*Jones’s current mood felt like he was walking on a tightrope, feeling that one small slip could shatter him into pieces.*
*Think about it, one hundred and eleven thousand and eight hundred gold coins in debt. Not to mention Jones himself, even his entire family wouldn’t have that much money. If he couldn’t pay it back... well, the bank would send a letter to Gray. However, Gray also had no money, so "the son of the Lich King fled overnight with huge debt" could very likely be the headline in the papers the next day.*
*With such a big headline, would you associate Jones with a "struggling entrepreneur who unfortunately failed?"*
*No, you wouldn’t. People would think the Lich King must be super wealthy, and his son must be a rich second generation who doesn’t need to work. The reason for the debt and escape must be due to gambling and being forsaken by everyone, so the Lich King wouldn’t help him repay the debt. No one would sympathize with him; people would just laugh at him and discuss it as a topic over meals.*
*Imagine every corner having people from the Blood Clan talking about him, and after discussing, they would all gloat and sigh.*
*Disgraced and ruined...*
"At that time, my reputation would be completely destroyed. I wouldn’t even be able to marry my cousin, and I’d be mocked to the point where I couldn’t stay in Salted Fish Port. Many tabloid reporters would dig into my history, and they’d even discover I once worked as a servant for the Hydra..."
*Of course, there’s another possibility. Adelle might smooth things over, and Jones would not make the headlines for defaulting on his debt. Is this a good thing?*
*No, it’s even worse.*
*In return, Adelle would certainly demand that Jones, as the adopted son of the Lich King, get Gray involved in the Sambo family’s property dispute. Would Gray be willing to get involved? Gray certainly wouldn’t be. As a result, Jones would end up falling out with Gray over this matter.*
"Adopted son falls into darkness, Lich King and son turn against each other," *this headline sounds like another drama of resentment and revenge among the wealthy families, filled with bloody intrigue. Jones could already envision countless tabloid reporters chasing him for stories. Eventually, they would still dig out that Jones once worked as a servant for the Hydra...*
*Why does everything always lead back to the Hydra? Because it’s such a massive lump, just sitting there, impossible to hit, move, or hide!*
*Overall, it still ends in disgrace and ruin...*
*It’s also possible that after Adelle smoothed things over, Jones couldn’t smooth things over with Gray either, and he ends up falling out with Adelle later. In that case, the headline would still be "the son of the Lich King fled overnight with huge debt."*
*In any case, failure would mean disgrace and ruin.*
*At that time, he would not be able to stay in the Human World or mix in the territory of the Blood Clan. Jones would have to leave his homeland, living a life of misery and homelessness. Maybe he’d even be turned into a slave and sold to work as a miner for the dwarves.*
*Well, speaking of which, the Blood Clan seemed more suited to be miners than the dwarves. After all, there wouldn’t be any sunlight in the tunnels, and using the Blood Clan to dig would save on torches. They could even use magic to mine.*
"Maybe the dwarves would even give him a vampire bride and say: ’With two members of the Blood Clan, I can get a whole nest of little vampires to sell! Wasn’t that what you thought when using dwarf slaves as miners?’"
*The critical issue was that the vampire bride might still be Jones’s little cousin. God knows how she ended up falling to the same fate of being sold as a slave!*
*Like the plot of a lousy novel, the whole idea was just a nightmare.*
*He might even be hunted by one hundred and eighty Liches because of it.*
*Don’t ask why one hundred and eighty; Jones dreamt of one hundred and eighty that night. Yes, he even counted them in his dream. One bald skull after another, the more he counted, the more scared he became, until he woke up in a fright and shivered violently in his coffin.*
*At this moment, the mental pressure on Jones could be said to be immense.*
"No matter what, I must succeed! At all costs! When I have children, I must tell them how much their father endured! And then ask Morca to write me a book called ’Vampire King!’"
*After getting ’up,’ Jones fixed his tie and set off quietly again. He had the demeanor of someone ready for a final battle.*
*He decided to keep a close watch himself, leaving no room for any unexpected events.*
*The first matter was transportation.*
*The goblin merchant had arranged for a hundred members of the Blood Clan for Jones. Yes, a full hundred, in a grand procession. Jones had never seen so many members of the Blood Clan standing together at once.*
"Every four of them will carry a cage, and we’ll transport the dwarves and necessary exploration tools in two trips."
"What about the zombies?"
"The zombies and mining tools will arrive tomorrow, and we can transport them by airship. This is relatively simple. After all, once the dwarves arrive, they need to explore the veins first, and they won’t need to use the dwarves right away. Of course, you can request for everything to be transported today, but that will cost extra."
"No, this will do, thanks. I think the arrangement is pretty good. One more question: if something happens on the road, who is responsible? For example, if the cage carrying the dwarves falls during transport and the dwarves inside die from the fall."
The goblin merchant looked at the anxious Jones silently and said helplessly: "We are responsible. If anything happens during transport, it’s on us. We will compensate at full price. You only need to receive the goods at the destination. Any other questions?"
*Jones silently stood off to the side.*