters were rich in a delicious fish called Glass Fish.

Glass Fish were popular not only among mortals on neighboring islands, but some elixirs concocted by Immortal Masters also used Glass Pearls, which occasionally formed inside Glass Fish.

Therefore, Glass Island had an Immortal Master presiding over it, and a certain number of Glass Pearls had to be collected annually.

Immortal Masters generally remained aloof from worldly affairs and were rarely seen by ordinary people. The various matters on Glass Island were typically governed by the Glass Prefecture, established by the Glass Island Master.

Island residents could obtain work at the Glass Prefecture. The higher the risk coefficient of the job, the higher the compensation.

Among these, deep-sea fishing for Glass Fish was the most popular.

It involved no major risks, and the remuneration was substantial.

More importantly, only seventy percent of the caught Glass Fish needed to be submitted, leaving thirty percent for personal sale.

This made fishing a highly sought-after job.

Unfortunately, going to sea required large vessels, and Glass Fish schools were elusive. Locating them necessitated special spiritual guides unique to the island.

These spiritual guides were only issued by the Glass Prefecture when ships departed and were reclaimed upon return.

Private fishing was impossible, and anyone caught doing so would be immediately executed.

Therefore, Glass Fish fishing could only be carried out with the Glass Prefecture's permission.

Those who could go out to sea to fish were envied by the island residents.

A fishing fleet that had gone out to sea a few days ago not only returned with a successful Glass Fish haul but also encountered a sunken ship.

This ship was said to have been carrying a family fleeing a storm, and thus contained over a dozen chests of gold, silver, and jewels!

All of which now became the property of the fleet.

Regarding the items salvaged from the sunken ship, the island's rules were the same as for Glass Fish: thirty percent could be kept by the finders.

Consequently, when the fleet returned to port, half the island was abuzz.

Even Steward Qian, the island's chief financial officer, personally came to inspect the haul.

Seeing the fleet members practically grinning from ear to ear, many islanders grew envious.

They all began discreetly seeking connections to secure a spot for the next fishing expedition.

In Li Fan's view, he could use a similar method to slowly legitimize the countless treasures from the Taiyan Boat with relatively low risk.

The only difficulty was how to obtain permission to go to sea independently.

The existence of the Taiyan Boat could absolutely not be exposed.

There were too many people on the island eager to join the fleet, so after a casual inquiry, Li Fan learned the key information.

The Glass Island Master had three trusted confidants: Steward Zhao managed island personnel, Steward Qian handled finances, and Steward Zhou was in charge of security.

The vast majority of spots for fleet expeditions were controlled by Steward Qian. Stewards Zhao and Zhou had consistently tried to intervene but had always been firmly reined in by Steward Qian, only managing to secure one or two fleet assignments.

Where there are people, there is struggle.

Li Fan recalled Steward Zhao's reaction when they met on the day of his registration and thought he might be able to meet with him.

However, Steward Zhao was not someone Li Fan could simply meet at his current standing.

Li Fan decided to go through Sun Zhang at Treasure Pavilion again.

Having inquired about its location, Li Fan arrived at the entrance of Treasure Pavilion, intending to pay his respects to Sun Zhang.

However, he was met with a rebuff.

"Go away, go away! What kind of status does our Elder Sun have? Is he someone you can just meet whenever you wish? Leave quickly!" Several burly men in black at the entrance looked at Li Fan ominously, appearing ready to act if he didn't comply.

Seeing this, Li Fan had no choice but to leave for the time being.

He found it a bit strange; Treasure Pavilion was, after all, a business that kept its doors open. Why would they turn people away without even seeing them?

Moreover, these burly men in black made the decision themselves without consulting anyone, as if they already knew who Li Fan was...

"They must have received instructions to deliberately avoid me." Having reached this conclusion, Li Fan guessed that some change must have occurred on the Outworlders' side, causing Sun Zhang to completely disavow their connection.

After some inquiries, Li Fan learned what had happened.

It turned out that Su Changyu, in order to quickly dispel the miasma from his body, had resolutely chosen to become an Immortal Master's experimental subject.

Before leaving, Su Changyu had signed his name on the remaining contract.

With that, the three covenants were complete, and the contract completely vanished.

There was no longer any connection between the Outworlders and Treasure Pavilion.

"No wonder they suddenly turned hostile and deliberately avoided us. I just didn't expect Su Changyu to be so decisive," Li Fan mused.

"Alas, we all tried to persuade him not to be so hasty. But he wouldn't listen!" Li Fan recognized the speaker as Xiao Heng, who had previously claimed to be the Prince of Zhennan in the Treasure Pavilion's grotto.

Xiao Heng seemed to have a very close relationship with Su Changyu and was deeply dejected at the moment. "If it weren't to save his sister, who suffers from an incurable illness, Brother Su wouldn't have pushed himself so hard."

Upon hearing this, Li Fan fell into thought.