A Small Matter

"How about I lose to you all once too?"

Upon hearing Kang De's words, Santos's eyes immediately lit up.

When talking to a smart person, one sentence is enough.

Who is Santos? He is the Chief Marketing Officer and Market Manager of Dragon Defense Company. He joined the board of directors of Dragon Defense as a human and is a master-level employee recognized by the dragons.

What they do on a daily basis is shamelessly push sales and raise prices in a rude manner, seamlessly switching between acting like a grandson and a grandpa. They have also hired a large number of bards and playwrights as online trolls to hype up the concept of Dragon Knight everywhere, and spent a lot of money to invite scholars to speak, spreading the theory of the elven threat and exclaiming that dragons are invincible.

In order to monopolize the dragon skeleton business, they resorted to all sorts of means, including placing orders, committing murder, robbery, creating momentum, retaliation, and smear campaigns. All of these were aimed at making the security products of the Dragon Defense better sold.

He is a tool of the dragon race, the most elite kind.

Such a person has seen many ups and downs in the business world, disregards conscience and integrity, and has countless tricks up his sleeve. Basically, he can tell what kind of shit the other Kang De is going to do just by looking at him.

--You little punk, throwing the game, huh?

Santos was not surprised, but delighted, and overjoyed at that.

His purpose this time was merely to redeem the body; he was actually there to meet Kang De and discuss business.

When it comes to business, the most important thing is to understand the client's temperament, status, and needs. Talking to a nobleman is one thing, talking to a king is another, and talking to a general is yet another.

Among all kinds of clients, those who are exceptionally powerful are the most troublesome.

Because being strong means having a temper, being unpredictable, and being more capricious and willful than ordinary people. The stronger you are, the harder you are to please, because you have no scruples.

Kang De's use of Forbidden Spell to defeat the elite troops of Twilight Moon and intimidate the continent undoubtedly makes him an unparalleled powerhouse.

Even the most powerful individuals have different personalities.

He worked as a laborer on Dragon Island, where he saw so-called strongmen almost every day. Just as people have a thousand faces, dragons also have all sorts of different personalities. There was the One-Punch Dragon Girl, who was a psychopath who could stir up trouble as easily as drinking water; there was also the ambitious and pragmatic Dragon Emperor; there were also dragons who were innocent and even a little cute, who had not yet been corrupted; and there were also quite a few cunning, selfish, treacherous, and greedy dragons.

There are many more dragons who are arrogant, conceited, haughty, rigid, conservative, and inflexible.

Most people never get to meet a peerless powerhouse in their entire lives, but Santos sees them every day on Dragon Island. After interacting with them so much, he naturally develops likes and dislikes, and close and distant relationships. Santos admires pragmatists like His Majesty the Dragon Emperor the most, and he can't stand unpredictable monsters like One-Punch Dragon Girl. He doesn't actually hate those cunning, greedy, selfish, and treacherous dragons. As long as they have desires and wants, there are ways to control and use them.

What I can't stand the most is that kind of old dragon who is rigid, conservative, arrogant, and unwilling to change.

When they open their mouths, they talk about the glory of the Dragon Island; when they glare at you, they call you a lowly human. They always talk about how great the previous Dragon Emperor was, and they say that the world is going downhill and Dragon Island is no longer the Dragon Island it used to be. They are always nagging, have too many rules, and cause too much trouble. They always have some inexplicable insistence on certain things.

If Kang De were also this kind of guy with "the dignity, persistence, pride and integrity of a strongman," it would be quite a headache. Fortunately, that's not the case. This Prince Kang De is actually quite a remarkable person.

Santos came here to salvage Dragon Island's financial crisis, and of course he had a plan and contingency plan in mind. But even with his wildly imaginative and far-reaching ideas, he would never dare to persuade Kang De to throw a match. The reason is simple: the pride of an unparalleled expert is just too deadly.

They kill Dragon Knight like they're chickens; if you make them lose a match, don't they have any pride?

Kang De said, "I don't want to."

--It's a blessing for pragmatists!

That's wonderful!

With just one sentence, Santos had a detailed plan in mind. Brilliant, brilliant!

But superficial efforts still need to be made.

He waved his hands repeatedly, looking utterly shocked, and said, "No, no, no, that's inappropriate. Your Highness's recent aid to Danfeng Lucerne, your crushing defeat of the Elf Expeditionary Force, and your resounding victory over the Phoenix King have shaken the continent and earned you worldwide renown. Such a great reputation and achievement, helping my company out of this predicament, is a favor far too great, far too much to bear..."

"Hey, what's all this talk about fame? It's just empty fame, I don't care. And to be honest, I've been in the limelight too much this time, so..."

Kang De rested one arm on the table, and with the other hand, he made a chopping motion. "--Press it down."

"I understand, I understand."

Santos said sincerely, "But gold shines wherever it is. You are like a sword in a bag; no matter how you hide it, its sharpness will pierce through the bag and be revealed. It cannot be suppressed."

The two of them burst into laughter at the same time.

After laughing for a while, Santos sighed, "Oh, Your Highness is so generous! It was a battle on the battlefield, and we should have swallowed our bitter pills ourselves. We already felt guilty for shamelessly seeking Your Highness's help, but who knew Your Highness would be so kind and magnanimous—no, we must repay you, repay you handsomely."

Santos, a clever man.

Kang De said he didn't care about fame, and that's true.

But when a peerless expert doesn't care about reputation, it doesn't mean that he's giving away his face for free; rather, he wants to use this intangible face to exchange for more substantial benefits.

And this time, what the Dragon Defense needed was precisely this empty pretense of face.

Because this illusory face can restore reputation, regain face in front of clients, regain bargaining power, and recover lost business—so for these businessmen, face is more important than substance in this deal.

Then a win-win deal can be made.

Santos braced his hands on the table and said decisively, "Your Highness, name your price."

Kang De smiled and waved his hand, "Let's not talk about money; talking about money is vulgar."

That's something you can't buy with money.

What does Dragon Island produce? Dragons, of course.

There are living dragons and dead dragons.

Santos immediately said, "How much dragon scales, dragon blood, and dragon teeth do you want? Just name your number, and I'll make the decision. Dragon eyes and dragon bones are a bit more complicated; they need His Majesty the Dragon Emperor's approval. As for dragon hearts, that'll have to be discussed by the board of directors."

Upon careful consideration, Kang De felt a chill run down his spine.

The Dragon Clan arrested all the notorious dragons—those who disagreed with the Dragon Emperor, those who secretly solicited work and damaged the interests of the Dragon Defense Company —and imprisoned them in the Sun Prison for reform. They were well-fed and cared for, with medical personnel on standby around the clock. They also paid attention to the prisoners' mental health. After all, all of this was for the benefit of Dragon Island. How could they carry out live harvesting if they didn't ensure the prisoners were in good condition?

Dragon scales, dragon blood, and dragon teeth can be taken as much as you want, of course. Dragon eyes and dragon bones are destructive harvesting and require the Dragon Emperor's approval. As for dragon hearts, that requires killing a dragon, so it needs to be discussed and voted on by the board of directors... It's really a strict system with complete rules, it's too ridiculous.

He waved his hand and said, "No rush, no rush..."

Hey, if you don't want these, why are you keeping the dragon skeleton?

There must be another motive behind that.

If you don't want the dead dragon, then you want the living one.

The image of the aloof and beautiful One-Punch Dragon Girl flashed through his mind, and he recalled the analysis he had made earlier about Kang De's preferences: a noble status and great strength... Ah, so that's it!

Damn it, no wonder you went through all that trouble to wait for me here.

Santos wasn't surprised by Kang De's taste; he himself was the culprit behind hiring online trolls to exaggerate how awesome Dragon Knight were. How so? A power pact with the dragons? The ultimate knights soaring through the skies? The continent's most formidable deterrent force?

Wrong! These are important, but not the most important. He found many bards and many playwrights, and the key plot he arranged was not how powerful the Dragon Knight was, but the love between the Dragon Knight and the dragon. The female dragon was bound to be ignorant and arrogant at first, but after becoming human, she was unable to take care of herself and needed the knight's help to take care of her. In the process of taking care of her, they ended up in bed together.

The marketing campaign was a huge success.

As a result, even now, the hiring price for a young female dragon is two to three times that of an adult male dragon, even with harsh employment contracts.

This is also one of the most perplexing human behaviors, according to legend on Dragon Island.

Of course, the second law of deception states that deceptive behavior is often relative.

For example, on Dragon Island, many adult male dragons are relearning their shapeshifting techniques or begging masters of transformation magic to customize their appearance and practice voice imitation, all in order to lie about their age and become young female dragons, so they can earn three times their salary at once—what a bargain!

Santos has signed many contracts over the years and seen all sorts of people, but Mr. Kang De's taste is truly daring; he actually took a liking to that young lady outside at first glance...

He felt pity and wanted to say something to remind this kind man, but his pity was intertwined with his excitement at watching the drama unfold, leaving him in a real dilemma.

Completely unaware of what he was thinking, Kang De rolled up his sleeves, slammed his hand on the table, and said, "Don't think about giving me anything right now. I don't want anything else but to get His Majesty the Dragon Emperor's leg back on track! Let's settle your matter with His Majesty the Dragon Emperor first, otherwise, I won't feel comfortable taking this benefit!"

--Goodness, so this guy's trying to do you a favor first and then expect something in return. It's really tough for you, going to such lengths for a woman. Does the Phoenix King even know?

Santos inwardly scoffed, but on the surface he plastered a smile, "Your Highness is truly merciful!"

Kang De asked, "Where were we?"

Santos laughed and said, "Fuck the match."

Kang De nodded and said, "Your Excellency, even if we lose, we need a reason, we need to make it seem convincing. You see, a few days ago, I defeated three dragons in one fell swoop. If I were to be defeated by just one this time, wouldn't that be inappropriate?"

"Inappropriate."

Santos had already devised a plan and immediately gave his reply.

"Our company's latest flagship product is a dragon rider combat group composed of seven dragons, and we have launched a short-term employment contract exclusively for high-ranking dragons, seven in total."

He spread five fingers on one hand and held up two fingers on the other. "Seven heads, led by a high-ranking dragon, forming an attack formation to launch a combined Dragon Language Magic attack, defeating Your Highness and forcing you to retreat, what do you say?"

Kang De gave a thumbs-up. "Pretty impressive."

"This can boost customer confidence. If Your Highness has no objections, our company's promotional focus will revolve around this. In the sky, only the dragon race can rival you. As long as there are enough of them, we can gain the upper hand. We can't say it's a sure win, but forcing them to retreat shouldn't be a problem."

Santos asked, "How does this sound?"

Kang De nodded and said, "In principle, yes, but let's add one more condition."

The chief marketing officer asked, "What?"

Kang De said expressionlessly, "After this battle, although both sides declared victory, Goth was deeply impressed by the dominance and combat power displayed by the dragons, and took the lead in signing a contract with the Dragon Defense, introducing a dragon battle group as an important force to protect Germany security..."

Santos paused for a moment, then jumped up. "Brilliant!"

Kang De laughed and said, "Then what's the price? Name your price."

Santos chuckled softly.

"Of course, it's 20% more than the market price. Goth will pay, and after the dragon squadron is delivered, this money will be refunded in full and handed over to His Highness..."

Kang De was both amused and exasperated. "You're quite skilled at this," he thought.

He waved his hand and said, "No, no, no, I'm not interested in money."

Santos exclaimed, "Using a whole dragon squadron to please your lover, going to such lengths to woo women, you're truly unique on the entire continent. I'm impressed!"

Kang De said, "In that case, consider the money you brought today as payment for your services. How you and His Majesty the Dragon Emperor handle it is up to you. If it's not enough, we'll contribute more..."

"That's enough, that's enough. There's even some left over, which can still be given to Your Highness."

Santos chuckled and said, "I will personally select the dragon that accepted the invitation; your satisfaction is guaranteed..."

The two stood up at the same time, clasped hands, and smiled at each other.

With the general direction finalized, the details are no longer an issue.

Oh, by the way.

Kang De seemed to remember something and said, "There's also the matter of the dragon remains... Now that this matter has been clarified, there's no need to hide it from you, brother. I can't produce the third dragon remains."

Santos asked curiously, "Why?"

Kang De sighed, "It was smashed to pieces by Forbidden Spell... The corpse was horribly mangled, only a few remnants remain, it's a terrible mess. I was afraid you'd be angry if I gave it to you, so I didn't know what to do..."

Santos glanced at Kang De a few times, then suddenly asked, "Your Highness wouldn't be planning to use him to make a bone dragon, would you?"

Kang De shook his head vigorously. "No, no, no, I don't like that."

"Then it's alright."

Santos smiled. "These are minor matters. Leave them to me. No problem."

Kang De patted him on the shoulder. "Thank you so much."

Santos said it was nothing, then feigned complaint, "Why didn't Your Highness say so sooner? I thought you wanted to keep the dragon's remains; I almost misunderstood Your Highness."

Kang De laughed and said, "I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed, I'm afraid of Dragon Island."

"Your Highness is too modest."

The two laughed heartily.

Yes, it's nothing.

Only after the major issues are settled will this matter become a minor one.

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PS1: Update... Going to sleep.