Doomsday Code

Chapter 996 Intelligence Trading

Although his heart was heavy with worries, Chen Cheng scoffed and cursed:

"You bastard, you dare to charge me so much money for information that anyone could find out?"

Seeing that Chen Cheng was about to act recklessly, Martin immediately put away his money bag and said:

“The rules of the game cannot be changed. This information may seem insignificant, but it involves major events concerning gods and even the entire continent. This amount of information fee cannot be considered expensive.”

However, Chen Cheng is a muddle-headed person now, and he's not so easy to persuade.

"Don't give me that crap. I should have asked around the guild beforehand, so you should at least give me some of this money back."

Martin wasn't about to give back the money that was already in his pocket. If he set a precedent here, would his assassin guild still be able to do intelligence trading in the future?

However, judging from Chen Cheng's muddle-headed appearance, it was clear that if he didn't get a satisfactory answer today, Chen Cheng would definitely act recklessly.

So Martin rolled his eyes and then said:

"Alright, I have some information here that hasn't been confirmed yet. Consider it a bonus and tell me about it, sir. But this information isn't guaranteed to be true."

Upon hearing Martin's words, Chen Cheng knew that this guy had something to hide. Although it hadn't been confirmed, there was an unwritten rule in the intelligence industry that unless the exported intelligence was 100% accurate, more than 90% of it absolutely had to be guaranteed to be true.

Those who claim that the information cannot be guaranteed to be true are only doing so because it involves figures and forces that neither the buyer nor seller of the information can afford to offend. In order to avoid being harassed by others, they claim that the information cannot be guaranteed to be true.

If the information isn't genuine, who would dare buy or sell intelligence from him in the future?

It's like auction houses. They claim that the artifacts they auction are not guaranteed to be genuine, but they often sell fakes. In that case, the auction house would not be able to continue operating.

Chen Cheng pointed at Martin and cursed:

"I knew you were holding back, buddy. Hurry up and say it."

Martin chuckled, diffusing the awkwardness, and then said:

"Does Your Excellency still remember the His Majesty's scandal that occurred in the City of Sin a few years ago?"

Chen Cheng knew what Martin was talking about, of course; it was because of this that Samette was seriously injured.

But how does this relate to the major events happening now?

"Stop keeping me in suspense. I like listening to stories, not riddles."

Chen Cheng's words were truly a killjoy, and Martin immediately lost interest, instead proceeding to state his thoughts plainly:

"The matter is very simple. After finding the last Demigod Temple Master, Smoker, the Chief of the Dark Guard of the Kingdom of Komo, along with two Venerables, fought against him. In the end, the Temple Master disappeared and became known to outsiders."

Not long after, rumors began to circulate that His Majesty had appeared.

However, according to our intelligence personnel, after Lord Smoker fought the Lord of the Temple, he did not leave the City of Sin immediately, but stayed in the City of Sin to search for someone.

Lord Smoker only appeared in the capital of the Kingdom of Komo more than half a year ago, and shortly afterward, news spread that the House of Representatives would be convened ahead of schedule.

After listening, Chen Cheng frowned and pondered for a while. It seemed that the guy had found something in the City of Sin, but what exactly could it be?

Seeing Chen Cheng deep in thought, Martin rubbed his hands together and said:

"Is my intelligence satisfactory, sir?"

Coming to his senses, Chen Cheng looked at him, then patted him on the shoulder and said:

"This information is somewhat valuable, but it's still not worth my intelligence fee."

"Alright then, I don't want the rest of the money. Just have your men treat us brothers and sisters to a good meal; that will be considered as payment for the meal."

Martin felt utterly disgusted upon hearing this. He would rather treat Chen Cheng and the others to a free meal than not tell them that the money was for intelligence.

The difference isn't about money, but about the pricing of intelligence from his assassin alliance.

If the price is set low this time, then the value of buying intelligence next time will naturally not be raised too high.

As for the "one-price deal" for information listed in many picture books, unless it's the most exclusive information out there, and extremely important information at that, anyone who dares to sell information like that would starve to death.

Because often when someone wants to buy information, they have definitely done their research beforehand, and often this kind of information is just a thin veil.

Because if someone wants information, it means they already have a direction on the matter; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to state what information they want, and then the intelligence organization could provide it to them precisely.

Furthermore, much intelligence is often delayed, so intelligence organizations must make certain trade-offs in their intelligence acquisition in order to support themselves. They will not collect intelligence that is too difficult, too costly, or has few relevant clients.

At the same time, we must cultivate customers' habit of buying information and also pay attention to the principle of small profits but quick turnover.

Ideally, once you get the information, you should immediately sell it so that everyone on the street knows about it.

Of course, to avoid selling at a low price, one has to be very careful when doing business for the first time.

If the first sale price is too high, then future sales can use that price as a benchmark and fluctuate around it.

This is just like doing business. If you price it high the first time and someone buys it, then when they come back the second time, if you sell it at a higher price, they will be much more willing to accept it.

Otherwise, if you set a low price initially, and the intelligence becomes more valuable the second time, it will be extremely difficult for you to raise the price.

The value of intelligence depends solely on the difficulty the intelligence organization faces in acquiring it. For the client who buys intelligence, any piece of intelligence they choose to purchase is of paramount importance at any given time.

Therefore, this trading intelligence involves various disciplines such as sociology and psychology.

It was clear that Chen Cheng's words meant that the price for Martin's first business deal with him was too low, and Martin couldn't do intelligence business with the same price again in the future.

And that's what makes intelligence brokers feel most disgusted.

As for the idea that he can refuse a deal next time, then he can forget about running this business again, which is even more serious than selling false information.

You can claim that false information is a mistake in your work, but refusing a client is at least a matter of your intelligence organization's incompetence; at worst, it could be seen as your intelligence organization abusing its power.

There is no legal oversight of the intelligence trade; it relies on established industry rules. Violating these rules will lead to bankruptcy and liquidation.

Seeing Martin with a long face saying he was going down to instruct the kitchen to prepare food, Chen Cheng looked at Noah and the others after he left.

"It seems this trip was worthwhile. We might need to speed things up and head to the capital of Como before the conference begins."