Negotiation and Trade

The service was excellent.

Xia Jin disembarked from the ship. The soldiers, already astonished by the sight of the many beautiful elf bug girls, were nearly convinced they were hallucinating when they saw Xia Jin and the Second Princess accompanying her.

After all, Xia Jin was the kingdom's number one beauty, far surpassing the second-ranked.

Many soldiers were exceptionally attentive. Even though they knew there was little chance of anything happening between them, making the beautiful women happy and exchanging a few more words was still good.

Moreover, everyone had fantasies. What if a miracle occurred?

With such thoughts, the soldier contacted a local prominent merchant for Xia Jin.

In fact, the other party was not just a merchant; he also ran a cannon factory, having invested in military industries.

After waiting a while in an office building by the port, a man dressed in a suit-like attire arrived at the door.

After knocking, the man placed one hand on his chest, bowed to Xia Jin, and said, “Ladies, the factory owner will be arriving shortly. Perhaps we should move to the nearby reception room and take our seats.”

“Very well, thank you.”

Following him, Xia Jin arrived at a lavishly decorated reception room, where she straightened her dress and sat on a sofa.

Soon, a middle-aged man with an excellent demeanor entered, invited by the suit-clad man.

The moment he saw the young woman, he was momentarily struck by her beauty.

The girl before the sofa possessed a pure beauty, like a girl next door, exuding an innocent charm.

Yet, she wore an elegant midi skirt, mature black stockings on her legs, and had a slender waist. Her figure and attire were perfectly matched, like a princess from a fantasy.

“Hello, esteemed young lady. I am the largest supplier for local overseas trade.”

He bowed very courteously and took a seat on the sofa opposite her.

“Hello, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you.”

Xia Jin's etiquette was impeccable.

Once both parties were seated, they began their discussion.

“I hear you require some cannons and have several large ships' worth of supplies for sale? May I ask where these goods originated?”

Xia Jin smiled and said, “These goods come from the Kingdom of Clear, transported via Clearwillow Lake to the port cities of the city states, and then ferried over.”

“The Kingdom?” the other party asked, surprised. “Isn't Clearwillow Lake's shoreline entirely inhabited by gnolls? Especially recently, the gnolls have been acting very strangely; we've noticed their numbers have greatly increased.”

Xia Jin raised an eyebrow.

For the gnolls, neither the city states region nor the Kingdom's border was habitable anymore. For survival, they could only retreat to the southern and southeastern shores of the lake, and the southeast was Kelu.

“In fact, your Kingdom and the city states region have already declared full war on the gnolls. Especially the Kingdom, after a fierce civil war concluded, they simply dispatched all their regular legions to encircle and suppress the gnolls. The ultimate result was that some escaped gnolls left the national border.”

“So that's how it is.”

The Clearwillow Lake trade route had been opened.

Crucially, there was a connecting waterway between the southern part of Clearwillow Lake and the Great West Sea. Although a section of it was quite turbulent, it was still passable for medium-sized and small ships.

Most of the freshwater in this lake was supplied by the great mountains of the city states to the northwest, some of which flowed into rivers and eventually merged with the sea.

“Due to the established trade route, we can sell more resources in the future. Of course, the Kingdom side is more interested in acquiring your magic cannon equipment and resources like beast meat. The Kingdom lacks such weapons, and I hope to earn a portion of the price difference through this trade.”

“I can consider that.”

The other party was clearly tempted.

The Kingdom and Kelu were separated by Clearwillow Lake and a great distance, making direct conflict difficult.

This meant that selling weapons there wouldn't cause major issues. Moreover, Kelu was currently allied with the Empire, so even if they were adjacent, the Kingdom would likely not dare to provoke them.

After some discussion, both parties began to sign the agreement.

Afterward, some magic cannons were brought before Xia Jin.

Weapons of 80mm, 100mm, 120mm, and 150mm caliber had a much faster rate of fire than those used by pirates.

“The 80mm can fire one round every 10 seconds, or 6 rounds per minute. The 100mm and 120mm can fire 5 rounds per minute, and the 150mm can fire three rounds per minute.”

In fact, this speed was not much slower than those of World War II.

Many 100mm cannons during World War II also had a rate of fire of only a few rounds per minute; ten or so rounds was considered top speed, and manually loading a single round took several seconds.

Compared to those weapons, magic cannons had significantly greater armor-piercing capability and explosive power. This was normal, however, as their enemies were powerful individuals with tiers; if the firepower wasn't strong enough, even piercing armor would be difficult.

“These are all available for sale, and the price will be settled directly in pure gold.”

“Alright, state your price.”

The Zerg's demand for gold had decreased, so how it was spent didn't matter.

After some negotiation, both parties agreed on mutually satisfactory prices.

Finally, these cannons were moved onto the large ship.

“Do not use them on wooden ships; the recoil is very strong,” the merchant said seriously.

“Thank you for the warning.”