Returning to Seattle

"Nice shot," Butler Carson thought, surprised that his casual praise of the young master's training methods had actually aligned with the young master's own words. This was a great start, and Carson felt like giving himself 32 thumbs up.

"You don't believe me? Then let's make a bet. In half a year, I'll have them trained to a level you've never seen before," Kerry said, puffing up with pride. Warfare in this world was still in a primitive stage of mob fighting.

Even if occasionally someone knew how to form formations, it was just simple squares supporting each other. Combat was basically all about individual strength, far inferior to the Three Kingdoms period.

At least back then they had duels between generals; here, it was just a swarm charging forward.

Actually, Kerry misunderstood the combat in this world. There's a saying: even the best technology is trash in the face of absolute power. Level 5 and above are Sky Knights. No matter how good your tactics are, if they fly into the sky, all your plans are useless.

Ultimately, it still comes down to hard power, logistics, national strength, and luck.

Of course, tactics and strategy aren't entirely unnecessary, it's just that they're not often used, which led to Kerry's misunderstanding of the warfare in this world.

"Let's clarify, what kind of bet? I truly have never seen a worse army," Emma retorted, also having her limits. She had been on the run for a long time and rarely interacted with people her age. Now, facing Kerry, who was a soul transmigration, he didn't have such a strong sense of class consciousness, so they surprisingly got along well, and she felt comfortable speaking her mind.

"Alright, if I train an elite army in half a year, one that you'll admire from the bottom of your heart. If you lose, how about you serve as my maid for a month?" Kerry's argument was initially casual, but when it came to a bet, he suddenly thought how impressive it would be to have Miss Emma serve as his maid for a month.

A maid even more beautiful than the young lady—wouldn't people try to burn him alive for having her? Kerry started fantasizing.

"Fine, but what if you lose?" Emma wasn't about to back down. She had seen grand spectacles in Faglan and had a clear idea of what armies looked like. They were definitely not these City Guards who just looked left or right.

"Me lose? If I lose, you can ask me for anything," Kerry declared magnanimously. Many senior transmigrators had taught them that as long as you followed the party, it was the best method, and you could powerfully slap faces in any world.

"Okay, it's a deal." Emma felt a little smug. This country bumpkin noble probably hadn't seen how majestic a real Imperial Army was. Did he think training an army was something that could be done casually?

Emma eagerly anticipated Kerry training these City Guards into thugs and ruffians. Then, when Kerry shouted "Charge!", these City Guards would be utterly defeated. The thought alone made her laugh.

Kerry didn't know what Emma was thinking, but he was already considering the style of Emma's maid outfit. He hadn't had any ideas before, but now he suddenly thought how cool it would be to have a beautiful maid constantly following him. This was the proper display of a noble lord.

From that day on, Emma always came to watch Kerry train his troops. Kerry didn't mind her presence and let her watch, though he found it quite annoying when she constantly poured cold water on his efforts during breaks.

Today was a week later, the second day of their trip to Seattle to trade with Paul. Paul was the owner of the Jili Merchant Alliance's Seattle Gaits Metal Shop and a very busy man. However, Kerry had mentioned having over 300 tons of pure copper this time, which was a huge deal, so Paul personally came to the dock to receive the goods.

This time, Kerry brought not only Mike but also Butler Carson and ten of the Brick Movers he had recently recruited. Yes, Kerry had named their job titles; they were employees specifically for transporting copper ingots.

There were several purposes for this trip. He brought Carson to eventually be responsible for the handover and collection of copper ingots. He brought the Brick Movers to familiarize them with the business. Perhaps with more frequent trips, Carson could discover talented individuals among them, easing some of his workload.

After all, Carson was already over fifty, and Kerry didn't have many trustworthy people under him. Carson was responsible for many things.

Finally, Kerry also brought two of the strongest City Guards as bodyguards. Now, walking on the streets finally gave him the air of a noble lord.

The dock was as busy as ever, with traffic flowing on the roads. Kerry spotted the elderly Paul looking out from the designated barge spot from afar.

"Hahaha, Paul, you've been waiting long, haven't you? This shipment is even more than we predicted. You won't be able to handle it all, will you?" Kerry greeted Paul from a distance.

This time, the shipment exceeded the planned 300 tons of copper ingots, reaching 410 tons. At the agreed price of 41,000 copper coins per ton, that amounted to 1,681 gold coins. This was a rare large transaction. Of course, for Kerry, this was just the beginning. Next month, he planned to add more robots and strive for a monthly transaction volume of ten thousand gold.

"Don't worry, Master Kerry. Our Gaits Metal Shop hasn't encountered goods we couldn't handle," Paul said, not bragging at all. Their Gaits Family had been in business for decades, even a hundred years. Even if they couldn't handle it themselves in the short term, they could find downstream distributors in the shortest possible time.

"That's good. Let me introduce you. This is my butler, Mr. Carson. He watched me grow up. When I'm not here, he can make decisions." As Kerry's group approached Paul, he introduced Butler Carson to him. These two would be interacting frequently in the future, so it was important for them to get acquainted.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries on the dock, the group headed to Paul's shop to await the warehousing and settlement of the copper ingots. It would take a considerable amount of time for dockworkers to transport several hundred tons of metal to the warehouse using human and animal power.

Kerry couldn't help but recall the container terminals of his previous life, where loading and unloading ships relied on cranes, and unloading directly onto trailers was simple, fast, and saved labor costs. Perhaps there was a business opportunity for him in this?

Kerry sat in Paul's shop, lost in thought about where the business opportunities lay. Time passed quickly.

Before noon, all the goods were warehoused and settled. 410 tons. Unit 001 had calculated it before departure; no more, no less. Kerry waived the remaining 1 gold coin, and Paul treated Kerry's group to a lavish meal at a nearby hotel. This was the most expensive lunch Kerry had eaten since his transmigration. Kerry, Paul, Carson, and Mike spent 90 silver coins on this meal. It was said that one could also eat a meal costing a hundred gold coins here, but Paul clearly didn't have the means to treat Kerry to that.

Before parting ways, Kerry suddenly remembered something and instructed Paul and Carson. "Starting next month, the transaction volume might increase. The small boats from South Australia Island might not be sufficient for transportation. I hope Boss Paul can arrange for transportation. We will cover the shipping costs; you just need to send large ships."

For next month's transactions, Kerry was certain he would have purchased more Miner Robots from the Dimensional Exchange, and production would surge. Constantly arranging for people to deliver goods was time-consuming and labor-intensive. It would be better for Paul to pick up the goods himself. Then, Carson would also be freed up, and when Carson had more free time, he would have more time to serve him. Of course, before the current production levels increased, Carson would still need to make a few more strenuous trips.