Located at the junction of the East Sea and Mirror Sea, Dead Man Bay is a gloomy island shrouded in perpetual moisture, and it is under the actual control of Ox.
While accounting for the company, the business is still directly managed by the company and must be reconciled with Heaven Port, though Ox is the temporary manager.
What Ox didn’t tell Liszt is that the Mirror Sea side actually has a priority option, which is to rebuild the former Doringger opium network. This is the most profitable and has the lowest cost. If Liszt can handle this, future cooperation will progress more smoothly.
The conservatives still refuse to sell the main products of Mirror Sea inland. The reason is simple: just like the herders on the prairie, when meat demand increases, the herd size must expand for profit, eventually causing the entire prairie to be plowed over, the ecology destroyed, and desertification begins. The herd then dramatically reduces in size, which is one of the reasons the Star Seas Navy ended up in this miserable condition.
Moreover, compared to the political ecology of Mirror Sea, Old Aran can be said to be a more progressive regime. Once the inland lords become dependent on any special product and require a large supply, it is bound to cause a resource war.
Already suffering from severe distribution inequality and rampant internal chaos, the Merfolk of Mirror Sea are extremely frustrated and have no outlet for their anger. Adding another comprador corruption would completely ruin everything.
The Star Seas Navy being in such a miserable state, with the world’s largest gold and copper mine insufficient to satisfy the officials, is a primary reason.
Once the commodity supply line is opened, it wouldn’t solve the current problems of Mirror Sea but rather exacerbate them.
So, it’s not that the people of Mirror Sea are foolish for not making money; it’s just that taking big steps can easily trip them up.
Of course, there are indeed Merfolk doing business inland, but they are rare. If seen, it is certainly organized crime, as this constitutes smuggling in Mirror Sea.
These individuals must be backed by someone high above, specifically the Sky Space Association, the most radical of the radicals within the Mirror Sea Alliance.
The Sky Space Association has people in the Alliance Cabinet and previously did business with Doringger, but now that Doringger has fallen, they indicated that if Ox can persuade Liszt, they have been itching to stir things up recently. They plan to sell water-based plants native to Mirror Sea, which can be processed into hallucinogens, before discussing anything else.
Ox knows that there are still ten tons of processed hallucinogens stocked in the warehouse, hidden securely in the manor’s large warehouse corner by the sneaky Fen and Swan, without telling Liszt.
This was processed from Mirror Sea raw materials. Considering future matters, Fen still informed Ox, placing the decision in his hands. Otherwise, no matter how large the quantity, it would be a one-time deal without follow-up benefits, and damaging Black Sail’s reputation would be foolish. Either don’t do it or push the Western Continent’s drug dealers to death.
However, due to the high purity of this batch, Doringger’s reputation on the Western Continent was excellent, and everyone liked to buy from him. After the Lord Dor was taken down, many impoverished addicts were crushed by this final blow, leading to an unknown number of suicides.
Without inquiring, one wouldn’t know that Lord Dor’s goods were several times the market price. The originally estimated total price was around sixteen thousand Golden Dragons, which turned out to be far more, potentially doubling or tripling.
Mirror Sea’s goods are just too potent.
Even for Ox, this presented a dilemma. After much contemplation, he still didn’t know what to do. The cheap lives of the Western Continent people certainly do not outweigh the importance of Mirror Sea’s endeavors.
But Liszt did not have an interest in this matter.
Ox boarded the ship at the Winter Solstice of Holy Spirit Calendar 2687, barely three years ago. By the time he arrived, Black Sail had begun to take shape and was already the local tyrant in Heaven Port, otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken an interest.
However, he had heard of the early days of Black Sail.
Liszt did not take a liking to these people, but envied the money they earned, so he resorted to black-on-black robbing. He cooperated with the Admiral of Kersuna Island, a truly cunning move where he made the money, preserved his reputation, found a protector, and achieved everything.
When Ox came to Golden Palm Port this time, he brought the ten tons of goods but was still hesitant. Liszt was a good man who didn’t want to take the blame.
The choice he faced was whether to sell the goods himself, reporting back afterward and dividing the earnings, thus preemptively resolving Mirror Sea’s issues, without waiting for the completion of the new district before looking at small nations.
Or to do the same if Mo Yutong’s industrial zone really took off, making the Sky Space Association people beg Lao Li for a MAX limited edition BB machine.
Indecisive, Ox decided to contact Drifting City first.
Today was already August 5th.
After twenty days, Ox finally arrived at Golden Palm Port from the remote regions of the East Sea.
According to Wolman, Liszt had missed the invitation from Silver Moon City’s Crocodile Island, angering Crocodile Island, and full-scale war had broken out over a week ago.
Now, the frontline often lost communication. Occasionally, a report would get through, but it was the foot soldiers answering.
The situation seemed... phenomenal.
Surprisingly smooth, nearly unbelievable, as Liszt personally led the campaign, and this time Crocodile Island wasn’t holding back, but they still pushed Crocodile Island’s frontlines back.
Now Crocodile Island was hesitant to act, stationed in Silver Moon City. As soon as the railroad was about to reach Silver Moon City, in another half a month, they would face an unprecedented situation, needing to eliminate Drifting City’s group entirely before continuing the project.
Crocodile Island was also gathering troops from the rear.
Uborio’s reputation in Mulong was completely trashed, but he still planned to spend the last of his reputation to summon troops for one final effort.
A big war was imminent.
Liszt wasn’t part of the International Corps; he only cared about pushing back the frontlines and wouldn’t risk lives for city sieges.
Now it was up to Uborio’s maneuvering, a war overseer overseeing another overseer, Lostra and the Seventh Amendment overseeing Liszt, "You go ahead, I’ll rest up," with Liszt doing the same to Uborio.
Even Ox had never ventured so deep inland, with Beima Duchy being the furthest he had been.
The Narrow Sea in the heart of the Western Continent was a first, finding the exotic architecture of Golden Palm Port intriguing, but business was paramount.
The brothers brought from Dead Man Bay couldn’t stay ashore too long. While Mu Long’s climate was dry, the coastal areas were relatively better. They still needed to get in the water every two or three days, or their gills and bodily functions would be affected.
They prepared the fleet.
Goria had already given a heads-up to the Rebellious Marquis at Golden Palm Port, making Ox’s entry remarkably smooth.
Outside the central control room door.
Ox stood outside, meeting up with the Scissors Legs Sisters, wearing a tactical black face. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novelꞁire.net
Ernie, known as the Mirror Sea Sword King, also wore a tactical black face.
From far across Mirror Sea came the Mermaid Mage, Moying, also with a tactical black face.
She didn’t belong to the Sky Space Association but was part of the conservative faction within the Mirror Sea Alliance. Her teacher and Ernie were old friends, and she wasn’t here to support Ox for money.
Doringger had long wanted cooperation with the Mirror Sea conservatives, not just in hallucinogens but mainstream products as well.
But Doringger was extremely ambitious and did not agree with bringing Mirror Sea people to the East Sea to improve the water quality. Essentially, he was a covert member of the Narrow Sea Convention Organization, backed by a larger mastermind.
If the East Sea became Merfolk’s territory, it wouldn’t just be troublesome but catastrophic, jeopardizing Doringger’s position.
Liszt, however, didn’t care. He wasn’t afraid of dealing with the Merfolk. Besides, he was a Cosmic Person himself, without any land-selling burdens. He was incredibly rebellious, inviting everyone from Mirror Sea to come and play. The East Sea was big enough, and they could sleep if tired; no problem.
So, Moying’s teacher emerged to assist Ox.
The large formation set up around Dead Man Bay had begun to take effect. Though it couldn’t match Mirror Sea, there were still improvements. By year-end, a six hundred nautical mile radius of Dead Man Bay could reach an ideal living environment.
Further investments were astronomical, and no one would fund them unless proven effective. So, Moying’s teacher sent her to aid Ox.
"This pair of sisters is quite persistent."
Moying awkwardly smiled as the noise inside hadn’t ceased.
Ox calmly replied, hoping they wouldn’t start round two and that the first round would end the matter.