Empire Building With Infinite Warehouse-Chapter 89: Funding the Expedition

Isabella leaned back on the white couch and rested her hands on her lap.

She gave Julien a very grim look.

"Most of the guards at Camp 7 are just grunts," Isabella warned him.

"You can easily bribe them with some good supplies. But Lena does random inspections at the front gates to keep her soldiers on high alert. If you are unlucky enough to run into her when you arrive..." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Isabella paused, letting the silence hang in the room for a second.

"...then you can kiss goodbye to your luck," she finished.

"She will not care if you say you are a merchant. If she thinks you are a spy, she will just execute you on the spot."

Julien let out a slow breath.

He stared at the blue map, feeling the reality of the situation settle into his bones.

’Okay, let me get this straight,’ Julien thought, listing the steps in his head.

’I have to walk toward three sniper towers, bribe a bunch of paranoid army grunts, completely avoid a murderous commander, and talk my way into a magical sweatshop. And then I have to somehow sneak an SSS-rank prisoner out of their highest security district.’

He leaned back in his chair and looked annoyed.

"Got it," Julien said, keeping his voice totally calm.

"So I just need to make sure my sales pitch is really good."

Chris let out a nervous laugh.

Alice just stared at him, looking completely terrified for his safety but incredibly grateful at the same time.

"I need a list of everything your scouts saw," Julien told Isabella, getting right down to business.

"I need to know what weapons they use, what their armour looks like, and what kind of injuries they suffer from the most. I am going to build a customised catalogue just for them."

Isabella nodded.

She respected his focus and tapped her keyboard again, and a massive list of raw data started scrolling down the main computer screen.

Julien closed his eyes and opened his system shop again.

He was not just going to buy random items anymore, but exactly what Commander Lena desperately needed.

If he was unlucky enough to run into her at the gates, he had to make sure he carried something so valuable she could not afford to kill him.

If he was going to play the merchant, he was going to be the best one they had ever seen.

Julien stared at the massive list of data scrolling down the glowing computer screen. He needed to buy some seriously high-tier items to impress Commander Lena.

But his system bank account was still basically empty after buying the expensive healing scroll for Chris.

He only had a few credits left to his name.

Since he definitely did not have the time to go upstairs and sell basic potions to random survivors on the street.

Setting up a small stall and haggling over cheap health vials would take weeks to gather enough money.

So he turned his chair around and looked at Isabella.

The billionaire guild master was already watching him closely.

"I need money," Julien said, keeping his voice completely flat and direct.

"I need a lot of it."

Isabella just nodded.

She did not even ask how much.

They quickly worked out a bulk supply deal right there in the underground base.

She transferred exactly 500,000 credits directly into Julien’s personal system account.

In exchange for the payment, Julien stood up and walked over to an empty corner of the room.

He mentally opened his Tier 1 shop menus and spent the next twenty minutes pulling hundreds of items out of his system.

Red health vials, blue stamina pills, thick bandages, and basic poison antidotes piled up in neat, organised rows on the clean floor.

He basically drained his own mana to spawn all the items.

It was enough high-quality medical supplies to keep her entire elite guard safe if a massive monster wave hit the building.

A wave like that was highly unlikely right now with the gate closed, but Isabella liked being prepared.

Julien wiped a sweat from his forehead.

He looked at the mountain of supplies and then looked back at the wealthy woman sitting on the white couch.

"Why are you doing this?" Julien asked, genuinely confused by her actions.

"Why are you helping us so much? You could just hide down here and ignore the Republican camps entirely."

Isabella actually looked shocked at the question.

Her perfect executive posture broke for a brief second.

"I am not helping you, Julien," Isabella said.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked right at him.

"You are helping me. If this world actually ends up in a multiverse war, I want the good people to win. I want people like you on the front lines fighting for our survival. So do not take this as a favour to save you. Treat it as a calculated investment."

Julien did not reply to that.

He just nodded slowly and accepted her harsh logic.

He liked it better when people were honest about their motives anyway.

The system instantly pinged inside his mind.

The Infinite Warehouse always took its cut. Since Julien had just emptied two of his own skill slots to heal Chris, his passive Commission trait immediately triggered on the wealthy guild master.

It was a skill called [Examiner].

Isabella explained it was basically a much lower-level version of her own powerful appraisal ability.

A warm rush of knowledge flooded into his head.

He closed his eyes and tested the new feeling, realising very quickly how useful it was going to be.

His [Streetwise] skill already helped him analyse his surroundings and map out safe travel routes.

But [Examiner] helped him confirm specific details about individual items and people.

It was the perfect tool for a wandering trader.

He was not completely sure of its upper limits yet, but he knew he would not have to guess if someone was lying about a trade ever again.

With his bank account finally full of credits and a brand new skill in his head, Julien went to pack his things.

Isabella provided a sturdy wooden cart with heavy wheels to carry his physical cover supplies.

He could not just walk up to a paranoid military camp with empty hands and claim he had an invisible warehouse full of goods.

That would make him look like a spy with a spatial ring.

He needed a physical prop to sell the merchant disguise, so he loaded the cart with bulky, low-value items like basic food rations and cheap weapons to hide the good stuff in his system.

He pulled up his Streetwise map next.

The system pinged the exact location of Camp 7 in his vision. It was located deep in the south, sitting right on the border of District Five.

It was going to be a long, solid two-day journey on foot.

Julien pulled the wooden cart up the ramp and into the main lobby of the guild building.

Chris and Alice were already waiting for him near the front glass doors.

Chris had a large broadsword strapped securely to his back.

Alice had her ring glowing faintly on her finger.

They looked ready for a serious fight.

Julien stopped the cart and shook his head.

"I will be going alone," Julien told them directly.

"I can’t let you guys do all the work every single time."