The deal was quickly finalized. Wine Immortal Lord would provide himself with a certain amount of technical support and some phased-out equipment, and would even transfer high-quality technicians. In return, Xi Ye had to supply Wine Immortal Lord with four hundred thousand tons of Fire Ant Mine raw ore every year, selling it to Wine Immortal at a thirty percent discount off the market price!
After the major deal was settled, Wine Immortal took his leave early. After all, as a lord capable of selling Dragon-Level Ferocious Beasts, he had plenty to deal with every day and did not have much time to waste on Xi Ye.
The one who came to negotiate the price of the supplies with Xi Ye was a Golden Goblin with a mouthful of yellow teeth!
Goblins held a very special position in the Cosmic Federation. They were one of the few ancient races that had existed since before the Federation was established and remained active to this day!
In the eyes of ordinary people, goblins had a terrible reputation. They were dirty, lazy, despicable, ugly, and almost completely impossible to modify!
In the universe, they were one of the few races that could not undergo genetic modification. Neither surgery nor selective breeding could alter them. To put it simply, even if a goblin mated with a dragon mother, the offspring would still be a goblin. The dominance of their genes was simply absurdly powerful!
As a result, if you were born a goblin, you would be a goblin forever. Even evolution could only proceed in the direction of goblins. The Golden Goblin before him was an advanced goblin species.
On the market, goblins that had evolved to this level were extremely popular. Golden Goblins were fundamentally different from Black Goblins. They possessed astonishing commercial talent and financial sensitivity. Of the Federation's four top business schools, three had been founded by goblins, and two of those admitted only goblins!
Many Great Lords in the various major factions hired goblins to handle finance, investment, and risk assessment!
But for Xi Ye right now, the negotiating partner he least wanted to encounter was a goblin. No one could gain an advantage over a goblin when doing business. In the Federation, this was practically common knowledge, no different from saying that lords could only be members of the Celestial Race.
"Oh, esteemed Lord Xi Ye, according to our lord's instructions, we will provide you with a batch of high-quality molding machines, including precision pickaxes, minecarts, exploration vehicles, and molding machines for all kinds of daily necessities. Rest assured, everything we provide uses third-generation technology or better. Whether in production efficiency or quality, it absolutely won't disappoint you!"
Yeah, right!
Under his helmet, Xi Ye rolled his eyes. Technology was measured in centuries, and technology within three generations was more or less at the upper-middle level of a faction's existing civilian technology. After all, a Great Lord like Wine Immortal had at least ten thousand life-bearing planets under him. Aside from the Governing Star and a few major trade stars, even the colonial planets on the fringes of other factions, tens of thousands of light-years from the seat of government, were doing well if they could use technology within five generations.
How could anyone sell outsiders things that even their own citizens could not enjoy? Under normal circumstances, if what you sold was within ten generations, the buyer would already be deeply comforted. This goblin really was sly—he would say anything at all. Xi Ye immediately grew wary.
"Let's skip the pleasantries!" Xi Ye waved his hand. "Tell me the price."
"What a forthright lord!" The goblin smiled ingratiatingly. "If every lord in the universe were like you, those of us who run errands wouldn't have to work so hard." As he spoke, he handed over a price list.
Xi Ye took it and gave it a casual scan. He nearly shook so hard that he threw the price list away.
"This expensive?"
"Which part does my lord find expensive?"
"All of it!" Xi Ye said furiously. "A pickaxe molding machine costs five hundred thousand God Coins? Why don't you just go rob people?"
"My lord, you misunderstand. Producing precision pickaxes is inherently extremely complex. We use the Federation's latest Black Ma Gold technology, and the pickaxes we produce are durable and long-lasting. They're far more advanced than those Cloud Steel Pickaxes on the market. You may say the other equipment is expensive, but this one is absolutely worth the price!"
"Is that so?" Xi Ye coldly pointed to another item. "A minecart assembly mold costs one hundred thousand God Coins too?"
"That's where you're mistaken. Our Pandaria Interstellar's most impressive core product right now is engines. In the second- and third-tier free markets, our faction's engines are no worse than ordinary official products. They have an excellent reputation. You know Lord Norsas, right? His warships are widely acknowledged as the Federation's best, and he's working with us now as well. The latest Venom Fang series mecha uses our newly developed Pandaria 18.0 optical-drive turbocharged engine. It's our flagship product, so isn't it only natural for it to be a little more expensive?"
Xi Ye was completely taken in. He knew Lord Norsas. Lord Norsas ranked fifth among the Federation's Ten Great Lords and possessed the strongest warship fleet in the entire Federation. Being able to work with him really was an impressive achievement. Xi Ye had also seen the latest Venom Fang series. A mecha of that scale naturally could not use a subpar engine. The fact that Wine Immortal Senior's faction could provide such technology meant its development was indeed far more formidable than he had imagined!
But what did that have to do with minecarts? Was the engine technology used to assemble minecarts also some so-called Pandaria model?
"What about the accommodations? Isn't selling this for fifty thousand God Coins a little excessive?"
"Not at all!" The goblin rubbed his hands together. "This is a genuine Bronze Race craftsmanship. Whether it's stackability, sturdiness, interior finishing, or design standards, it's absolutely worth the price..."
"No, no, no..." Xi Ye waved his hands repeatedly. "I'm only buying temporary accommodations for ordinary citizens. I don't need anything this high-end. Just give me Black Iron Prefabricated Houses at one hundred God Coins each."
"What? Black Iron Prefabricated Houses?" The goblin's copper-colored eyes looked as if they were about to bulge out. "How can you let your citizens live in that sort of thing? Even ordinary citizens shouldn't be treated so poorly! I always thought that anyone capable of working with our lord would be far-sighted. Don't you know that treating your citizens so harshly will be hugely detrimental to long-term development?"
"Er... well..." Xi Ye was somewhat stunned by the questioning. He stammered, "My citizens are all hardworking and able to endure hardship."
"Listen to yourself!" The goblin immediately turned to several of his subordinates behind him. "Is the fact that subordinates can endure hardship a reason for a boss to mistreat them?"
The few subordinates shook their heads repeatedly.
The goblin nodded in satisfaction, turned back, and continued, "As an excellent lord, you must understand that the people's kindness is limited. Resentment accumulates day by day. When it suddenly erupts one day, you'll realize that saving this little bit of money was completely penny wise and pound foolish!"
Xi Ye immediately grew solemn. What a righteous goblin!
"But you can't make things this extravagant all at once, either. How are we supposed to improve their benefits later?" Xi Ye weakly protested.
"Hmm. Since you can consider this issue, it seems you're indeed not an ordinary shallow-minded lord!" The goblin rubbed his hands together with a smile. "How about this? Treat these Bronze Race-crafted accommodation houses as rewards and keep them in reserve. Whenever someone performs exceptionally well, you can reward them with one as cadre housing. In addition, we'll recommend a batch of Treant Accommodation to you. Finely made, high quality, and affordable..."
Great. He had only said one extra thing, and somehow he had ended up being charged another hefty sum. The worst part was that the goblin's reasoning was sound, and for the moment Xi Ye had no idea how to refute it.
After being talked around for a while, Xi Ye, dizzy and disoriented, ended up signing a contract worth more than three billion. That did not even include the cost of hiring technical personnel and purchasing raw materials!
At first, he had thought he had taken out too large a loan. Now, it seemed that even one hundred billion might not be enough...
Damn it, once I make it big, I'm hiring an advanced goblin to negotiate my business deals too!
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