Chapter 16: Poaching

Every person has three seas.

Those who open the Sea of Spirit practice meditation techniques, absorb free spiritual energy, and subsequently delve into arcane magic.

Those who open the Sea of Blood practice blood refining techniques, supplementing themselves with blood nourishment to enhance their combat abilities, eventually becoming knights, and then studying combat skills.

Those who open the Sea of Qi practice breath control techniques, resonating with the natural energy of plants, which can be used to cultivate various types of spirit plants.

Regardless of the Sea of Qi, Sea of Blood, or Sea of Spirit, they are all part of the spiritual arcane system. Among them, spirit plants can refine free spiritual energy, creating a unique aura that makes it easier for arcane mages to practice meditation techniques.

As a result, many arcane mages' residences are filled with a large number of spirit plants, transforming the scattered and thin free spiritual energy into a stable and rich spiritual aura.

Duke also wanted to have such a spiritual aura. "Unfortunately, a single spirit plant is often valued like a gold dragon. I've been spending my initial funds too quickly while renovating the card repair shop these days. I need to save a bit... Fortunately, the card repair shop can bring in about a gold dragon per month. If I accumulate for a few months, I should be able to buy spirit plants."

Cuckoo!

A rooster kept by a household in a back alley started crowing towards the eastern sky, which was turning white.

After Duke washed his face and brushed his teeth, he went to a nearby steamed bun shop in the back alley and bought a few buns for breakfast. Then, he entered his card repair shop through the front yard, ready to start his work.

However, as soon as he entered the shop, he noticed something was amiss.

The front door of the card repair shop was not open.

"What's going on? Is Bob late?" Duke personally opened the door and tidied up a bit.

Before long, the new apprentice, Leven, hurried over. "Good morning, boss."

"Morning, Leven. Did Bob mention anything about taking a leave yesterday?"

"Um, I don't know." Leven, a seventeen-year-old youth with a sturdy build but somewhat naive demeanor, scratched his head and went to tidy up his workstation on his own.

Duke waited for a while and realized that not only Bob was absent, but his apprentice son, Bobby, and Thomas were also missing.

"There's a problem!" He narrowed his eyes and muttered, "It's normal for someone to be late occasionally, and even if both Bob and Bobby are late, it's still fine. But Thomas is also late?"

By eight o'clock, neither Bob and his son nor Thomas had arrived.

Instead, Delanco, a card repairer, came in.

"Teacher Delanco, you're here so early." Duke stood up to greet him.

However, Delanco said, "Boss Duke, you might not know yet. Bast has opened a new card repair shop and managed to poach Sanet, Bob and his son, as well as Thomas."

"What!" Duke was taken aback.

"Last night, Bast invited us for dinner and managed to poach them over during the meal. He even made an offer to me, which is much higher than the wages and commissions I receive here."

After finishing, Delanco looked carefully at Duke.

As someone who had been a factory owner on Earth before transmigrating, Duke understood the implications of Delanco's words. He immediately suppressed his anger towards Bast and others, and calmly said, "Teacher Delanco, I'll match the offer Bast made to you, and on top of that, I'll give you an additional 10% of your commission!"

"Oh, are you sure?" Delanco smiled at the offer. "Actually, I don't really care about that. Otherwise, I would have agreed to Bast's offer already."

"You might not care, but I can't ignore it. Teacher Delanco, thank you for refusing Bast's offer to stay at Little Sam's Card Repair Shop."

"Haha, I've been working here for ten years, and I've gotten used to it. I don't want to change my environment for now, especially under Bast's management. It rubs me the wrong way."

After a pause, Delanco added, "However, Boss Duke, you need to be careful. With Bast opening a new card repair shop, it will directly compete with Little Sam's. If things don't go well, the competition might squeeze out your business."

"I understand, but rest assured, Little Sam's Card Repair Shop has had a reputation for over twenty years. It won't be that easy for Bast to snatch away our business. I'll quickly hire new card repairers and offer some discounts to secure our clientele." Duke clarified his thoughts and relaxed quickly. "But it will be hard work for you during this period, Teacher Delanco."

"It's fine. The more cards I repair, the more I earn."

External card repairers were not paid a fixed salary; instead, they received a basic wage plus a commission based on the number and grade of cards they repaired. The more they repaired and the higher the grade of the arcane cards, the more they earned.

Delanco went to repair cards, and Leven worked as his apprentice.

Duke stood behind the counter himself, ready to welcome customers for card repairs. At the same time, he quietly pondered how to handle Bast's poaching and the upcoming competition.

At that moment, Bob suddenly entered with a look of embarrassment on his face. "Duke..."

Duke looked at him seriously and said, "Bob, you should have told me in advance. If you're not satisfied with your wages, you could have raised the issue. There's no need to surprise me like this."

Bob grinned sheepishly, "Well, I only realized it last night... Sigh, it's come to this point, I'm really sorry. I've come to return the keys to the shop."

Taking the keys, Duke didn't try to persuade him to stay. Instead, he said, "I respect your choice. I'll settle your wages right now. Also, pass the message to the others to come and settle their wages as soon as possible."

"Ah, Duke, you're truly a good person."

"Hehe."

Duke saw Bob off.

Quickly, Duke fetched a board and began writing a job advertisement: "This shop is hiring two card repairers, competitive salary, details to be discussed; Also hiring one counter staff, monthly salary 20-25 silver dragons; one kitchen staff, monthly salary 15-20 silver dragons; two apprentices, monthly salary 6 silver dragons."

He finished writing and hung the board on the wall.

After careful consideration, he took down the board again and added a position at the back: "Hiring two delivery personnel, monthly salary 20-25 silver dragons."

Then he fetched another board and wrote, "This shop introduces a shopping assistance service, helping customers purchase rare arcane cards from Chenjiao City."

He hung both boards on the wall.

Rubbing his chin, Duke smiled contentedly. "Hiring with high salaries, card delivery services, along with purchasing assistance for rare arcane cards—this three-pronged approach, I don't believe Bast can compete with me!"

As a transmigrator from Earth, he had a plethora of ideas about business and sales. If Bast hadn't played this move, Duke wasn't planning to put these ideas into action just yet. After all, his foundation was still shallow, and he was mainly focusing on low-profile cultivation. The best time for development would come when he was strong enough to ensure his own safety.

For now, he wanted to test the waters and deal with Bast a bit, stabilizing the customer base of Little Sam's Card Repair Shop.

...

At noon that day, not far from Little Sam's Card Repair Shop, Bast's Card Repair Shop at 207 Second Street had been secretly renovated and was officially open.

To create a buzz, Bast even hired a musical band to play popular music of the time, attracting many passersby to stop and watch.

Duke quietly blended into the crowd and spent some time at the entrance of Bast's shop. He noticed that the shop was about the same size as Little Sam's.

Apart from Bast and Sanet, another card repairer had been hired.

Bob and his son, as well as Thomas, were all bustling around with smiles on their faces. Bast, now the owner, beamed like a chrysanthemum, exuding an air of self-confidence.

If Old Sam were still around, Bast wouldn't dare to open a shop and compete for business, given Old Sam's two decades of reputation. Now that it was Duke in charge, Bast believed that in no time, Little Sam's Card Repair Shop's reputation would plummet. Then, the business of nearby neighbors would all be claimed by Bast's shop.

"Hello, welcome! Please come in, and let Bast's Card Repair Shop's top-notch card repairers restore your arcane cards to their original condition just like when you first bought them!"