After a round of bargaining, they ultimately failed to settle on ten times the usual price for the supplies, agreeing on only five times instead.
The Merchant Association's reasoning was simple: Li Ling's status had changed, and when the association was in trouble, he had an obligation to lend a hand.
Besides, Nine-Wan Island did not lie along the Blood Shark Bandits' retreat route. At that distance, with that level of risk, it was not worth so much.
On the surface, Li Ling reluctantly surrendered some profit. Inside, he was already laughing.
What shipping risk was there now? Every bit of this markup was pure profit!
He was not the sort of black-hearted merchant who considered earning less a loss. A modest share of the Merchant Association's war profits was enough; he was already quite satisfied.
He immediately organized manpower, rented treasure ships, and confidently threw himself into the gamble of ferrying supplies to and from Northsky Island.
To anyone else, this was undoubtedly a remarkably bold move.
But in private conversations with his wife, Li Ling repeatedly assured her that the Blood Shark Bandits would certainly withdraw this time. They could no longer maintain their blockade.
No organization or force could withstand harassment like this. The fact that they had not scattered like birds and beasts was already proof of their exceptional abilities.
Especially once they discovered that even Old Ancestor Stone Octopus, who stood behind them, could not uncover the hidden culprit, they would lose the courage to fight on.
This created an information gap, one of the foundations of the money dao.
Li Ling had his sights set not only on the incense array repair project, but also on taking over the shipping business in the near future.
Northsky Island had been besieged for quite some time.