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Chapter 557: Arranging for the Cole Elven Kingdom
Too infuriating!
In front of the gray dwarves, demanding to trade gray dwarf slaves.
Isn't this equivalent to directly wanting to be their "father"?
Chris had clearly anticipated this and continued without hesitation:
"I misspoke. Our Bay Territory has no slaves; almost everyone is free."
"Except for those who are neither human nor act like one!"
Noticing the hesitation in their eyes, Chris smiled and continued explaining:
"What I mean is not that Bay Territory needs slaves to work."
"Rather, we wish to absorb the die-hard elements of hostile forces that refuse to surrender."
"We need their experience and skills in forging to produce war supplies."
"Of course, we will not treat them as slaves. After completing a fixed term of work, they will have the freedom to choose to leave."
"Regarding the working environment and compensation, Ashes knows about it. If you have any questions, you can ask him!"
Hostile forces?
Die-hard elements among the gray dwarves?
Infighting?
"How does he know that the gray dwarves have already fractured and are at war with each other?"
Hearing Chris's words, the second prince, Kreiser, turned to glance at Ashes.
The latter noticed his gaze and assumed he was inquiring about the working conditions, so he quickly nodded.
So that was an admission?
How utterly shameless!
Kreiser naturally assumed that Ashes had leaked this information.
He had always despised traitors, like those who had killed his father.
If it were before,
He would never have compromised on Chris's terms.
Instead, he would have taught him a harsh lesson, making him understand the consequences of humiliating gray dwarves.
But now, with the increasing dangers in the rear and the looming catastrophe drawing closer, the pressure was mounting for Kreiser to make a decision.
Survival or dignity!
He could not die, at least not yet!
Resolving himself once more, the second prince Kreiser gazed at Chris's smiling face and said to Woggi beside him:
"In principle, we agree. But they are also very valuable assets."
"If you truly want to trade with us, then you must convince my teacher…"
Negotiating a trade is fine, but it must come with "money"!
Understanding the prince's thoughts, Woggi stroked his gray-white beard, widened his eyes, and glared at Chris, his tone filled with unconcealed malice:
"I hope you are sincere in this deal, or you will not leave here alive!"
Chris, however, was unfazed by the threat. Instead, he remained calm, took out a list full of supplies, and handed it over:
"To show sincerity, we can also trade other goods besides food. You may take a careful look."
As he spoke, Chris picked up the wine flask from his waist and nonchalantly removed the cork.
The rich aroma of alcohol immediately spread.
In an instant, it attracted the attention of nearly all the gray dwarves.
They watched Chris drink with burning eyes, seeing the amber liquid slip past his lips, their gazes filled with both regret and greed.
Even old drunkard Woggi couldn't help but glance at him.
Realizing he hadn't had a drink in over ten days, he pursed his lips and suppressed his cravings while flipping through the supply list.
At first, Woggi acted as if he didn't care.
Even if the situation was unfavorable, he couldn't let the other party see his emotions.
Negotiation is an art!
But who would have thought that after glancing at the first few items, Woggi immediately lost control of his expression, his eyes widening.
He couldn't help but take another look, confirming multiple times that he wasn't seeing things wrong, and then discreetly exchanged glances with the second prince Kreiser.
"Your Highness, some of these supplies are extremely important!"
"How important?"
"Very, very important!"
"I'll leave it to you. I trust your wisdom and experience…"
After the brief exchange, Woggi met Chris's smiling face again and this time understood the deeper meaning behind that smile.
Woggi, after all, was an old fox and didn't feel embarrassed at all.
He skimmed through the list, his gaze fixated on strategic resources like "wheat ale," "black bread," "sausages," "enchanted weapons and armor," and "large-scale teleportation formations."
The first group represented Bay Territory's willingness to supply the gray dwarves with living necessities.
The latter represented that Bay Territory truly had another agenda.
The two sides had already fought, with casualties on both ends.
Yet Bay Territory was still willing to trade, which was very strange.
They must have another motive!
But the gray dwarves had no choice!
Chris remained calm. Noticing Woggi's thoughtful expression, he wasted no time and continued:
"I can see that you are quite satisfied with our offered supplies."
"We provided the same batch to the Dwarven Kingdom, and they gave it high praise."
Chris's blunt admission that "we are doing business with both sides of the war" was infuriating.
Woggi naturally felt irritated but knew now wasn't the time to show anger, so he feigned indifference and said:
"We do need these supplies. We still have millions of people to bring over…"
Chris nodded noncommittally before stating his terms:
"Since both sides wish to cooperate, it's time to discuss the trade conditions."
"Though Bay Territory is sincere, we still hope to make a profit. Otherwise, there's no point in doing business."
Hearing Chris's blatant ambition, Woggi shot him a cold look, snorted lightly, and said:
"I hope so too…"
Soon, Chris and Woggi rolled up their sleeves and began haggling.
Under the watchful eyes of Ashes and Kreiser, the two argued heatedly.
Their dispute was intense.
It was a miracle they didn't start a brawl.
What intrigued both sides more was the specifics of their discussion.
"We need master craftsmen, not drunkards who can't lift a hammer…"
"Ha! Don't you know? The more gray dwarves drink, the better their forged weapons and gear!"
"This one is too old…"
"Didn't you say you wanted experienced ones?"
"This one is a quarter cheaper. He's too young and a burden to us."
"Didn't you say earlier? You treat children equally in Bay Territory, so let him join!"
"That's different. Bay Territory is short on people, but we don't take just anyone!"
"Why not this one? He's only missing an arm. He can still wield a hammer single-handedly like a real man!"
"Oh, I heard that. Go on…"
"You little bastard, don't you respect your elders?"
"You old scoundrel, you don't love the young either!"
"No way, he must come with 2000 kilos of wheat…"
"I'm only offering 1500 kilos, take it or leave it…"
"…"
Their "discussion" lasted nearly an hour, neither willing to back down.
Then, the second prince Kreiser proposed:
"Since we both feel we're getting a bad deal, let's first trade what's been agreed upon."
Testing the waters—only food in hand counts as real wealth!
Old Woggi closed the parchment list and glanced at Chris's paper, murmuring:
"That works. If you think you're losing out, we'll end the deal here."
Snorting twice, Chris, also uncertain, quickly sent a communication spell. After receiving a reply, he said:
"Alright, I got chewed out by my superiors. We'll do this deal first, I need to see them anyway…"
Both sides remained cautious.
The trade took place within the gray dwarves' camp at a small teleportation formation.
Woggi enviously eyed the glowing teleportation array.
They once mastered teleportation magic.
But as knowledge faded and spellcasters became scarce, training them became harder.
Now, even the once-inferior human empires had far surpassed them.
Large shipping containers were teleported over one by one.
The dimensions of the containers had been strictly discussed and studied.
They had to accommodate the golem trains and the narrow tunnels of the underground world while also conforming to the load limits of small teleportation arrays and future ship designs.
Woggi naturally did not understand all these intricacies, only noting that these containers were made of steel.
Did Bay Territory have such an abundance of steel?
Just how vast was it, how many warriors did it have, and what was its true strength?
Woggi still did not realize that Bay Territory was developing along an entirely different production path.
The true definition of power had shifted from population, resources, potential, and territory size.
It had transformed into a combination of technology and production, the innovation and advancement of technology.
Productivity was the true measure of strength!
Chris casually walked over, opened the small hatch of a container, and golden grains of wheat poured out, emitting a faint fragrance.
He calmly pointed at the 13 containers that had been teleported over and, in a composed tone, said:
"The goods have been delivered. You may proceed with the payment."
Chris's humiliation of treating the gray dwarves as payment was deeply etched into the heart of the second prince, Kreiser.
He suppressed his urge to erupt in anger and signaled the guards to bring the gray dwarf captives forward.
Chris looked at the malnourished elders, children, and the sick among them, his sneer growing more pronounced, but he said nothing, seemingly unwilling to argue with Woggi further.
He waved dismissively at them and, as he turned, subtly exchanged a glance with Ashes.
The latter marveled at how quickly this young man had grown. His acting skills and negotiation tactics alone—
No wonder the lord had assigned him to oversee such a crucial trade.
Meanwhile, Ashes recalled his previous discussions with Chris.
He suddenly realized that Chris had more or less grasped the emotional state and circumstances of the gray dwarves.
He had been guiding them into the rhythm he desired, even making them believe the decisions were their own.
These psychological tactics sent a shiver down Ashes's spine.
However, fortunately, the trade had proceeded without issues.
Outwardly, they acted as if they had been shortchanged, but in reality, they were quite satisfied with the outcome.
Woggi and the second prince Kreiser completed their inspection, and both showed hints of joy in their eyes.
Excited, Kreiser rubbed his hands together and directly stuffed a handful of wheat into his mouth.
Enduring the slight prickling sensation of the wheat husks, he said expectantly:
"Thirty useless captives exchanged for thirty tons of food—enough to sustain 60,000 commoners on their migration."
"We still have 8,000 more of such captives; we can raise the price further."
Woggi nodded in agreement and continued without hesitation:
"They still think they got a good deal. We must raise the price on the next batch of captives…"
"Oh right, quickly inform the front lines to spare more enemies. Capture the wounded prisoners as well…"
Nodding solemnly, second prince Kreiser had already planned to abandon and dispose of those die-hard enemies who refused to surrender.
Now that Bay Territory was willing to accept them and even offered much-needed supplies, it was practically a blessing from the Earth Mother.
With these resources, their greatest obstacle would be easily resolved.
By contrast, their opponents should be the ones worrying, forced to continue their offensives.
Meanwhile, they could sit back on defense, holding the advantageous position.
While Kreiser and Woggi discussed how to maximize the use of captives,
Matthew, who was receiving them, was overjoyed:
"Advanced forging, advanced metal refining, advanced magical item crafting."
"A highly skilled composite professional was acquired for just one ton of grain, costing no more than ten gold coins."
"This one, despite missing a hand, is actually a peak-tier warrior. He's already eligible for surgical enhancements."
"If the surgery goes well, his strength will reach the mid-extraordinary level!"
"Training one from scratch would cost tens of thousands of gold coins, but now we got one for just ten!"
Beside him, Yaya gleefully did the math and soon her eyes lit up.
She was already envisioning these dwarf captives joining Bay Territory and working for her profits.
She couldn't help but exclaim: "Ah, hurry up and arrange more trades, this is like picking up money!"
Half an hour later.
Chris met with Woggi again.
The same two parties who had just claimed losses earlier made no mention of it and resumed negotiations.