Flying to Puerto De Paulo, the group encountered nearly no problems. Once, while in flight, they had passed a few Qilin and their offspring but the flock did not change its course or bother the Dragoons. Titan felt that things were too easy but then, his eyes fell onto the City below.
The City itself wasn't anything miraculous or marvelous to look at but there was a major piece of construction that stood out more than any, it was visible for miles away. Kinky Tower stood hundreds of meters into the air and shimmered with the light. Bright red lettering scrolled down the side of the building and gave it a dominating presence on the horizon.
"Habrick, we're going to the tower right?" Titan flew a bit closer and asked.
"There aren't too many other landing sites. There is a roof access but it has formations protecting it. We should just go through the front." Habrick gave his opinion and tucked himself closer to the Dragoon. The sharp cold from the cloud cover made him damp and a chill was running down his spine.
Among the many races that inhabit the World of Shiyan, Humans took up very little of the world's population. There were considered the minority. In recent times, especially with the expansion and activity from the Merchant Mage Guild, there had been numerous beast colonies that had joined the Empire and chosen to live together in peace. The Population of of Puerto De Paulo was primarily humanoid but there were a few sentient species that were more beast than man.
"When we get there, let me do the talking." Habrick tried to contain the situation but he had expectations himself. Titan was a force of nature and a business tycoon. There was little doubt that friction would occur but he still wanted to avoid unnecessary conflict.
The Zao Empire's reach had spread across two of the continents but compared to rest of the world, Humans made up a tiny and somewhat insignificant portion. All of the human sects, cities and territories were scattered or warred against each other frequently. To alienate a single one of the factions would leave adventurers little place else to go.
Luckily for Titan, he still had Lonestar City to return to if things wouldn't pan out.
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With a full body, Lisetya was able to wear clothes more freely. Her body was marbled black and fluid could be seen pulsing throughout her construct, circulating her entire length like a vascular system. She had complete control her powers after the first year, her body had become more full.
That was a time when Kink was happiest he had been since his resurrection, since his rebirth. Lisetya had not only become an ally, she and Kink had grown very close. They spent most of the time together and rarely separated for long.
There was a gnawing at the back of Kink's head in the morning, Lisetya was trying to wake him. It was time for a meeting among the Council of Elders. He had been asked specifically to come.
There, at the City Council Chambers, his assistant and many others sat around a table with a few new unknown people sitting at the head.
"Is this him?" The leader of the group of outsiders asked, he wasn't exactly cordial but he maintained a consistent tone of disregard.
"I've been asked to come down here, is there some sort of problem?" Kink asked with a pained look. He didn't have the patience for pompous assholes and wouldn't take shit from anyone.
"No. Nothing like that. You're Kink?" A man with Purple skin stood up, there was a golden girl, a similarly skinned purple girl and a human dressed in merchant mage robes standing behind him.
"Yes, you can call me Kink. What exactly is it that you want to talk about?" Errit was good at swindling, if he could find some new materials off these travelers for his troubles, then he could spare a moment. Flexing his fingers, he motioned for everyone to sit.
The Human Mage spoke, "My name is Habrick, I'm a member of the Merchant Mage Union. I was told that if I found unique plants with a significant use, that I should bring them directly to Kinky Tower."
"I don't understand, do you have a request? Did you really make me come down here for that? To sell me seeds? My front desk could have handled that themselves." Kink sent out his chains, they twisted around the table, lifted it slightly and the bag of seeds slowly slid toward him.
As the table came back down, a loud thud could be heard in the building.
'Che!' "Don't worry about it. Let me see what you have here." Opening the bag, Kink smelled it and he shook his head while clicking his tongue in disbelief. "Weed."
"That's right. Cannabis seeds." Habrick seemed rather proud of his find and his company, but Kink's tone with his last word left him feeling unappreciated. He felt the need to explain but a purple hand stopped Habrick from going on.
"These are special. I'd like to introduce you to the Mother Plant, if that's okay." The purple guy stood up, he was wearing a cowboy hat made from a large snake. "My name is Titan."
"Titan huh? You chose a strange name but I think it's fun. Boring names are so... well, boring in a New World." Kink laughed, "So you have pot seeds. .that's great! I'll give you whatever you want, within reason."
"I don't want to sell them." Titan put his hand up.
"What?" Kink was confused. "You just said.." Waving his hand, he wondered what the point of meeting was.
"I know it sounded like that but that's not what happened. I came here because I heard a rumor." Titan pulled out a cup of extract and metallic looking straw with a red fire crystal at the end. He took a dab and inhaled deeply. While exhaling he said, "I've got these new fire crystals, they don't even require heating. When wrapped in an Elementium handle they don't burn your hands when activated."
Blowing the exhale into the room, Titan watched the eyes of the others become droopy, everyone except for Kink.
Kink was still wearing a tribal mask, he frowned but no one saw.
"That's potent, I wasn't expecting it. Its also likely that they didn't either." Pointing to the rest of the council that was now unconscious, Kink began to laugh. "Good show, I'm a skeptical about it's medicinal value but as a sleep agent its quite potent."
Honey poured a sample of her blue goo into a container and slid it across the table.
Lisetya fluttered off of Kink's body, she stretched outward and grabbed it. It was a strange elemental essence, like sap. Lisetya was always devouring energies and Honey was made of the stuff, she eyed the Treant and then reticulated toward Kink once again. She said, "I don't like her."
Everyone in the room stopped.
Honey wasn't about to be upstaged, she said. "That's okay, I don't like you either." Then, she stuck her tongue out.
"Cat fight later. You were saying that you have a mother plant in your possession?" Kink stood up and asked, "Lets go check it out. I can clear my schedule but only if there is actual business to do."
Honey waved and smiled with teeth.
Vella laughed and Titan stood up, he gestured toward Honey. "You misunderstand again. I'd like you to meet Honey. Honey, say hello to the Kinky Farmer."
Errit adjusted his eyes and used the mask to inspect her, "Do you mind?" He wasn't sure how he should approach her but he knew she was intelligent and randomly touching women was bad a juju. "No, go ahead. Just don't pull anything." Honey remembered the girls first encounter with her at the Casino.
Honey's memories from the incident at the Casino seemed yesterday but some time had already passed.
He was pointing at her dress that seemed mostly ethereal. "I haven't seen anything like this outside of the royal family.. its amazing. What is the dress made of? I'll be gentle." Kink sent his chains out and they formed a small swing that scooped Honey up. Her bottom was springy and she gripped onto the chains tightly. "So, you're a humanoid Treant? From a Cannabis plant? That's every pothead's fantasy come to life, you're quite beautiful as well. I don't think you'll have any problem getting the attention you want, now that you have a body that can freely move about. Have you noticed any sort of abilities? Besides making that.."
Errit pointed to the cup of blue goop. "What is that anyway?"
"Enlightenment." Honey gave a short answer a palms up gesture, "Everyone seems to like it, most people are nicer after too."
Lisetya stared Honey down from Kink's shoulders. Honey was a plant, Lisetya was an ink demon. Most inks were made from either ground organs, plants and ore. The awkwardness of the situation wasn't lost, everyone else in the room could only see them looking at each other tensely.
"So what do you want?" Kink set Honey down, she smiled and smacked at her bottom to dust it off.
"An Exchange of Knowledge and Cooperation." Titan had some ideas that he wanted to work on, resources were not hard to get but personnel and certain things were impossible to obtain with money alone.
'Stacked!' Kink smiled under the mask, Honey's body shook in the right places and he liked it. "So what are we talking about here? You have seeds but want to exchange knowledge? I'm not really following you, please elaborate."
"I have a farm in Lonestar City but nothing says industry like size, this size." Titan implied a lot of things while he was speaking but he was serious about the matter. "I want to spread this plant across the world but that will require millions of seeds." Titan gave a sort of run down on his plans for the future, Kink listened intently but there were few advantages to working with outsiders.
"I don't know, you seem respectable but trade secrets shouldn't be given. I'm sure you understand." Errit seemed half disinterested, he had millions of herbs in his gardens and one more herb wouldn't necessarily change that.
"I'll make a batch of edibles and you can see, they can heal most wounds. Even if you disagree or simply want to walk away, I won't stop you." Titan crossed his arms and stood in the path of Kink. He wasn't willing to just give up.
"I'd need more than just a dozen. Lets start with 100, I'll put them in the store. If they take long to sell, or don't sell and go stale, then we know where this is headed. If you want to sell the seeds, let me know. I have a garden to attend, it was nice meeting you." Kink picked up the bowl of blue goo and stored it away.
Titan unfolded his arms and put his hand out to shake Kink's, "Okay, 100 to start. I'll be back in about an hour." Baking for an army was easy, baking for a hundred was nothing.
"We'll see." Kink had his own things to do, he quickly disappeared from view.
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The Nightlife in Puerto De Paulo was almost, if not more lively than the inside of the Casino on Port Night. It was a festival of lights, hundreds of different species were trading, traveling or enjoying themselves.
Titan moved fast, the group disappeared into the Kitchen and immediately got to work. If Kink wanted to see what his products were capable of, Titan was more than happy to take up the challenge.