Chapter 21: Lei Yaotian’s Pattern

“Lord, Lord, wake up quickly. Mr. Odin has contacted you. He said he needs to discuss a major collaboration with you.” Intelligent Butler Wangcai went straight to Fatty Lei’s bedroom and shook Fatty Lei’s body as he spoke to him.

“Ungh~ Let me sleep a bit longer. I haven’t slept this soundly in a long time.” Fatty Lei mumbled, then turned over and started snoring again.

Intelligent Butler Wangcai couldn’t help but feel amused yet frustrated seeing that Fatty Lei wouldn’t wake up no matter what.

“Lord, Mr. Odin is waiting now. We shouldn’t keep him waiting.” Wangcai had no choice but to shake Fatty Lei’s body hard, hoping to rouse him.

“Huff~ Huff!”

Fatty Lei’s snores were thunderously loud; he was genuinely tired during this period.

Ever since he crossed over to this place, Fatty Lei had never slept soundly. Each time he fell asleep, he woke up after a maximum of half an hour.

Beyond worrying about those ‘monsters’ and Bugs, the loud storm noises at night also disrupted his sleep.

Now that he had an Intelligent Butler Wangcai to guard the Military Outpost, what could Fatty Lei still be uneasy about?

Having a trustable ‘person’ to talk to made a big difference psychologically. So Fatty Lei immediately relaxed in the Basement and sank into a deep sleep.

“Can’t you just let me have a good sleep? Why do you have to make me get up?” Under Wangcai’s unrelenting efforts, Fatty Lei finally sat up, though he looked far from awake.

“Ahhh~”

Fatty Lei stretched sleepily, rubbed his eyes, and then looked at Wangcai. “What exactly is going on? Why did you insist on waking me?” It seemed Fatty Lei hadn’t really heard what Wangcai had said earlier.

Wangcai had no choice but to repeat it to Fatty Lei. “My Lord, Mr. Odin has reached out. He said he has important matters to discuss with you, likely involving a potential collaboration. And from his tone, this might be a big opportunity.”

“Whoosh!”

Fatty Lei stood up. “Why didn’t you say so earlier? It’s been this long, and I’m still not there. Isn’t that rude to Mr. Odin?” Fatty Lei sounded annoyed at Wangcai.

“It’s only because you were sleeping like a log earlier; I couldn’t wake you no matter how hard I tried. Now you’re blaming me? Really.” After Fatty Lei’s remark, Wangcai muttered softly.

“Hmm~” Fatty Lei looked at Wangcai. “What are you muttering about? Don’t be talking bad about me.” Fatty Lei’s expression was strange.

Intelligent Butler Wangcai trembled sharply, straightened up, and said to Fatty Lei, “I was just saying I disturbed your rest, Lord. I deserve a thousand deaths for that.” Now this Intelligent Butler Wangcai was picking up bad habits; words flowed out of his mouth effortlessly, and he could lie without blushing.

Fatty Lei didn’t bother arguing with Wangcai; he still had to meet Andrew. “I wonder what kind of collaboration it is? If it’s truly big, won’t I be able to earn a lot of Credit Points?” Fatty Lei began to fantasize in his heart. “Mwahahahaha, it seems I still have this template or something.”

The surroundings spun and changed; Fatty Lei and Intelligent Butler Wangcai arrived in the Trading Space again.

“Oh~ Mr. Odin, my butler told me you needed to discuss something and that we could collaborate? What kind of collaboration is it exactly?” Walking up to the desktop computer monitor, Fatty Lei exchanged greetings and got straight to the point.

“Mr. Odin, hello. I experimented with the sand you gave me, and the results were exciting. So I have a plan to collaborate with you. It’s a win-win partnership, but first, I’d like you to see something.” Andrew didn’t directly answer Fatty Lei’s question. Instead, he pulled out something wrapped in black cloth from his chest and transmitted it over.

After accepting the item transmitted by Andrew, Intelligent Butler Wangcai held the package in his hands and then handed it to Fatty Lei.

“What’s this?” Fatty Lei took the package from Wangcai, showing curiosity as he looked at Andrew on the monitor.

“Please be careful; this is my Douglas family’s Sacred Artifact. Our collaboration revolves around this Sacred Artifact.” Andrew warned Fatty Lei.

“So, how do you plan to collaborate? I need to understand more about this.” Fatty Lei held the package and watched Andrew as he asked the question. “Andrew even sent over his family’s Sacred Artifact, showing he’s really confident about this collaboration. If it could bring profits, why shouldn’t I go for it?” While asking Andrew, Fatty Lei pondered in his heart. “Mr. Odin, my Douglas family, a thousand years ago…” Andrew began recounting events that seemed unrelated to the collaboration in Fatty Lei’s view.

…

“Now I’m certain the sand at your place can nurture the Sacred Artifact. So I’d like to work with you: you cultivate the Sacred Artifact and hand it to me. I’ll handle selling it to other Dimensional Planes, and we’ll split the profits 50-50. The glory of my Douglas family will shine once again.” Andrew explained his reasoning and plan to Fatty Lei.

“Oh, so that’s it?” Hearing Andrew lay out the causes and future prospects, Fatty Lei was truly tempted. He didn’t need to invest anything himself; he just had to cultivate some land outside the Military Outpost to plant the ‘Sacred Artifact’. When harvested, he could pass it to Andrew for sale, and after recovering the Credit Points, they’d split it. But Fatty Lei didn’t want to share with Andrew, since all the cultivated items were handed over to Andrew to sell. How many Credit Points it fetched was beyond his control. If Andrew cheated him, he’d be powerless. Over time, it could breed resentment between them. So Fatty Lei had an idea flash through his mind. Next, he said to Andrew: “Mr. Odin, collaborating isn’t a problem. But maybe we should change the way we cooperate?”

Andrew desperately wanted to work with Fatty Lei, since only Fatty Lei had the sand imbued with Mana. And when the sand reached his World, it would dissipate under the rules. Only through partnership could his family’s Sacred Artifact regain its vitality. “How do you want to collaborate, Mr. Odin?” Andrew asked.

Fatty Lei thought for a moment before speaking to Andrew. “Mr. Odin, I’m very interested in your proposal. But I have concerns about the cooperation model, as it could lead to issues.” Fatty Lei said with a smile. “See, having me plant this ‘Sacred Artifact’ is fine from my perspective.” Fatty Lei jiggled the package in his hand. “But after I hand it to you for sale, we split the profits. That step could cause discrepancies.” When Fatty Lei got here, Andrew’s expression changed. Andrew wasn’t a fool; he understood the implication. Essentially, Fatty Lei made it clear: he had no problem with cultivation, but once Andrew sold it, he wouldn’t know how much was sold or what profits were made. Andrew proposed a 50-50 split, but how much Fatty Lei actually got depended on Andrew’s honesty.

“Please don’t underestimate me, Andrew. My integrity stands strong.” Thinking of the hidden meaning behind Fatty Lei’s words, Andrew spoke to Fatty Lei with anger and seriousness.

Seeing Andrew get upset, Fatty Lei quickly explained. “Mr. Odin, don’t be angry yet. Hear me out and think if it makes sense.” After calming Andrew, Fatty Lei continued. “Back in my homeland, there’s an old saying: with enough profit, betrayal isn’t a problem.” Fatty Lei quoted a well-known phrase from his original World. Andrew nodded slightly. “And for us, if we collaborate as you described, with me in the dark about the profits, I might start speculating wildly. Even if you don’t take advantage of me, can you say I won’t develop such thoughts?” Fatty Lei said to Andrew. To be fair, Fatty Lei was speaking the truth. Andrew pondered it; if he were in that position, he might speculate too. Seeing Andrew stay silent, Fatty Lei went on. “That could cause cracks in our partnership. Soon, we’d part ways. A win-win opportunity would vanish. I wouldn’t want that, and I don’t think you would either.” Fatty Lei concluded by asking.

“Of course, I wouldn’t want that at all.” Andrew said. “So what do you propose, Mr. Odin?” Andrew figured that since ‘Odin’ had raised the issue, he must have a good idea.

Actually, as soon as Andrew mentioned the cooperation model, Fatty Lei felt it resembled a pattern from his original World. But Andrew’s proposal had big flaws—like Fatty Lei said, it could harm future collaboration. Then, a model from that World flashed into Fatty Lei’s mind: Contract Manufacturing! In Fatty Lei’s original World, many factories in his country were famous for Contract Manufacturing. Adapting that model to their situation seemed a smart move. And that’s why Fatty Lei had made those earlier comments—to prevent mistrust and keep the partnership stable in the long run…