Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 298: Opportunity
“What?” Li Xian was momentarily stunned, “The Dragon Palace is fighting? What do you need my help with?”
Xu Ren, however, remained calm, “Tell us the details.”
“It’s nothing much,” Wei Zhe said with a bitter smile, “It’s just… just… Princess Ao Qingxue (the dragon princess) used to sell stainless steel, colored lights, mirrors, etc., at ridiculously high prices. Now… the Northern White Sea Dragon King wants compensation. Princess Ao Qingxue refuses.”
“Well, you know how the dragons are, once money is involved, they become unreasonable.”
Li Xian was dumbfounded, and he could almost close his eyes and picture the situation.
Thinking back, the thing that left the deepest impression on Li Xian and others was when the Third Prince of the Dragon Clan, Ao Han, had criticized Princess Ao Qingxue. At that time, Ao Han had said, “You are a bad sister, a bad sister, you withheld my treasures. Wuwu… The treasures my father gave me were all taken by you. All I have are rusty armor and some shapeless shrimp soldiers and crab generals. I don’t even have a clam girl or a mermaid servant.”
When dragons are involved with treasures and wealth, they become “irrational.”
However, the situation was even more complicated than Li Xian had imagined. No, it was worse.
Wei Zhe slowly began explaining, and Li Xian, Xu Ren, and Li Yuanming, who had returned, were all left dumbstruck!
A glass mirror that Princess Ao Qingxue had sold to the Northern White Sea Dragon Palace was sold for a spirit stone!
A crystal chandelier was sold for three spirit stones!
A regular colored light cost 500 pounds of gold! Yes, 500 pounds, not five hundred taels! A beautiful colored light required 1,800 pounds of gold!
A trident? Princess Ao Qingxue had the audacity to demand 200 spirit stones for it!
Furthermore, Wei Zhe was somewhat embarrassed to reveal this detail: The spirit stones that the Dragon Palace paid to Anyang weren’t taken from the Eastern Sea Dragon King’s treasury in Yingzhou; Princess Ao Qingxue had refused to open the treasury. Instead, she had used the past tridents to exchange for spirit stones from the Northern White Sea Dragon Palace. These exchanged spirit stones weren’t stored in the treasury but were directly sent to Anyang. This was why the payments had been sporadic.
Li Xian was dumbfounded. How could she be this stingy? The beautiful, noble, and seemingly generous Dragon Princess actually had this side to her.
However, Li Xian had always been puzzled. Why was it Princess Ao Qingxue who was in charge and not the Eastern Sea Dragon King of Yingzhou? Of course, Li Xian dared not ask this question—unless the other party volunteered the answer.
At this point, Xu Ren played the “fool,” “Since it’s all caused by wealth disputes, why not just return the excess wealth?”
Yes, when the Brilliant Star Group first started selling, they encountered a similar issue. Li Xian’s solution was simply to return all the excess gold and silver. This decision and action had a crucial impact on Anyang’s rise today—it helped build the reputation and credibility.
Wei Zhe had a bitter expression, “No, this absolutely cannot be done! The dragons and many other magical beasts don’t have the same moral understanding as humans. If we make them return the excess wealth, it would mean submission, that they are weak and easily bullied. So, they would rather die in battle than give up their wealth!”
“Ugh…” Li Xian felt his teeth ache from the absurdity of the situation.
Xu Ren continued playing the fool, “So, what do you want us to do? We can’t just send people to fight in the sea, can we?”
“Hehe…” Wei Zhe gave an awkward laugh.
Li Yuanming also spoke, “Wei Zhe, you have to give us some direction. We know nothing about the sea.”
Wei Zhe kept laughing, but his smile gradually turned into an awkward chuckle, “Actually… actually… it’s very simple. As long as Anyang appears as a third party, an ally of the Eastern Sea Dragon King of Yingzhou, and promises to trade tridents at the price of five spirit stones each, everything will be fine.”
“Of course… of course… uh… the ones that were sold at a high price before, we ask Anyang to help make up the difference. A total of 1,823 tridents need to be made up.”
Li Xian was left stunned…
Xu Ren was stunned…
Even Li Yuanming, the poison master, was left speechless…
You actually have the audacity to say that! You really dare to say that! You’re actually asking for this!
Wei Zhe’s head nearly dropped to his chest, looking like a shy young girl, “Uh… the Eastern Sea Dragon King of Yingzhou… will… will make the compensation.”
Xu Ren and Li Yuanming both looked at Li Xian. For matters like this, Li Xian needed to make the final decision. They would base their strategies on the direction Li Xian set.
But this time, Li Xian was very decisive, “1,823 tridents is no small number. It requires about 270,000 tons of stainless steel. I want ten islands! These ten islands must have freshwater, a radius of at least 5 kilometers, and be suitable for habitation. The islands must be in proximity to the land.”
“Just the islands?” Wei Zhe looked at Li Xian, his eyes actually full of hope.
“Yes, just the islands!”
“No problem! Isn’t it just ten islands? It’s settled, pick whichever you like!” Wei Zhe was so happy he almost jumped up.
Li Xian stood stunned for a while, suddenly regretting his low asking price… it was too cheap! With Wei Zhe’s attitude, he could have asked for fifty islands without issue! But once the words were spoken, they were like water poured out, and there was no taking them back.
In the end, Li Xian directly contacted Fang Shijing in the Qingyun Valley using the “Ling Tong Bao Jian” and arranged for two thousand tridents to be sent to the seaside. With Anyang’s current industrial production level, two thousand tridents would only take about half a year to make—without affecting other industrial production.
Of course, Li Xian also planned to extend the “Brilliant Stars Group, Sales Branch” into the ocean.
“This is a golden opportunity!” Although Li Xian regretted setting the price too low, he was still very happy. This event brought a great opportunity to Anyang, as Anyang’s influence could now officially and legitimately extend into the ocean. With the ten islands, everything would go smoothly from now on!
After confirming the production timeline with Fang Shijing, Li Xian turned to Wei Zhe and said, “Alright, we’ll just need to wait about half a year. But if you can’t wait, you can pick up the goods every three to five days.”
“Thank you so much, thank you!” Wei Zhe was indeed very grateful, not expecting Li Xian to be so straightforward. “I’ll report this to the princess right away.”
With that, Wei Zhe ran off quickly.
Watching Wei Zhe’s back, Li Yuanming sneered, “I used to think this Wei Zhe was someone important, but now I suddenly understand why so many people look down on those who attach themselves to the sea clans or even the demon clans. They’ve completely become the vassals of the demon clans and foreign races.”
Li Xian shook his head. “We can say this ourselves, but after all, we’ll be working with the sea clans in the future. Wei Zhe, and even many others like him, will become our intermediaries. There’s no need to cause unnecessary trouble.”
“Li Yuanming, I called you here because I’ve just come up with an idea called the ‘Adventurers and Mercenaries Association.’ First, it’s an association where we only play a guiding role. Secondly, the association must be able to serve us.”
Li Xian explained in detail, with Xu Ren occasionally adding thoughts. Li Yuanming asked many detailed questions. The three of them kept discussing, revising, and improving. Li Xian mainly provided the direction and general ideas, while Xu Ren and Li Yuanming were responsible for the detailed refinements.