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234: High Treehouse

Author: HideousGrain Word Count: 11204 Updated: 2025-06-07 09:52:36

High Treehouse

"18% is the lowest I'll go. I know that the Bartholomew Corporation can pay that much. It's better than seeing our cooperation fail, right?" Michael said, his fingers tapping lightly on the table's smooth surface.2

Since the start of the negotiation, more than ten minutes passed, and they entered a stalemate. Michael started his negotiation with a 25% profit share, thinking that it was necessary to exaggerate his demand a little. However, he didn't expect Helen Ascaln to start with 2.5%. Her offer was way too low, given that Michael was willing to harvest thousands of agriculture-type blueprints every month.

He could procure tens of times the amount the Bartholomew Corporation could procure in a month. Did the Bartholomew Corporation take him for a fool?

Fortunately, Michael wasn't defeated that easily. He knew that he had the advantage and that he could make a choice. The Bartholomew Corporation needed him, not the other way around.

His final provocation broke Helen Ascaln's confidence. Michael mentioned the Olympus – a big organization that had been clashing with the Bartholomew Corporation for decades. So far, none of them could gain a big advantage over the other, leading to intense competition between the two organizations.

Their most-intense competition was in the Barren Lands with both organizations attempting to carry out reforestation on the Barren Land to turn it fertile again.

Losing a treasure trove like Michael meant that the Bartholomew Corporation would lose their competitive edge, and the opportunity to gain an advantage against the Olympus. Michael could provide them with more agriculture-type blueprints than they could procure in a year or two.

By using him, they would not only emerge victorious against the Olympus, but they would be able to widen the gap.

"You…15%...I can agree to give you 15% of the Agriculture Project's profit share but--…." Helen agreed reluctantly while having a hard time acknowledging that her mission to tame him had failed miserably.

She was certain that her negotiation skills were great and that she could convince Michael to accept a profit share of no more than 10%. However, that wasn't even close to the final result.

"18%." Michael intercepted Helen. He got up from his chair, his hands resting on the table in front of him, "Or I'm out. I can pay the termination fee of the exclusive contract immediately as well."

Michael had done enough research on the market, the Barren Lands, and mankind's organizations to know how valuable his blueprints were, and what he could demand by selling the agriculture-type blueprints in bulk, and exclusively to one organization.

"Sit down…please. The Bartholomew Corporation can agree to your demand. 18% it is… I'll send you a draft of the contract soon. Read through it and ask Kilian if you have any questions. If there is nothing wrong, we can proceed with the contract signing," Helen Asclan said, evidently trying hard to keep her composure.

Losing an important negotiation against a young Lord, who had not even become an Awakened a full year ago, and wasn't from a big merchant family, felt like a slap in the face.

Michael instinctively knew how to put pressure, what to mention at particular points during the negotiation, and when to push ahead. It was infuriating, but also something that deserved her utmost respect.

Most Lords focused on their military power to increase their territory's strength. They were less interested in economics, brain games and the importance of negotiation skills.

That seemed different in Michael's case. The young Lord was not even 19 years old, but he had already reached the 2nd Tier. Michael was also a freshman in the Saphirelake Military Academy. He was far from weak and knew a thing or two about advanced negotiation.

Michael felt that his back was drenched in sweat when he heard Helen's words. He wanted to sigh in relief but knew that it would be a grave mistake to show a sign of weakness.

No matter how he looked at the situation, Michael had scored a big deal today. The only work he had to do was providing agriculture-type blueprints, and he would obtain 18% of the Agriculture Project's profit as long as he provided agriculture-type blueprints, and a base fee equivalent to the price of a rare blueprint for every agriculture-type blueprint he sold.

That was more than enough for him, given that most of the hard work would be done by others. Furthermore, Michael didn't want to exploit the Bartholomew Corporation any further, knowing that they would start loathing him if he pressed harder on an even higher profit share. He knew that he was already in a very good position, and that the Bartholomew Corporation could accept his demands without any hard feelings.

They would still gain a lot from the deal, and would be willing to retain him as a customer and business partner. If he had asked for a higher profit share that might have been a little different. They might even consider him a greedy bastard and blacklist him from their facilities if he went overboard.

Given the 18% profit share, Michael would only be considered a sly fox, maybe even a feisty businessman.

That was not too bad.

Michael left Bartholomew Shop after his business was done. He returned to his room and entered the Origin Expanse, where he encountered Lilica.

"We'll focus on procuring more agriculture-type blueprints for the time being. Is the demand for low-level armaments still as high as before?" Michael asked.

Lilica gave him a nod and smiled wryly, "All Forest Elven Lords are going crazy over your low-level armaments. Their durability is exceptional, and the energy conductivity is simply phenomenal. We were pretty lucky with the ore deposits in the lizard cave. The deposits are huge and we can forge a wide variety of armaments that can be wielded efficiently by people up to the Peak of Tier-1. The blacksmith's proficiency increases rapidly as well, resulting in a faster armament production. We're currently considering introducing more armaments to the Forest Elven Lords since they loved the changes in the last batch."

Lilica's eyes gleamed in excitement as she reported the situation to Michael. She was happy that she could still help her race by providing them with low-level armaments. The support she provided was even better than it had been when they were still an ordinary adventurer team in Xiltra.

Right now, she could actually do something to support her people.

In exchange, Michael was given exceptional benefits as well. Seeing Michael benefit just as much as her people from the deal was great. It was a perfect relationship, a symbiosis any organism dreamed about.

"Oh? That sounds great. In that case, We should continue to focus on the Forging Hall's expansion for a while – at least until I return from the Lord Rift" Michael said, encouraging Lilica to work harder.

He had yet to give detailed orders about the territory's development for the next few weeks. For now, he could give daily orders to tweak their initial plan to make sure that everyone worked on the projects that provided most benefits. However, the daily orders would be rendered useless if he was absent. That was also why Michael struggled a little bit trying to provide both comfort for his subjects and obtaining exceptional results.

'I should finish the deal with the Bartholomew Corporation first, and deal with the rest after that.'

With that in mind, Michael spent a few more minutes talking to Lilica, asking a few questions before he excused himself. He walked over to warehouse nr. 3 where all blueprints were stored safely. Releasing his origin energy, Michael engulfed a few crates to pull them inside the War Rune's storage space.

Once that was completed, Michael spent an hour walking through his territory. He talked a lot to his subjects and analyzed the development of his territory. Doubts about the territory's infrastructure surfaced in his mind, and questions about the appearance and sturdiness of certain treehouse complexes.

Instead of leaving his doubts and questions open, Michael chose to meet up with the architects and workers responsible for the constructions. The architects and workers were a little worried when they were called to meet their Lord, but Michael's warm expression and calming presence was enough to dispel their worries the moment they entered the meeting hall inside the wooden manor.

"There is no need to worry. I just want to solve a few doubts and find out why you altered the treehouse complex blueprints. I might not be a master in this field, but it looks like the treehouse complexes have been connected much more efficiently than before. They're more durable with the same amount of resources, if not less," Michael pointed out after his subjects sat down.

They looked at him, only to see a spark of interest in Michael's eyes.

Michael didn't care that they had altered the construction blueprint of the treehouse complexes. No, he was happy about that!

The modified blueprint was much better in every possible aspect. It created more space with less resources, and maintained the same exceptional sturdiness as before.

"After reading the manuals and instruction notes you purchased, esteemed Lord, I was filled with doubts. At first, I dispelled the doubts, but after weeks of working in the Untamed Jungle, I couldn't help myself anymore. I altered one of the duplicated blueprints and began to experiment a little bit with them – in my freetime, of course. At last, we finally dared to construct one of the High Treehouses..." The architect explained slowly, trying to contain the excitement that rushed through him when the memories and result of his hard work resurfaced.

He was proud of his work, and that could be seen clearly.

"You did a good job. How about we inspect the High Treehouse a little bit before we start mass-producing it? Would you be fine with that?" Michael asked without much thought.

But the Architect jumped up, his eyes glowing.

"It has only been one day since we completed the High Treehouses, but I'm more than willing to share my research with everyone as long as it helps the territory! You pay lots of attention to details, my Lord!" The Architect exclaimed.

Michael just smiled. It was his job to pay attention to the territory. If he didn't pay attention to his territory, who would?

He spent the next twenty minutes gathering the architects and workers to share the news of the High Treehouse. He rewarded the architect for his invention and showed everyone that they were not only allowed to conduct their own research in his territory but also that they would be rewarded for great inventions.

'I hope we'll see some nice inventions soon enough,' Michael mused after completing the inspection and he left the Origin Expanse.

He had a contract to sign, and wanted to get rid of 2500 Agriculture-type blueprints.

Furthermore, a bunch of Tier-2 Artifacts were waiting for him to be purchased.

It was about time to spend a fortune on himself!

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Catalog (366)
1: Prologue - Calamity Record 2: Examination Chamber 3: Final Exam (I) 4: Final Exam (II) 5: Alice Zenovia 6: Artifact 7: Origin Expanse 8: Tigerfolk 9: Seven Star 10: Heroic Summon 11: Cheat sheet 12: Perfect Extraction 13: Grinding 14: The First Ancestor 15: Spear Arts 16: Bloody Lunch 17: Fenrir 18: Trust 19: Second Soultrait 20: Memories 21: Summoning 22: Combined Forces 23: Artifact 24: Report 25: Return 26: House of Witchery 27: Barbaric Couple 28: Instinct 29: Head Butler 30: Hardship of being a Father 31: Golden Bartholomew 32: Attack 33: Soaked 34: Survival of the fittest 35: Control 36: Sun Soldier Breathing 37: Generating Resources 38: Outside the Territory 39: The Lizard 40: War & Deceit 41: One-Man Army 42: Unyielding 43: Michael, the Cleaning Fairy 44: Energy Flood 45: Elves 46: [Bonus chapter]The Untamed Jungle 47: Deal 48: Upgrade 49: Loot 50: Devourer 101: Artifacts & Fragments 102: Quadruple Soultraits 103: Forgetful Michael 104: Payment 105: Exceptional Enhancement 106: Aptitude Assessment 107: Soul Power 108: Tests, Tests and more Tests 109: Real Combat 110: Merciless 111: Annabelle Claire 112: [Bonus chapter]Archer 113: Rematch 114: Invisible Blade 115: Kindness of the Fierce Beauty (1) 116: Kindness of the Fierce Beauty (2) 117: Ranking 118: Orb of Hostility 119: Mass Summoning 120: Tamed 121: Grandiose Summoning 122: Timid Spirit 123: Changes 124: Brothers 125: Spar 126: Last Week 127: Harbor 128: Freshman 129: Leaving Elyra 130: Collecting Fools 131: Grinding Stones 132: Mind Breaker 133: Bottomless Pit 134: Bloodthirsty Berserker 135: [Bonus chapter]Aerial Encounter 136: The King's Death 137: Xiltra 138: Adventurer Guild 139: Lilica 140: Counter-Strategies 141: Battle Strategy 142: Unique Racial Ability 143: Burning Life 144: Tigress Tiara 145: Chaos 146: Vengeful 147: Escape 148: Mission 149: Senator 150: Last Wish 151: Incomplete Soultrait 152: Infirmary 153: Like a Beast 154: Managing System 155: Agriculture 156: [Bonus chapter]Project 157: Pandemonium's Requiem 158: Guests 159: Poisoned 160: Military Might 161: Nonsense 162: Owing a Favor 163: Nowhere to go 164: Promising Offer 165: Power Expansion 166: Connecting Markets 167: [Bonus chapter]Failed Demonstration 168: Elders' Orders 169: Part of the Territory 170: Revelation 171: Summoning Core 172: Origin Tongue 173: Masked Saber 174: Malfunction 175: Dean 176: Silver Energy 177: Lover of Research 178: Jump 179: Miracle 180: High Nobles 181: Armament Soultrait 182: High Nobles' Power 183: Private Life 184: Fighting a High Noble 185: Broken 186: Foolish 187: MINE!!! 188: First Request 189: Individual Teaching I 190: Individual Teaching II 191: Starting Point 192: Ice Prison 193: Lesser Dimension War 194: Purity 195: Awakening 196: Frozen Nova 197: Perfect Physique 198: Big Problem 199: Hunters 200: Dismembering Soultrait Symbols 201: At a loss 202: 5-Star Soultrait 203: Capture 204: Combined Forces 205: Revolt 206: Monster Rampage 207: Battle Mode 208: [Bonus chapter]Presents 209: Annihilation 210: Silent Reapers 211: Curse of the Jungle 212: Storm 213: Beheading the Snake I 214: Beheading the Snake II 215: Hazy 216: Over? 217: Council Meeting 218: Loot, Loot & more Loot 219: Tiara's Return 220: 13 Paladins 221: Silver Inferno I 222: Silver Inferno II 223: Xiltra's Terror 224: Fix it! 225: Moving? 226: Buy and Sell 227: Distress 228: Jack of all Trades 229: Tier-2 230: Lord Rift 231: Terms and Conditions 232: The Doomed City 233: Diamond 234: High Treehouse 235: Upgrade 236: Rematch I 237: Rematch II 238: Error 239: Countdown 240: Superior Existence 241: Combo 242: Insights 243: Unknown Enemy 244: Lord of the Elements 245: Tac Lec 246: Potions and Pills 247: 5 Lords 248: Gains and Benefits 249: Taros Vs. Tac Lec 250: Turn of Tide 51: Upside Down 52: Summoning Core 53: Oath 54: Advancing Slowly 55: Bartholomew Network 56: Native Empire 57: Tritan Alliance 58: Benefits of a Lord ID 59: A shocked Brother 60: Fortune 61: Gift 62: [Bonus chapter]Third Piece 63: Hatchlings 64: Benefits 65: [Bonus chapter]Body Refinement 66: Personal Growth 67: Afterparty 68: [Bonus chapter]Sinner! 69: Competition 70: Bet 71: Archer Ace 72: Cheater 73: Sister 74: Real Treasure 75: Condition 76: Splurge 77: Heightened Perception 78: Focused 79: Worth of Equality 80: A Monster's Massacre 81: Monster Battle 82: Exhaustion 83: Energy Influx 84: Great Haul 85: Feast 86: Physique 87: Following the Map 88: Tiara's Prowess 89: Miraculous Hall 90: Tongue of the Old 91: Experiment 92: Help 93: Tier-1 94: Invaders 95: Lionhearts 96: An Eye for an Eye 97: Lionheart Leader 98: Battle Tactics 99: Suicidal 100: The Price of Winning 251: Stealth and Destruction 252: Ruling of the Strongest 253: The 8th 254: Sphere of Light 255: Council's Conditions 256: Hail 257: Bloodlust 258: Hunters in Town 259: Magical Smithy 260: [Bonus chapter]Hungry Librarian 261: Wisps of Knowledge 262: Change 263: Protect 264: Blazing Flames 265: Realization 266: Caring Family 267: Sacred Desert 268: Raid 269: Undead of the Desert 270: Terror of the Battlefield 271: Adjusted Difficulty 272: End of the Sphinx 273: Broken Oath 274: Fall of the Summoning Gate 275: Ruler 276: Celebration of Sovereignty 277: Burial Chamber 278: Betrayal 279: Rise of the Tomb King 280: Alone 281: Inside Me 282: Legendary Ring's Power 283: [Bonus chapter]Storytime 284: Hate 285: Lingering Gazes 286: Severed 287: Scheme 288: Armored Knight 289: Memories 290: Proud 291: Call 292: Revoked? 293: Flag War 294: I'm Back 295: Unpacking Gains 296: Expansion I 297: Expansion II 298: Relief 299: Energy 300: Cobweb 352: Kitsun 353: Information 354: A bunch of birds and one stone 355: Night Attack 356: Cave Attack 357: Chained 358: Essence of War 359: Baron of Fire 360: Empress 361: The Idea 362: Taming the Empress 363: Death Command 364: My fault 365: Gear Up 366: Trust 367: Ready for War 301: Goals 302: Colosseum 303: Sun vs Star 304: Push 305: Destructive Soultrait 306: Consecutive 307: People Pleaser 308: Blood Witch 309: Popular 310: Personal Attendant 311: Relic Research 312: Zeus 313: Saphire Points 314: Big Five & Great Three 315: Spark 316: Pressure 317: Everything 318: Promotion 319: Desire 320: Elders' help 321: Piloq 322: Last Week 323: Fletchling 324: Timing 325: Arena 326: Champion's Might I 327: Champion's Might II 328: Insider 329: Back 330: Analyzed 331: Who? 332: Michael, the businessman 333: Honorless 335: Chieftain 336: Start 337: Ominous Rules 338: Siblings 339: Like Sister Like Brother 340: Unique Logic 341: Surprise 342: Teamwork 343: Control 344: Support 345: Reason 346: Unfortunate Set-Up 347: Might of the Frozen Nova 348: Baldie 349: Talk 350: Secret Files 351: Territory Attack
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