"These are the items you are required to purchase, and these are the prices at which you will purchase them," the planetary emperor said, his brows drawing together tightly as his tone hardened. "Because of the alliance's heavy losses, they were forced to set highly competitive prices-prices you will not find anywhere else. And let be clear: we will not accept any negotiation regarding them!"
The planetary emperor's heart began to beat at a slightly faster rhythm. This was the precise point where real negotiations usually began-the stage where hours would be wasted, effort drained away, and threats would start flying freely in every direction, often achieving nothing but mutual exhaustion. Judging by the quantities and prices listed in the docunt, the True Beginning Empire was being required to purchase raw materials from the sixteen powers of the alliance at a value of ten million Pearls annually. When projected over ti, this amounted to a trade exchange approaching nearly a billion Pearls per century...
Put into a more reasonable comparison, even if the treasuries of all sixteen powers were gathered together and emptied into one place, they might not even reach a single billion Pearls in total!
"...?" The Pri Minister placed his hand on the crystal orb as well, pausing for a brief mont before his eyes flew open to their widest extent. Then he shouted, "And you dare call the lunatic?!" His voice rose even further. "You dig trivial tals out of the ground and pluck flowers that grew and survived on their own for millions of years, just to sell them to us at these absurd prices and stuff your warehouses to the brim?"
He abruptly stood up and kicked the chair behind him aside. "Is that cursed alliance trying to sell us its entire stock in one go? Are you planning to drain every last Pearls we have as so kind of punishnt? This isn't negotiation- this is sheer stupidity!"
"Everyone knows that the Centennial Cradle Empire is exceptionally powerful and absurdly wealthy. A billion Pearls per century is nothing to them," the planetary emperor replied bluntly, showing no hesitation. "And from what I've seen of your armants, your armadas, and the cities spread across your planets, you are no less wealthy than the Cradle Empire itself. So why the stinginess?"
He then turned his gaze toward Emily. "I am willing to leave you all the planets that were taken from us. I won't even bring them up again. All I ask in return is that you open the tap for us just a little. What real harm could possibly co from that?"
In truth, if he managed to convince the True Beginning Empire to agree to these figures, the benefits to him would be imnse. He would secure no less than fifteen million Pearls per century, funds that would allow him to expand his army and acquire new armadas capable of conquering additional worlds. The Young Belt alone held millions of planets waiting to be invaded-but none of them contained Pearls in such vast, concentrated quantities!
"You're dreaming, I will-" the Pri Minister raised his voice sharply and nearly lunged toward the planetary emperor, rage evident in every movent, but he suddenly felt a firm hand clamp down on his wrist.
"Are you committed to the prices listed here?" Emily asked calmly as she pulled the Pri Minister back into his seat. "And these items -especially those in the lower section how much of them do you actually possess?"
In truth, the prices were lower than what the headquarters branch paid when purchasing similar materials from the dium Belt. Even more striking, several extrely rare materials were listed with prices lower than what even the Shadow Swords had been able to obtain through their own channels.
For instance, a single pound of a certain type of soil was listed here at six hundred thousand Pearls, whereas the Shadow Swords had last acquired it for roughly eight hundred and fifty thousand Pearls.
At the very bottom of the list were exceptionally expensive raw materials. Most of them were not currently used in the arsenal of the True Beginning Empire, but so could be fed directly into the Crucible of Greed-an application that alone revealed the hidden importance of the entire list.
Those costly raw materials were extraordinarily rare. Even if they had no imdiate use today, Sky Opening City might find an excellent and highly profitable use for them tomorrow.
"Hm, finally soone sensible who knows how to properly assess the situation!" the planetary emperor nodded with clear delight, a hint of relief showing on his face. "In truth, the alliance of the sixteen entities only cares about money. According to my Overlord, he is willing to reduce the prices to this level if it helps keep matters running smoothly and prevents further escalation."
"..." Emily nodded slowly. It was obvious that His Highness Caesar's strike had been devastating beyond asure-so decisive that this man had abandoned any thought of opposing him. Instead, he chose to cling to his thigh, leveraging his comrcial weight and influential position within the alliance to secure himself as a long-term, permanent partner of the Centennial Cradle Empire. "What about the quantities?" Emily asked without hesitation, cutting straight to the core of the matter.
"This trade arrangent must last for a minimum of one thousand years," the planetary emperor explained, raising a finger for emphasis. "The figures you see before you represent what we are prepared to supply every single year, steadily and without interruption. However, ten million Pearls per exchange- this is the absolute minimum."
"That won't work." Emily shook her head lightly, but she continued speaking before the planetary emperor could burst into protest. "Since you already possess quantities sufficient to last for a thousand years, I believe the annual volu should be increased accordingly."
"I will not-" the planetary emperor stopped himself halfway through the sentence, his expression freezing. "...Wait, you want more?" After a brief pause, he waved his hand dismissively. "If you're asking for more at the sa price,
then forget it entirely."
"The price itself is acceptable," Emily replied firmly, her tone leaving no room for doubt. "But the quantity is not. It must be increased by at least tenfold. I propose raising the annual trade exchange between us to one hundred million
Pearls. What do you think?"
".....?!" The planetary emperor of the Shining Torrent Empire stood completely frozen for several seconds.
He then slowly turned his gaze toward the lunatic -Kristan- as if waiting for him to say sothing rational and rein this madness in.
Purchasing raw materials worth one hundred million Pearls every single year? There were entire empires that had existed for countless ages without ever possessing such a staggering sum!
"....." Kristan himself was equally stunned. He turned toward Emily and sent a hurried telepathic ssage:
Girl, I've personally reviewed the empires' expenditures and revenues. Don't you already have an annual deficit of four hundred million? You want to increase that deficit by another hundred million on top of it? We're talking about fifty billion in annual debt. This is insanity. Even the Shadow Swords wouldn't be able to shoulder all of that. My uncle hasn't sent them a single Peari in fifty years-we might end up having to sell weapons just to survive! With these resources, we can build another Crucible of Greed, Emily replied calmly through telepathy.
And what exactly will we do with a Crucible of Greed if we don't even have Pearls left to purchase the resources needed to form armadas? Kristan shot back. Do we have any liquidity left at all? I was planning to reduce this trade exchange to fifty thousand Pearls per year because the treasury is practically empty. Where are you going to get this kind of money?
...We're approaching the limit His Majesty set for us, Emily responded after a brief pause. Less than three hundred and fifty years remain before the beginning of the massive war he promised. If we don't gather every possible ounce of power right now, then when will we? She clenched her hand tightly as resolve hardened in her mind. As for the funding...
She took a breath, then nodded decisively: I'll send a ssage to His Majesty on my personal responsibility. I'll ask him to fund us directly-and with enormous sums. Otherwise, we simply won't be able to expand as required, not within the ti we have left.
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