Chapter 48 |
Inside the reception room, the fragrance of tea lingered in the air.
Mick and Mills had a very pleasant conversation.
Although there were still differences regarding the bearmen’s interests, after all, there were no bearmen present who could make decisions.
They could only judge a suitable solution according to their own sense of things.
After several rounds of tea.
Elder Mick’s expression became solemn:
“President Mills, this old man has one more presumptuous request. Might you be able to introduce me to the creator of this tea drink?”
He gently pushed a simple yet elegant wooden box in front of Mills.
“To be frank with you, my tribe is especially skilled at cultivating all kinds of fruit trees and vegetation. This is a Red Jade Berry fruit we cultivated ourselves, and it is also one of the main goods we plan to launch later. I wonder whether there might be an opportunity for cooperation?”
He was certain that even if this fruit were only made into spice, it would still be highly sought after!
After pondering for a moment, he replied:
“Elder Mick, to be honest, it is not that I am unwilling to introduce you, but that person’s whereabouts are uncertain. Even I only ran into them occasionally. But I can guarantee that the next time I meet that person, I will definitely pass your words along!”
Mick was not surprised either. If it were that easy, how would that person still carry the title of mysterious shareholder?
He nodded.
“Then I’ll trouble President Mills with it!”
Seeing that the main matters were already finished, Mick rose to take his leave:
“I have already disturbed you long enough today, so I won’t continue taking up your valuable time.”
“I’ll see you out.”
***
After leaving the Silver Moon Chamber of Commerce, Mick handed a letter to one of his subordinates and instructed him to deliver it to the bearmen camp, telling them that they only needed to recover in peace.
As for the land issue, they could slowly think of a solution later.
He looked at the harbor, still brilliantly lit, and let out a soft sigh.
After stretching his old bones a little, he mounted the ostrich and, not daring to rest for even a moment, hurried off again to inspect the situation of the other caravans.
They still needed to find a way to win over more allies, otherwise it would be difficult to gain a firm foothold on this land.
If they failed to seize this opportunity, who knew how long they would have to wait for the next one.
Ah, it was all for the sake of the tribe!
***
One week later.
In the morning light, the Waveflower slowly sailed into the harbor departure point of Coral Thorn City.
“Dock! Drop the anchor!” Old Owen stood by the helm and shouted at the top of his lungs.
The crew busied themselves deftly, dropping the anchor, furling the sails, and setting up the gangplank.
Aside from a bit of trouble caused by the Sea Ghost Gang, who had wanted to launch a sneak attack while they salvaged materials from the sunken ship, everything else on this trip had gone quite smoothly.
Not only had their salvaging yielded a full harvest, they had even picked up quite a few valuable Ghost-Eyed Shark demon eyes for free. At this moment, every person’s face was full of smiles.
“We really have to thank you this time, Your Excellency O’Brien!”
Zack led the entire crew and emotionally escorted O’Brien and his disciple to the ship’s rail, gratitude overflowing from their faces.
“If you hadn’t acted, let alone salvaging the shipwreck, we would’ve handed our lives over to the Sea Ghost Gang!”
“Then that’s that.”
O’Brien merely nodded faintly and was about to leave with Dean.
“Please wait, Your Excellency!” Zack hurriedly asked after him. “Your payment, should it still be delivered to the Rhino Tavern?”
O’Brien’s steps paused. Under normal circumstances, he might at most have accepted a token amount.
But this time he needed to enter the Artisans’ Association. He needed to change his identity and appearance a little, and he also needed to buy quite a few tools and materials related to Forgemasters.
“Then send it to the Rhino Tavern.”
He replied succinctly. Then, without saying anything more, he led Dean and strode into the ceaseless flow of people at the harbor. He wanted to see exactly what changes had taken place in Coral Thorn City.
Dean hurriedly said goodbye one by one to the crew members he had lived alongside for many days, then jogged after his mentor.
***
After a week of arrests and trials, order in Coral Thorn City had gradually been restored.
The bearman elder Baruk had also finally slowly woken up. After learning of the subsequent developments, he could not help sighing inwardly, his huge bear paw hanging weakly by the bedside.
It seemed luck was not standing on their side.
Fortunately, the tribe had not suffered any losses. Aside from him, this elder, all the other lads had only overdrawn their vitality and merely needed time to recover slowly.
Not long after, Elder Mick came to visit. When he learned that the Silver Moon Chamber of Commerce was still willing to rent them land at a low price, he could not help feeling delighted again.
But when he saw the ‘IOU’ Mick handed over, his old face turned red.
Originally, they had always been secretly pitching tents on someone else’s land. Since no one really managed this place, nobody had known.
But later, after cooperating with the Silver Moon Chamber of Commerce, it turned out they had already long since ‘settled’ on the Chamber of Commerce’s land!
This was truly a huge embarrassment!
“Don’t be happy too early. This lease agreement only lasts ten years. After ten years, the Silver Moon Chamber of Commerce will take back this land!”
Mick mercilessly interrupted Baruk’s train of thought.
“What? Only ten years?!”
What could ten years do? Work hard developing land for someone else? Then get kicked out after only living there for a few years?
“The Silver Moon Chamber of Commerce isn’t a charity either. Anyone can see Coral Thorn City’s future development! They’re only charging you 500 magic crystals for ten years, and you’ve struck it rich already, alright?!” Mick said irritably.
He had only managed to extend this lease to ten years after exhausting all his words. Originally, Mills had only intended to give five years as a token gesture and call it done. Their Silver Moon Chamber of Commerce did not care about that bit of rent at all.
“Then what do we do after ten years?”
“Idiot! If after ten years your bearman tribe still can’t use Coral Thorn City to establish yourselves and earn enough money either to renew the lease or buy even better land, then you still dare think about buying land and surviving here?”
Mick was a little exasperated that iron could not become steel. Did this bear brain not know how to turn even a little?
Still, that was fine too. At least allies like this were more reassuring. There was no need to worry about the other side ‘having wild ideas’ and going off to do something stupid!
Their tribe had already been tormented once by a pitfall of a werewolf tribe. They truly did not want to experience a second time.
Baruk was scolded so badly he could barely open his mouth. His furry face was full of the awkwardness of, ‘We really might not be able to earn enough money.’
They made money by selling magical beast materials and unique mineral products, but now the land around the tribe was becoming more and more barren, and it was difficult for them to keep having enough goods to sell.
Seeing the clouded and miserable look on his face, Mick’s tone softened somewhat as he slowly said:
“What is your tribe’s specialty?”
Baruk blinked blankly and cautiously answered:
“Uh? Hunting? Mining?”
Mick covered his face with one hand, then thrust his head right in front of Baruk’s and said each word distinctly:
“Martial! power!”
“Combat! That is your specialty!”
Baruk looked completely confused.
“But… how does fighting make money? Work as bodyguards? Escort goods? How much money could that earn? We’d even have to fight the Adventurers’ Guild for food……”
“That’s because you haven’t found the right method!”