Gili Merchant Alliance

Early the next morning, before Kerry could even check how many copper ingots he had smelted overnight, Mike arrived.

"Lord Baron, terrible news! Lord Jim has forbidden all merchants in Little Nose Bay Port City from trading with us. We can't buy anything now," Mike exclaimed as soon as he arrived.

"Are they refusing to do business with me, or refusing to do business with the commoners?" Kerry suddenly thought of a problem. If they stopped doing business with the commoners on the island as well, wouldn't he have harmed the more than 1,000 people on the island?

"Heh heh, it's not like that. As long as they don't say it's for South Australia Island, no one will stop the commoners from buying things. But they've stopped selling us fishing gear, saying that South Australia Island is the only place in the entire Little Nose Bay Port City region with fishermen. I really don't get it. If we're the only ones with fishermen, who else can those merchants sell fishing gear to?" Mike finished, and Kerry breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the commoners weren't implicated. However, Kerry hadn't realized Mike had such foresight.

The fishing sector in Little Nose Bay Port City had now become a buyer's market. With Lord Jim's isolationist policy, a large number of people would soon go hungry, and internal strife would erupt. Kerry thought gleefully.

"I already know about the situation. As for fishing gear, we'll go to the Jili Merchant Alliance to buy it. Although it's a bit of a long journey, they sell everything there, so don't worry. Oh, and find a cargo ship to come to the south dock. I have a batch of copper to transport and trade at the Jili Merchant Alliance."

Kerry had decided yesterday to go to the Jili Merchant Alliance today. Now that Mike, the captain, was here, he could arrange everything.

The Jili Merchant Alliance, whose full name was the Gili Merchant Alliance, was located in the Gili Islands, to the east of the southern part of the West Europar Continent.

Big Nose Bay and Little Nose Bay were precisely in the northeast of the Gili Merchant Alliance, and South Australia Island was the closest place to the Gili Islands within the Little Nose Bay area.

South Australia Island was 120 kilometers of sea route away from the nearest city island of the Gili Merchant Alliance.

It wasn't far, but it wasn't close either. Compared to going to Little Nose Bay Port City, it was certainly far, but compared to Southport City, the journey was much shorter.

This place was a gathering of merchants from all over the world. Most of them were from the Gili Islands, but there were also many merchants of other nationalities.

When Kerry arrived at the south dock, Unit 001 had already put away its smelting backpack. Beside it, a large pile of copper ingots was neatly arranged, along with a small pile of various associated metals.

Carson had been arranged by Kerry to guard the territory today. He was now seeing his young master off and was confused to see the young master's puppet standing there.

But upon learning that these neatly arranged items were the copper ingots his young master was going to trade at the Jili Merchant Alliance, Carson, who had been troubled by the territory's income during this period, felt he could finally sleep soundly.

"Mr. Carson, arrange some porters to load all these copper ingots onto Mike's ship, and leave some porters on the ship. We'll set sail for the Jili Merchant Alliance today. Oh, and this is gold. Take it back and keep it safe. Also, take this Alchemy Preservation Bottle. You need to store the jellyfish caught by the capture team in it every day to keep them fresh. This is the most important thing," Kerry said, pointing to the small pile of gold on the ground. He then took out a small iron bottle from his pocket and handed it to the old butler, Carson.

"Don't worry, young master. It's more important than my old life. It will be safe as long as I'm alive." This was the first time old Carson had encountered such a valuable item. Carson never doubted his young master's trust in him, but to have such valuable Space Equipment entrusted to him so easily made Carson feel like a scholar ready to die for his confidant.

"Your life is much more important to me than this little bottle. Although this is Space Equipment, it can only be used to preserve food."

Kerry truly felt that Carson's life was more important than the Alchemy Preservation Bottle. This item was only 2,000 Points, but a loyal butler like Carson was priceless.

There wasn't much gold, about half a ingot. Carson pocketed it directly. But there were many copper ingots. It took 10 porters nearly an hour to load them onto the ship. Unit 001 said there were 42 tons of copper ingots here. Based on the market price before the New Year, which was about 35,000 Copper Coins per ton, this was worth about 150 Gold Coins.

By the time everything was arranged by late morning, it was almost noon. Lunch would be on the ship. After bidding farewell to the deeply moved butler Carson, Kerry boarded the cargo ship heading to the Jili Merchant Alliance.

The midday sun shone on the sea, making it almost impossible to see anything outside the ship's cabin. However, Carson tried his best to keep the departing cargo ship in sight until there was nothing left on the horizon before returning to the castle.

Kerry's father and mother had died when they encountered bandits while trading at sea. Even though Kerry had brought a powerful puppet this time, Carson was still very concerned about Kerry's safety. What if they encountered a storm?

No matter how powerful the puppet was, it couldn't withstand a blizzard. This was also because the family had fallen on hard times. Otherwise, Carson would never have agreed to let Kerry risk sailing at sea.

Kerry wasn't as worried about his trip as Carson was. After all, the two places were only 120 kilometers apart. If the ship was fast enough, they could reach the nearest city of the Jili Merchant Alliance, Seattle City, or rather, Xitatu Island, before dinner.

Eighty percent of this city had become part of the city, and people were accustomed to calling Xitatu Island Seattle City.

This was Kerry's first time trading, and he didn't plan to go too far. His final destination was Seattle City of the Jili Merchant Alliance. It was said that the city's economy was almost entirely controlled by a family called the Gaits Family.

Unfortunately, they were just merchants and had no army. It was said that they were often harassed by pirates in the past. Later, a group called the Sea Dog Pirates appeared in this area. After extorting a hefty sum from the Gaits Family, the two sides established contact.

Now, the Sea Dog Pirates protected Xitatu City, collecting protection fees annually, and only then did things begin to stabilize.

Logically, the Jili Merchant Alliance also belonged to a unified kingdom, just without a king. However, they did have an army, and it was quite strong. The cities and merchants within the country should have been protected by the army when threatened by pirates. But this country was peculiar in this regard.

Everything here was measured by money. Protection by the army was possible, but it required additional military expense subsidies. Generally, merchants would only seek military assistance when facing major problems. If it was just a minor issue, like a few pirates coming to extort some money for drinks, then they would let it go. Calling the army would cost more.

Only when encountering pirates who were extremely vicious, demanding money, women, and even lives, would merchants call the army. In the final analysis, it all came down to money, and it depended on which option was more cost-effective.

However, this also brought another benefit. The army always charged for its services, but the alliance did not collect any taxes. There were no taxes at all, only a fee called an alliance membership fee. This fee could support the army and cover various operational expenses. It was precisely because of this that it attracted a large number of merchants from all over the continent and even other continents.

Kerry planned to become a member. It wasn't to be included in the army protection list, but because members of the Jili Merchant Alliance were protected by the alliance's treaties and wouldn't be cheated or have their debts defaulted on. People were more willing to trade with merchants who were also members.

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