Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 55 The Chamber of Commerce's Antics
"Be confident, Vice President Charles, get rid of your illusions." Noticing that Su Ming's mood had relaxed, Zi Jin made a rare joke.

"...Chestnut Owl Scholar, as someone you could crush with a single finger at any moment, this joke isn't funny." Charles looked utterly dejected.

“Well, the real reason is that we’ll be asking you to purchase a large quantity of materials for the dimensional transfer array in the next phase,” Violet said. “You’ll find out about this sooner or later.”

“No, wait…” Charles raised his hand and digested the information for a while. “Your dimensional transfer at the edge of the Emerald Sea was successful. Lord Su Ming came from another world—no, I don’t believe it! Even if you’re a Chestnut Owl scholar! Even if you have the traveling raven Galio!”

“I don’t need you to believe me,” said Zijin. “I will write a paper and publish it after I reproduce it—then I’ll see who’s still calling me a belladonna behind my back.”

Ignoring the disheveled Charles, the scholar turned to Su Ming.

“I don’t like to praise people, but you’ve progressed even faster than when I was learning light magic at the temple.” She recalled, “When I used ‘Hexagon·Deathrattle·Divine Decree’ and saw you activate the Bone Mark to assist, I almost thought you were going to die—that’s the magical pressure of a quasi-forbidden spell!”

Charles instinctively pulled out his notebook. "Unknown spell name: 'Hexagon - Death's Word - Divine Decree'. The Owl Scholar is at odds with the Bone Mark Controller and is trying to harm her by killing her third Controller."

As he wrote, he said, “Chestnut Owl Scholar, if I may be so bold, even if what you say is true, your nickname will only become ‘Eggplant God’.”

Zi Jin almost lost her composure, and Su Ming instinctively made a dodging gesture.

"Shall we get down to business?" the girl asked calmly, taking a deep breath.

“Of course, Chestnut Owl Scholar.” Charles put down his notebook.

Violet handed Charles a piece of paper with runes copied on it. "President Charles, this is the rune spectrum and call sign of the communication tower. Our communication will be easier from now on."

Charles folded the paper and stuffed it into his inside pocket, while handing over a whole box of magic crystals—completely ignoring the fact that Violet had already installed the communication device.

"Regarding the issue of the prepaid supplies discussed yesterday," he paused, deciding to put the previous matter aside for now, and opened a document in his hand. "The Federation is willing to provide these supplies. But as expected, we require you to provide collateral and send observers to your side."

Having prepared for these conditions, Violet firmly disagreed with the observers' arrival, but was willing to pay a deposit. She produced the Scales of Balance she had snatched from Iser, and a box containing magical ornaments.

“I took it from Catherine before,” Violet explained to Su Ming. “I don’t need it.”

Charles shook his head. "But it's not necessary. The Star Empire has already promised to cover all the initial costs, and no collateral is required."

"Oh?" Violet asked in surprise. She thought she would need to have a good talking-to. "These people are so self-disciplined?"

"The Star Empire has proactively offered to suspend all military operations that threaten the Bone Fortress and agreed to pay in cash to withdraw the Star Rain," Charles said. "The Empire's representative's exact words were, 'The simpler and more direct, the better.' Trying to play political games with Belladonna will turn into a real-life tug-of-war in no time!"

"What a kind person! I was just thinking yesterday that if they pulled that political game again, I'd be sold out and still have to count the money for them!" Zi Jin was relieved of the trouble and her mood improved significantly.

"The Empire should be grateful for your leniency towards the UFO, only cutting off a dozen or so cannon barrels, unlike the Fusō which was reduced to just a hull," Charles said.

"Phew, at least they know what's good for them. What did the Temple of Light say?" Violet asked.

"We are willing to offer an opportunity to negotiate and discuss a conditional settlement with you." "Is it not possible to conditionally lift the arrest warrant for the necromancer?"

“There’s no difference. You’re the only ones left in the necromancy faction,” Charles replied, handing over a letter. “This is entrusted to me by His Excellency Pope Augustus Avery.”

When Zijin opened it, it was a very official negotiation invitation, worded as "You are cordially invited to attend. If you bring counterfeit gospels, we promise to guarantee your safety." It made no mention of the previous wanted notices and conflicts.

The scholar gave a cold laugh, crumpled the letter into a ball, and casually tossed it aside.

Charles pretended not to see it and handed over another piece of paper. "This is our handover plan based on your list. However, there are only 10 tons of steel. There is no copper or aluminum."

Su Ming requested 150 tons of steel, 50 tons of copper, and 20 tons of aluminum in advance. He shook his head, "This amount is not enough for our operational preparations."

“The metals industry is the dwarves’ strength, especially steel, copper, and aluminum,” Charles explained briefly. “Every year, the Western Continent imports about 80,000 tons. In the last three months, due to the disruption of transoceanic trade, the Central Pacific Islands’ stocks have been completely depleted, as have the Western Continent’s coastal ports. On the contrary, metals with lower demand, such as lead and tin, can still be found. In addition, there is a ton of mineral oil, a product that no one in the Western Continent uses, which also has to be purchased from the dwarves.”

“A solution?” Violet asked Charles.

Charles reached out and pulled the nautical chart across the Central Ocean, pointing to a place more than two thousand kilometers to the east. "The merchant guild on the Dwarf Continent is willing to provide this batch of metals and mineral oil and deliver it here. Beyond that is the area where sea monsters are found, and their cargo ships dare not enter."

"This is to send us across the area inhabited by sea monsters to get supplies on the other side," Su Ming muttered. "The Federation is really full of evil intentions."

“We’re just doing this out of habit to make our presence felt,” Charles said. “If you succeed, it will prove you chose the right partner; if you fail, it will add new data to the sea monster’s investigation records—you don’t need to overthink it.”

"Thank you, you're so honest," Su Ming said.

"Can this ship get through?" Zi Jin asked Su Ming directly, without using a message.

"The weather?" Su Ming asked.

"It's a sunny day today, with a southerly wind of 8 to 10 knots. The forecast for tomorrow is the same," Charles replied.

Su Ming shook his head.

Charles glanced at the guard standing outside the door, who immediately replied, "The forecast for the next two days is strong winds, around 20 knots, from the southeast."

“That’s fine,” Su Ming nodded.

"It's good that you can handle it." Charles breathed a sigh of relief. "The Blue-Eyed Merchant Guild led the way in making this mess, and there was nothing I could do about it."

"The Blue-Eyed Merchant Guild took the lead; didn't you fuel the flames?" Violet asked.

“Absolutely not! Although most people would like to see you embarrassed—I have complete faith in my idol!” Charles argued weakly.

(End of this chapter)