#490 - Old Fox vs. Little Fox (asking for monthly ticket recommendation)

Hogg learned that the remaining people did not have a unified title, so he collectively referred to them as handymen.

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In fact, there were all kinds of people among these handymen, including wizards and Muggles, and the work they did was indeed quite miscellaneous, including cooking, preparing meals for magical creatures, and cleaning. Most of them were actually assisting the maintenance and medical teams.

However, the number of these so-called handymen secretly startled Anduin when he saw it.

"There are 113 handymen in this base? Doesn't that mean there are more than two hundred people including the other wizards?" Anduin looked at Hogg with some surprise.

"That's right, sir. And that's still an incomplete statistic. After all, some people don't appear in front of the surveillance cameras. And only about 20 of them are wizards, the rest are all Muggles. Many of them are family members of those wizards, and their work is very irregular. They basically go wherever help is needed," Hogg shrugged helplessly.

"I didn't expect this Golden Flying Knight to be so cunning." As soon as Anduin saw this number, he understood the Silver Spear's plan. This was clearly taking this large group of Muggles as hostages.

However, this alone was not enough to make Anduin hesitate. He had expected a large number of people to appear in the breeding base, but he didn't expect there to be so many, and that the proportion of Muggles would be so high.

This was obviously Silver Spear's intention, to create a certain situation, because operating a breeding base of the current size simply didn't require so many people.

After pondering for a while, Anduin sorted out the key points, but he didn't dwell on it too much, and just looked at Hogg again, "Any other discoveries?"

"Yes, Xiatia just tracked down Clermont. He is indeed the behind-the-scenes manager of this base. This is their conversation and briefing. Now Clermont has entered the place he calls the [Core Hub] and hasn't been seen for a long time," Hogg reported to Anduin quickly and simply, and handed over a stack of parchment. →

After carefully examining the results, Anduin smiled, "Very good, Xiatia did a great job. She's really made a great contribution this time."

"Oh? Is there anything we can use here?" Hogg asked curiously.

"This intelligence is the greatest use. From Clermont's conversation, we can summarize the following points."

"First, among the people in this breeding base, only Clermont and his assistant Gail, as well as the members of the patrol team, are truly trustworthy. The rest, whether wizards or Muggles, all believe they are engaged in legitimate work, and these people may come in handy in the future."

"Second, Clermont wants to obtain the product agency rights for Sid from us, and he has already revealed his bottom line. We may be able to use this to get close to Clermont and make him our helper."

"Third, that [Core Hub] has a passage to the outside world, and Clermont is the administrator. The key to breaking the barrier is inside!"

Anduin explained to Hogg simply and directly. The information Xiatia had discovered today was too crucial. With this intelligence, his actions could be accelerated a lot.

"Make Clermont our helper? He's not on our side. How could he help us? Don't tell me you're going to use the Imperius Curse to control him?" Hogg looked at Anduin in confusion.

"No, randomly using the Imperius Curse on people from Silver Spear can easily expose our target. The club has methods to protect their minds. What I mean by making him a helper is to make him work for us unknowingly."

After Anduin chuckled, his gaze shifted to the surveillance screen, "Which one is Clermont's office? Let me take a look."

Make him work for us unknowingly? Hogg was a little confused, but he immediately obeyed and pointed out the image of Clermont's office to Anduin.

After carefully observing the entire image, a smile gradually appeared on Anduin's face, "There are three griffin ornaments in his office. It seems he likes this creature very much."

"Ah?" Hogg looked at Anduin blankly. He didn't understand why the adult was suddenly concerned about the other party's hobbies.

Anduin didn't say much, just instructed Hogg to continue guarding the surveillance, and then returned to his alchemy laboratory.

……

The next day, Anduin, dressed in a formal suit, appeared in front of the 'Clermont Magical Supplies Store' in the Sid District of Dudenlou. He had received an invitation from the other party early this morning.

Although Anduin had already known Clermont's plan, he didn't expect the other party to be so impatient.

As soon as he appeared in front of the store, a formally dressed witch in the store appeared in front of him with a professional smile.

"You must be Mr. Wilson. Mr. Clermont has been waiting for a long time. Please come with me." The young witch said to Anduin with proper manners. They had already been instructed by the boss that a distinguished guest would be visiting today, and they must treat him well.

Seeing this, Anduin also nodded with a smile, while curiously visiting Clermont's shop.

It could be seen that this Clermont was indeed quite powerful. His magical supplies store occupied a very large area, and it even had two floors. The entire store was decorated very luxuriously.

However, he didn't seem to have any independently developed alchemy products. Most of the goods sold inside were imported props from foreign countries. The largest proportion was various Egyptian alchemy props. At the same time, he also saw British flying brooms here.

Following the witch to the second floor and entering the inner office, he saw Clermont, dressed very formally and standing politely in front of the main entrance, looking ahead with a smile on his face.

"Welcome, Mr. Wilson. I didn't expect you to come to Germany on business in person. I'm really flattered." As soon as he saw Anduin, Clermont enthusiastically opened his arms and greeted him, excitedly holding Anduin's hands, generously exchanging pleasantries.

"You're too polite, Mr. Clermont. After all, I'm just a young man. You can just call me Anduin. I didn't expect you to come out to greet me in person. I should be the one who's flattered."

Anduin only used the corner of his eye to see the exquisite snacks specially prepared in the other party's office, and fresh bouquets had been replaced in the vases. Obviously, the other party had maximized the reception etiquette.

In response, Anduin naturally showed a surprised expression and held the other party's hands tightly.

"Haha, Anduin, as the youngest winner of the gold medal for groundbreaking contributions to the International Alchemical Arts Conference in history, your name has spread throughout the wizarding circles of Europe this year, so how can the specifications for receiving you be low? Come in quickly, I have already prepared tea and snacks for you. Come and taste them carefully."

Clermont deserved to be an old fox with the 'hypocrisy' attribute maxed out. When facing a young man under the age of twenty, he behaved like he was receiving the Minister of Magic.

If Anduin didn't know the other party's background, he might have been deceived by his false face.

Clermont led Anduin to sit on the sofa, then smiled and waved to the employees outside the door, dismissing them, and then enthusiastically leaned down to pour Anduin a cup of fragrant coffee.

At the same time, he politely said, "Come and try my coffee. These are top-quality coffee beans cultivated by Roman wizards using special magic. I guarantee you won't be disappointed."

"Thank you, Mr. Clermont." Anduin took the coffee poured by the other party and nodded with a smile, "I'm sorry for the abrupt visit and for taking up your precious time."

"What are you talking about? You are the person in charge of Silver Flash Trading Company, who has traveled all the way to Germany. We landlords should treat you well."

Clermont smiled and looked at Anduin, as if the person in front of him was not someone he had just met, but a friend of many years.

"In any case, thank you for your hospitality." After Anduin said another polite sentence, he immediately became serious, "I am fortunate to be able to visit your magical supplies store today. I didn't expect your strength to be so strong and the scope of your business to be so wide. I can even see the latest magical camera from Egypt this season."

"Haha, as expected, you're the expert. I didn't expect you to see it at a glance." Clermont looked at Anduin with a surprised expression.

"It's just a coincidence." Anduin chuckled, "The latest magical camera this season was designed by our trading company with the help of Ms. Abdu. It belongs to the same series as our latest magical lamp and phonograph, and they are jointly launched as co-branded products. This series also combines several props from other alchemical companies in Egypt. I just didn't see them here. Are their sales too good, or are they not suitable for your market here?"

The smile on Clermont's face suddenly became a little stiff after hearing Anduin's words, and he cursed inwardly, this little fox, he deliberately wants to give me a show of strength.

But Clermont was also secretly startled by the soft power shown by Anduin at this time. It seems that this kid is not just a name, he can actually mix well with the alchemical masters in Egypt, and he even started co-branded activities in business.

However, he was not new to the game, and still maintained a radiant smile, "We can't compare to you. We are very lucky to be able to introduce a few new products. Perhaps we will have to rely on you to help us get a few more sales licenses from Egypt in the future, otherwise I will have to drink the northwest wind sooner or later."

Anduin's smile did not diminish when he heard this, but his eyebrows still raised slightly. This guy really deserves to be an old fox, he can actually be so flexible, and he's playing the trick of retreating to advance with me, is he trying to praise me to death?

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