Chapter 344: Bargaining

After returning to Unicorn Apartment, Li Mochen was still restless. However, he managed to calm himself and held discussions with Carl Holton, as well as representatives from Edward Jewelry Company and Elizabeth Cosmetics Company.

With less than thirteen days until the match against St. Meken High School, Li Mochen had to take action.

Although he had recently advised Angela not to be fixated on winning or losing this battle, he himself could not resign to giving up. In any case, he had to do what he could and leave the rest to fate.

The three people before Li Mochen had brought him a total of twelve sets of plans.

Among them, Li Mochen favored three sets the most. One involved the magic cores of two legendary devils from the Nine Hells of Baator, which could help Li Mochen simultaneously strengthen his Ice and Fire Domains. However, the risk of these magic cores was also great—they were the last remnants of the legendary devils after death, containing immense spiritual pollution, ten times more dangerous than the previous energy cores and legendary secret blood.

The second plan was based on a living twenty-fourth-level lord-class 'Ironclaw Giant Ape.' They could enlist a legendary mage to forcibly extract part of its talent and fuse it with Li Mochen. This method was expected to not only greatly enhance his Strength Domain but also increase his physical strength.

The third plan involved making use of a discarded artifact called the 'Scepter of Silence.'

Originally, it was an artifact controlled by the Grand Masters of the Temple Knights during the medieval era. It was imbued with the 'Silence Domain,' derived from the same lineage as the Silent Dragon, capable of nullifying and repelling all spells within its domain, allowing the Temple Knights to dominate spellcasters on the battlefield.

Unfortunately, this infamous scepter was destroyed in a campaign against the dark world.

However, traces of the domain power from this artifact still remained, and they could find a way to transfer it to Li Mochen.

Experts from the Nathan Group believed that even if Li Mochen only obtained the most basic domain power from the 'Scepter of Silence,' it would be enough to turn the tide of battle.

"Can't we have all of them?"

Li Mochen looked at the three people before him: "I think all three plans are excellent. They could greatly enhance my strength and put me in an invincible position in the upcoming match."

Carl Holton couldn't help but laugh: "A Mo, you're being too greedy. Even the cheapest of these plans costs around thirty million gold shields."

Such a large expenditure couldn't be borne by the Eastern Division of Nathan Sports Group alone; it would be difficult to justify to the headquarters' CFO and the board. That's why he had also brought in Edward Jewelry Company and Elizabeth Cosmetics Company.

These were Li Mochen's two biggest sponsors at present, and they should also take responsibility—not let Nathan Sports Group shoulder everything alone.

"Then two sets!"

Li Mochen singled out two of the proposals: "The Giant Ape and the Scepter of Silence. Ladies and gentlemen, I need your support now. It benefits everyone, doesn't it? It can help our team from Linden Academy win this team competition. You saw what just happened—I could defeat the opponent on my own, but if I did that, we would essentially lose."

When it came to opportunities to gain benefits, he wouldn't be polite with those present.

The three exchanged glances. One of them, a middle-aged man with blond hair, pushed up his glasses: "Andre, whether it's the 'Ironclaw Giant Ape' or the 'Scepter of Silence,' both will put immense pressure on you and leave considerable aftereffects. Are you sure you can handle it now?"

"I believe I can. Absolutely certain."

Li Mochen's tone was firm: "If you're worried, we can start with the 'Scepter of Silence,' which has the least aftereffects. If the legendary mage you hire feels I can't bear it, they can stop halfway, right? Ladies and gentlemen, the reason I chose to sign contracts with your companies is precisely that I hope to receive your full support at times like this."

"Of course."

The blond middle-aged man fell into thought: "If you insist, let's give it a try. Our Elizabeth Cosmetics Company can cover ten percent of the funding."

"Our Edward Jewelry Company will do the same—we'll cover ten percent."

This was another middle-aged man in a sharp suit: "Additionally, we can handle the 'Scepter of Silence.' We have a way to acquire it at a lower price."

"Hey! Hey! That's not fair."

Carl Holton complained discontentedly: "So you mean you want Nathan Sports Group to bear the remaining eighty percent of the funding alone?"

"Otherwise?"

The blond middle-aged man sneered: "We've paid real money for endorsement fees, Mr. Holton! And right now, the one benefiting the most from Andre's endorsements is your Nathan Sports Group. The attacks are also aimed at your company. Our ten percent is a reasonable figure. As for you, Mr. Denette, ten percent is too little. I know that after Andre's print ads went up in your stores, your overall sales over the past fifteen days increased by at least one point five percent—a rather impressive number!"

"But we'll also handle the acquisition. I can guarantee we'll save about three million gold shields—"

Li Mochen listened to their heated bargaining and shook his head inwardly. He thought that while having more sponsors increased his background power, it also led to unfavorable situations—like the problem of too many cooks spoiling the broth.

However, what happened next was no longer his concern. Since they had already decided on the plans, the only issue left was how to split the funding among the three parties.

This matter had to be negotiated by Carl and the others; he was powerless.

Li Mochen, tired of watching them argue, simply got up and left the meeting room, heading to the training room on the second floor of the duplex.

A minute later, as Li Mochen formed a hand seal, his consciousness awakened in his secondary body within the 'Death Home' mage tower.

Ever since Li Mochen took over this mage tower, he had moved his secondary body there. It was safer, more convenient, and the environment far surpassed his previous small apartment, making it more suitable for maintaining this secondary body.

A six-story mage tower could set up six permanent spatial gates for entering and exiting this demiplane. One of them was installed inside the apartment. As for the other five, Lind Emerson, following Li Mochen's instructions, distributed them around Atlanta.

However, at present, except for the warehouse on Anfark Street, which had been converted into a semi-military base, the other four entrances were unusable due to the anti-magic field.

Only within Unicorn Apartment and their semi-military base could they rely on the magical energy arrays there to overcome the effects of the anti-magic field.