Zhao Hai sat in the Spatial Villa’s living room. Standing behind him was Zhao En[1]. He was once called Raeen[2] before, but his name was changed to Zhao En.
Zhao Hai didn’t want to ask him about anything else since Raeen had already told Zhao Hai what he needed to know. Zhao Hai now understood the strength behind Carlo, as well as his goal.
Markey Dell clan successors were each given their own territory. They were assigned to manage these territories, just like what Laura was doing here in the Purcell Duchy. Carlo’s share was the whole of the Aksu Empire, except for the Purcell Duchy.
The difference between just the Purcell Duchy and the entirety of the Aksu Empire was really large, and one could see the disparity between Karen and Carlo from this point.
Carlo’s days, however, weren’t so good, and it was due to the Purcell Duchy. The Aksu Empire was large, and they had already established their chain of Markey Dell stores. Moreover, the business was doing good. Although this seemed very favorable for Carlo, and he had a great deal of wealth in his hands, one shouldn’t forget that currently, the people working in these stores were all assigned by Sioux. As such, Carlo’s every action and movement were transparent, and he couldn’t fool them.
What’s more, these people held important positions, so Carlo couldn’t just move them easily. If Carlo wanting to fully control his territory, it would be impossible.
In the Purcell Duchy, however, there wasn’t such an issue since the Markey Dell clan didn’t have any stores there. Although Laura had began with a lot of hardships, she could at least control her own territory and wouldn’t allow others to meddle in it.
Carlo also wasn’t ordinary as he was the one who’d taken control of the Markey Dell clan’s chain of stores in the Aksu Empire. His strength grew very quickly. Besides not having a Rank Nine expert, he was still comparable to a middle ranked aristocrat since he had several Rank Eight experts on his side. This was all Raeen knew, and he didn’t know much since Carlo was a very careful person. Thus, he hadn’t even trusted Raeen fully.
The reason why Carlo had noticed the Purcell Duchy was because of the pest crisis. The news of it had since been spread throughout the Aksu Empire. This was a common practice for large businesses, and anyone with some status inside the Aksu Empire knew of it. With regards to the manipulations within the Purcell clan, the other great and powerful aristocrats were against it. Luckily, the Purcell clan had met Zhao Hai.
These people hadn’t placed much emphasis on the pest crisis, but rather, they noted the sudden appearance of Zhao Hai. They all had the same sort of questions, such as where had Zhao Hai come from? Where was he producing his commodities?
When Laura started selling the Taoyuan products, these people soon realized how big an opportunity this was. They were also aware, however, that it was due to the Purcell clan’s kindness that Zhao Hai had a place to call home[3].
This time around, the Purcell clan’s loss wasn’t small, and these people knew that Zhao Hai’s products were a great opportunity. The Purcell clan also knew of this, however. Now, moving against Zhao Hai was tantamount to slapping the Purcell clan in the face. Although the Purcell clan couldn’t be considered a very large clan, after many years of development they could still be recognized as one of the great aristocrats. The clan had two Rank Nine experts, so no one would dare look down on them.
It was due to this that no one had thought of using Zhao Hai as a business opportunity. Going against a respected aristocratic clan wasn’t something that the other established great aristocratic clans were capable of.
Carlo, however, didn’t have such a layer of scruples. He needed this opportunity. Right now, within the Markey Dell clan, he was the weakest among the three top successors. He needed to quickly increase his strength. That was why he had sent Alodia and Raeen. He thought that as long as those two moved, Laura would certainly comply. When the time came, Zhao Hai wouldn’t be able to run freely and would be taken in.
He hadn’t thought that they would fail to coordinate against Laura, even to the extent of shutting Alodia up and confining him. Raeen had known that this matter was bad as they had wanted to kidnap Laura and use her to find a way to take over Zhao Hai.
Naturally, if Laura resisted intensely, then they weren’t afraid of taking her life. So long as Laura dies, the business within the Purcell Duchy would become headless. Perhaps they could even take over the entire Purcell Duchy’s industry without a problem. They hadn’t thought that Zhao Hai would send his Eagle Virtuous Phantasms at the scene of the ambush. All those that died have now become his undead.