Stuff!
The Special Affairs Bureau had a mature set of procedures for dealing with nonhumans... whether land demons, aquatic demons, artifact spirits, ghosts, or other intelligent beings that were hard to classify.
Didn't want to register for an ID number?
No problem!
Didn't want to pay taxes?
That was fine!
Didn't trust the authorities, or even panicked at the sight of government personnel?
A trivial matter!
Didn't speak the same language?
They were used to that!
Come on, let's start with bartering... We could even do it this way: I'll leave the goods here and walk away. Then you come out and place whatever you're willing to trade opposite the things you want...
Just like dealing with indigenous peoples during the Age of Exploration. We could take it slowly!
All of that was negotiable. Dealing with great sea demons who had gained intelligence, could speak human languages, and had Shen Le vouching for them was even easier.
Several Special Affairs Bureau personnel worked together to lower a dinghy. It was packed with products the bureau had brought along that were particularly popular with aquatic demons.
Things like sabers, spears, swords, and halberds forged from spiritual metals!
Elixirs refined from terrestrial herbs to assist cultivation or directly increase one's cultivation!
Formation disks that gathered spiritual energy!
Talismans that instantly granted buffs! Of course, since paper talismans would quickly become soaked and disintegrate in the deep sea, the ones they had brought this time were all carved into bamboo, wood, bone fragments, or jade slips...
The sea demons picked through the goods and made quite a few trades. Naturally, the more powerful the demon, the less satisfied they tended to be.
"None of these weapons suit me!" Xuan Yuan examined and tried every melee weapon without finding anything she liked. Mainly, they