Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 380 Dwarf Trade Temporary Alliance Preparations for the Great War
Chen Mo dislikes dwarfs, not at all.

These greedy, almost inhuman creatures always reminded him of certain unpleasant memories from his time on Earth.

However, at this stage, he dislikes orcs even more.

As a native of Dongxia, he knew all too well what a strategic phase was.

Between two evils, he chose the lesser and opted to begin the cooperation negotiations with the dwarf.

Almost everyone who has ever met a dwarf has told Chen Mo that the dwarf race is the ultimate snob!
The great scholar Anthony of the Magic Society said: "Even an arcane master who is governed by laws and whose power is the origin of all things is not as favored by them as a gilded rune robe embroidered with ancient techniques!"

"Law Domination" generally refers to a seventh-tier elemental mage, while "Return to the Origin of All Things" refers to an eighth-tier mage. Chen Mo estimated that there was definitely a great deal of exaggeration in what he said, but for Anthony to say such a thing, it must not be unfounded.

The dwarven master Norton Ironbrow shouted, "Those shortys who can't even see my navel are more accurate at weighing gold than our dwarven master craftsmen!"

Uh, the dwarf mocked the gnome's height, almost causing the lord to lose his balance.

As for the elves, they have been trapped in the Silvermoon Forest for years, and many of their resources have been controlled by the dwarves. They certainly have no good feelings towards the dwarves and often chatter on and on about them.

“Really, I’m not lying to you. If I accidentally step on and kill that dwarf cub, the first document it will hand over will not be a declaration of war, but a bill listing the costs of raising it, the expected loss of income, and compensation for emotional distress.”

Of course, there was also the group of bards. Those poets from Misty Moon and Green Pine remained silent, never daring to utter a single word against the dwarf, while those from Dwelling Moon and Emerald launched into a merciless mode of mockery.

Their dwellings, built of walls of gold coins, are for short-legged men; their bald eyes shine like the stars Libra. When moonlight slips through their fingers, it is intercepted, drained, and left dim and lifeless…

Everyone said so, and Chen Mo readily agreed. He not only rushed back to Hanhai City from Xuanshui City to receive them in the towering and majestic City Lord's Mansion, but also began preparations many days in advance.

For this meeting, the largest private reception room in the west wing of the Han Hai Ling Cheng main mansion was completely renovated.

This spacious space, spanning 320 square meters with a six-meter-high ceiling, can already be called an auditorium.

A mural depicting the history of maritime exploration was painted on the dome, and all the pillars were temporarily covered with dark blue velvet curtains. The walls were covered with dark wood wainscoting, and the floor was paved with dark red crystalline stone from the southern part of Xiyue, polished to a mirror shine.

Two enormous, wall-mounted stone stoves filled the room, their fireboxes filled with top-quality firewood, specially chopped into uniform sizes and resembling gold bricks, which crackled softly and pleasantly under the high temperature. A gentle breeze from the stoves carried the smoke out through the thick chimneys, leaving only a faint, woody fragrance in the room.

Chen Mo found it a bit absurd. To show his frugality, he used an ordinary stove to burn regular firewood in Xuan Shui City; to show his extravagance, he used an exquisite stove to burn high-quality firewood in Han Hai City.

Electric heaters can only be used secretly in their own rooms; a bunch of ignorant fools.

The long table in the center of the reception hall is custom-made, crafted from a single piece of ebony, measuring eight meters long and over two meters wide. Its surface is coated with a matte varnish, reflecting the blurry image of the ceiling murals. Opaque side panels are pressed beneath the table on both sides, primarily to conceal the difference between the chairs opposite and the table.

It primarily reflects respect for dwarfs.

On the side of Han Hai, led by Chen Mo, a high-backed chair was used, while the dwarf representative on the opposite side sat on a high chair with a footrest. The chair legs were much higher than usual, and there were horizontal wooden steps in front for easy climbing.

Once seated, an adjustable footrest is thoughtfully provided under the seat, which is a very considerate feature.

When the dwarfs climbed onto the seats, it looked like a group of children sitting at an adult's dining table.

After sitting down in the chair, Ants Kimi nodded with satisfaction. Clearly, the dwarf in blue robes was very pleased with this ingenious design.

However, the communication between the two sides was filled with a strong sense of hostility from the very beginning.

Oren finished introducing both parties in a quick and clear voice, then swiftly retreated to his seat and shut his mouth tightly.

Then, it was the dwarfs' side that launched the first aggressive questioning.

A dwarf wearing a light green cap spoke in a high-pitched voice, very quickly, but remarkably clearly enunciated each word: "Lord Chen Mo, thank you for your hospitality, but we can omit the formalities. We are here on behalf of the Supreme Council of the Seven Luminaries Garland Merchant Guild to resolve some... urgent issues that need to be clarified."

On Han Hai's team side, Helan stepped forward and continued the conversation: "Please speak!"

The dwarf in the light green hat drew a roll of parchment from behind his back as if drawing a two-handed greatsword, and spread it out on the table with his wrinkled palm.

"Over the past few years, the Vast Ocean Territory and its affiliated violent groups of elves, orcs, orcs, and hybrids have launched a series of reckless military operations without authorization. These operations have severely damaged and disrupted the traditional, legitimate, and long-standing trade routes and business networks of the Seven Luminaries Garland Merchant Guild in the Silvermoon Forest, the Stream Moon Federation, and the White Deer Plains!"

"According to the Chamber of Commerce Committee's rigorous statistics over several months, the direct economic losses—including the burned goods, looted caravans, and abandoned warehouses and post stations—totaled more than 874,500 standard gold coins!"

"And indirect losses! These include breach of contract penalties resulting from the inability to fulfill hundreds of commercial contracts due to the long-term disruption of trade routes, late payment interest and bad debts on receivables, additional maintenance costs and market depreciation of stored goods, expenses for hiring additional guards to ensure the safety of the remaining trade routes, etc... The preliminary estimate is no less than 1.5 million gold coins!"

Light green hat slapped the table lightly with his palm, producing a dull thud.

"Han Hai Ling must bear the corresponding responsibility for this!"

"We demand, firstly, a formal apology and a commitment that future military operations will be communicated to us and will only proceed after obtaining our full understanding and approval;"

"Secondly, we will compensate the Seven Luminaries Garland for its direct economic losses of 800,000 gold coins within the specified period. We agree to waive any excess amount as a sign of our sincerity."

Third, to compensate for our indirect losses, you must grant the Seven Luminaries Garland Trading Company trading privileges in the Silver Moon Forest, Stream Moon, and White Deer areas for the next five years, including tax breaks, priority purchasing, and exclusive agency rights…

Chen Mo turned his head slightly, gesturing as if listening to the translator behind him whispering his message.

This was, of course, just for show; he was accompanied by a simultaneous interpreter, but since the other leader hadn't spoken, he naturally wouldn't either.

It was the councilor who stepped in.

Helan let out several rather impolite laughs, as if he had heard an extremely absurd speech.

"I wouldn't even use this document to wipe my butt. You might as well just throw it in the fireplace; maybe then it'll have a tiny bit of value."

"Since we're going to settle accounts, let's settle them properly!"

"At the very beginning of the establishment of the Vast Ocean Territory, a gang of nearly a thousand goblins and ogres, secretly funded by a deceased and foolish lord of the Zircon Territory, launched a shameless attack on my newly established territory!"

Helan emphasized the word "deceased," causing the dwarf opposite him to scrunch up his face.

"According to the prisoners' confessions, most of the bandit gang's standard weapons, armor, arrows, and even their marching rations were supplied by 'Big Ear Hub,' a subordinate organization of your Chamber of Commerce's Northern Branch!"

“Some of the goblins and ogres are still working hard in my Vast Ocean. Should I call them over for a face-to-face confrontation?”

"In the year 1428 of the Heavenly Vault, the orcs marched south to attack the Vast Sea and Heavenly Frost. Were many of the war supplies provided by your merchant guild?"

"Furthermore, Zircon's army marched north to attack Tianshuang, reaching the edge of the Hanhai Sea. Your department not only provided supplies but also intelligence, right? Do you want to see witnesses and physical evidence for these numerous misdeeds?"

Helan listed the items one by one, while the dwarf in the light green hat opposite him had a gloomy face. He was half-squatting on a high chair and, taking advantage of Helan's pause to catch his breath, interjected, "This is, this is normal business practice. Our chamber of commerce has never interfered with the purpose of our customers' use of the goods!"

"Oh?"

Without any hesitation, Helan stood up, leaned forward, and used his height to press the other person back down involuntarily, forcing them to sit back down.

"Your business practices are normal, but aren't our military actions against the enemy normal?"

"Furthermore, in the past few years, my Han Hai Territory has captured a total of 121 spies who have been confirmed to be directly or indirectly related to your Chamber of Commerce. Among them, there are as many as 86 people who attempted to sabotage the steel mill restoration workshop, an important facility in my territory. Do you need me to provide a list and interrogation records?"

"I also want to file a claim against your chamber of commerce!"

Heran took the documents handed to him by his subordinate, threw them onto the middle of the table with a crisp "thud".

"The Dwarf Merchant Guild's actions of aiding the enemy have caused the Vast Ocean Territory to suffer huge losses, including but not limited to the reconstruction of the territory and cities, the loss of equipment and supplies, the compensation for fallen soldiers, the treatment and care of the wounded, the social mobilization costs, and so on. The total amount is approximately 2.47 million gold coins. When does the Seven Luminaries Garland Merchant Guild plan to pay?"

"By the way, we only accept standard gold coins; we do not accept materials or real estate as collateral!"

"impossible!"

The woman in the light green hat shrieked, "Even if you sold all your territory, it wouldn't be worth this much money!"

Helan scoffed, "Heh, putting aside everything else, just take our Prince Liushuang's Tianshuang City. Such a noble territory, a great city, was captured by the enemy twice and was eventually forced to give it up. Do you dare to settle this score?"

"..."

Oren, sweating profusely, stepped in to smooth things over, managing to prevent a fight from breaking out on the spot.

Of course, taking action is out of the question.

In fact, the negotiations between the two sides were divided into three stages. The first stage was a war of words, with both sides exchanging harsh words and demanding huge compensation...

Arguing for the sake of arguing is tantamount to extortion and will naturally lead to nothing.

Then we move on to the second stage.

They were both demanding exorbitant prices.

The dwarfs stated that compensation should be put aside for now. As the chairman of the Summer Moon Alliance, Chen Mo should fully open the markets of Xiyue and Bailu to the Seven Luminaries Garland Merchant Guild, remove import restrictions, close trade protection agreements, sign exclusive operating rights for certain special commodities, prohibit territories from making their own purchases, and entrust some products produced in the Vast Ocean to the Dwarf Merchant Guild...

Without hesitation, Helan tossed the documents into the fireplace and countered by stating that only 60% of the food and supplies that the Seven Luminaries Wreath should have provided during the White Deer War, coordinated by the Mist Moon Divine Court, had arrived. He demanded the remaining amount be paid first before discussing further matters. "We don't negotiate trade with those who have no business integrity. If we do cooperate in the future, we'll buy from you on a goods-first, payment-later basis, and sell to you on a payment-first, goods-later basis!"

"As for the exclusive operating rights, bring the deposit, pay the transaction fee for the next ten years in one lump sum, and I will grant you the exclusive rights!"

In short, this conversation between the two sides could not even be described as "friendly and cordial"; at best, it could only be described as "frank communication," "a full exchange of opinions," and "firmly safeguarding their own interests."

After another round of verbal sparring, both sides were exhausted, and the negotiations finally entered the third stage.

In the first two phases, both the Lord of the Vast Ocean, Chen Mo, and the leader of the Dwarf Merchant Guild, Ants, listened to the translation the entire time. Moreover, it seemed that because the translation was slow and they needed to process it, they did not say a word from beginning to end.

Now, the atmosphere has gradually calmed down. The groundwork has been laid enough, and the atmosphere has "matured." It's finally the leader's turn to speak.

Ants Kimi, the blue-robed dwarf venerable one, spoke first: "The traditional interests of the Seven Luminaries Garland Merchant Guild in the Stream Moon and White Deer regions must be guaranteed!"

"We look forward to valuable cooperation!"

Chen Mo smiled and said, "Yes, yes, we are also looking forward to valuable cooperation, and we have prepared a very generous gift in the hope of achieving a friendly and win-win cooperation with you."

What Lord Chen Mo took out was the "Golden Pavilion of Gazing at the Moon".

After a brief understanding of the system, Ant, who had long been immersed in financial operations, immediately realized that it was an absolutely powerful economic harvesting machine.

Moreover, only Han Hai can do it. The most crucial point here is their ultra-long-range information transmission technology, which is nothing short of a miracle.

Moreover, the price offered by this lord was quite fair. The information transmission and storage were entirely handled independently by Han Hai Ling, and the operation and maintenance costs were less than one-thirtieth of the conventional information transmission costs.

Furthermore, Hanhailing promises that remittances and withdrawals will take one day for cross-city transactions and two days for cross-border transactions, guaranteeing the accuracy of the information. If any problems arise during the process, Hanhailing will provide full compensation.

Regardless of the potential profits, if the gold coins the dwarf deposited in Xiyue could be retrieved in Bailu Plain within a day or two, how much cost would that save the Seven Luminaries Garland Merchant Guild and how much profit would it bring?
Seeing that the other party had become interested, Chen Mo added one more point.

Even those businesses that appear to be losing money can contain substantial profit potential.

For example, taxes are paid to the government.

“Traditionally, delivering 100,000 copper coins from Qingze City to Yingxue City would require organizing a guard team, hiring pack animals, and undertaking a long and risky journey. But now, we don’t need to transport a single copper coin.”

“Yingxue City is the royal city, full of wealthy families. As long as we attract them to deposit their money in the Golden Pavilion, we can easily withdraw the money in Yingxue City itself. As for Qingze City, there is a large trade in magical materials. As long as a few merchants from Yingxue withdraw their money here, the accounts between the two cities will be balanced instantly.”

"Although we only earn two percent, as long as we manage it well, the transportation costs can be completely ignored!"

Ants' breathing became lighter, and the dwarf's brain was working at lightning speed, calculating the potential profits this system could bring.

"Of course, this requires a coordinated system. For example, if a city is experiencing a currency shortage, we can raise the interest rate on fixed deposits here, which can immediately replenish the city's funds. If there is a currency surplus, we can stop paying interest and even charge a storage fee, and merchants will naturally transfer their money to cities with higher interest rates!"

"I'll put it bluntly: currently, only I can master this system. Even your most cunning dwarf master would have to learn from me for several years!"

"How about it, do you want to try it?"

Ants didn't speak.

He quickly understood the reasoning behind it, and he didn't think he would need several years to learn it, but this set of equipment was indeed only available to this lord.

The dwarves knew that this guy had many strange things, and they were pretty sure that there was an unknown god behind this lord.

They even appealed to the gods, trying to find a way to bypass the lord and contact the god directly through the supreme and omnipotent Seven-Eyed God, or perhaps to copy or even imitate those magical items.

Unfortunately, the Seven-Eyed God only gave three divine pronouncements.

First, that deity is not in this realm of gods and has no conflict of interest with the gods of this realm.

Secondly, you should not look directly at them, nor should you be afraid.

Third, the "divine artifact" of that god can only be exchanged for divine grace, and the price you cannot afford.

This is the fundamental reason why the dwarves, despite their constant dissatisfaction with the Vast Ocean Territory, haven't taken drastic measures.

Ant stood up from the stool, placed his feet on the crossbar, and straightened his upper body.

"Honorable Lord of the Vast Ocean, what do you desire?"

"No, no!" Chen Mo shook his head: "It's not about what I want, but how we can cooperate!"

"Firstly, for Wangyue Jingge, I will provide the technology, equipment, and management personnel, and will take the lead. Your company will provide the capital. The specific cooperation ratio can be discussed according to your investment ratio. If we can reach an agreement, we can operate it together."

"Within the Summer Moon Alliance's territory, including the newly established Bailu Six Counties and Two Districts, I've already taken care of things. As for the areas outside the Summer Moon Alliance, you'll have to obtain the necessary approvals!"

"How many markets you can open up—Silver, Mirror Lake, Frost Mist, Mist Moon, even Dwelling Moon—can all be counted as your investment!"

Ants Kimmy's brow furrowed deeply; he had clearly underestimated the man's ambition. At the same time, the Dwarf Venerable's heart pounded.

If this massive financial network were built...

I should be able to advance at least three to five places in the twelve-digit sequence.

but……

"Why are some countries and regions missing from what you just mentioned? What about Green Pine? What about the other tribal areas of White Deer? What about the Orcs?"

Chen Mo raised his second finger: "This is the second collaboration."

"I want the entire White Deer Plain!"

"Following this, I will launch a war against the Orc Wasteland. Your side must fully support me, not just in small skirmishes like selling some supplies, but with all your might, including intelligence sharing, diplomatic pressure, war supplies, and, if necessary, cutting off supplies and imposing embargoes on them!"

"As for Green Pine, I will personally lead the troops to visit them after I finish dealing with the orcs!"

"If he's still around then... we can talk then!"

"..."

The final showdown has begun.

This lengthy negotiation lasted for five days. With the two sides already close to agreeing on the general direction, they went back and forth, repeatedly refining every detail of the cooperation.

The equity ratio, management rights allocation, profit-sharing model, cost sharing and profit distribution for new market development of "Wangyue Golden Pavilion", the specific project list and prices for support to the orc war, the boundaries of intelligence sharing...

Every detail is a battle no less intense than a professional fight, but both sides are very careful to control the boundaries. Once they reach the point of tearing each other apart, they will call it quits.

Both sides showed great patience yet were exceptionally resolute. The terms were repeatedly revised, the figures became increasingly precise, the definitions were carefully considered, and the disclaimers grew longer and longer.

On the very last day, when negotiations were stuck at the final point, the blue-robed dwarf made an abrupt demand.

"I want... I want the exclusive sales rights for Spring Rain! If that's possible, we'll agree to your terms."

Chen Mo paused for a second, then a genuinely relaxed and slightly playful smile appeared on his face—the first one he'd shown in days.

【Spring Rain】 is the "blue pill" that Chen Mo provided to Baroque, the lord of Molten City in the Silver Duchy.

"What do you need that for? I heard that the dwarf race has a dedicated breeding group, and their numbers have been steadily increasing over the years, so they probably don't need this kind of thing!"

Ant looked slightly embarrassed and lowered his voice.

“Some of the high-ranking bishops of Mistmoon are getting on in years, but… they still have certain needs! We need to solve some practical problems for the higher-ups of Mistmoon.”

Chen Mo: "Exclusive sales are impossible, but I can grant your Chamber of Commerce, the Misty Moon Divine Court, priority supply rights!"

Ant hesitated for a moment, seemingly doing some calculations in his mind, before finally nodding: "Deal!"

On this day when the spring breeze was just beginning to blow, the leader of the Summer Moon Alliance and the representative of the Dwarf Merchant Guild secretly signed an agreement.

The lord then issued the order.

The field army was expanded to 50,000, and the national defense army was expanded to 120,000 at the same time. As for the militia in the territory, they were all mobilized to full strength and trained by the entire population.

How long does it take to train a soldier?

Professionals need more than ten years, and even non-professional auxiliary soldiers need several years, but the training cycle for the hot weapons coordination force in the Vast Ocean Territory is only three months!

If the orcs don't launch the next spring hunt soon...

Perhaps, they will never have this chance again!
(End of this chapter)