Chapter 91: 64 Chapter I shouldn’t have agreed, but he offered too much

“The Three-Headed Dog Commerce Guild, the large mercantile company from the Kingdom of Mountains, their business encompasses dozens of domains including fisheries, minerals, jewelry, textiles, and shipping.”

Gonnia, acting as Bailuo’s representative, noticed her detailed knowledge of the Three-Headed Dog Commerce Guild; Handlebar Mustache smiled and said, “Yes, we are affiliated with the Three-Headed Dog Commerce Guild.”

“However, although the slave trade is quite profitable, it is, after all, not overly reputable.”

“Especially in countries that explicitly prohibit the sale of humans,” Gonnia said, “your business must be rather difficult.”

“Sometimes, it’s not a matter of whether it’s difficult or not—it has to be done.”

Handlebar Mustache took a sip of red wine and shifted the topic, “For the sake of the market, we must establish slave trades in various places, after all, the people above, they need us.”

The selling of slaves not only facilitates the steering of populations.

More importantly, it can cause chaos in the security of a nation, thereby inserting many spies and undercover operatives.

Thus, just like the Holy Empire and the Far North Empire.

Although these two countries openly forbid slave trading, in secret, many people still conduct these transactions.

“Our side calls it Bright Market, their side calls it the black market.”

“The name might sound less pleasant,” said Handlebar Mustache, “but slave trading is slave trading. Whether it sounds good or not, as long as there’s money to be made, what’s the difference?”

“I don’t care about that.”

Bailuo declared, “I need slaves, lots of them, preferably young people around the age of ten.”

People are the source of power for the development of miracles.

Just as Lilith trained witches, Elsa awakened the magic of ice and snow, which was her personal talent—something Lilith initially did not possess.

But if Elsa had it, Lilith could have it too.

Therefore, if there were thousands of witches researching and inventing, every individual would provide power to Lilith.

This is the relationship between miracles and Miracle Citizens.

Additionally, young people represent malleability and loyalty, as they can be indoctrinated. In some ways, they are much easier to deal with than fully-formed adults.

Besides, research on miracles inherently requires nurturing from scratch—this is not an overnight task, but an educational project spanning decades, even centuries.

Only when these children grow up into a sizable group and continue to come forth steadily

can Yatun then rightfully be called a miracle domain with substance.

“Children…”

Handlebar Mustache did not ask what Bailuo wanted the children for, as slave traders shouldn’t be prying, “Fine, besides that, anything else?”

“Besides the children, I want adults, men and women, or entire families—I will take them all,” Bailuo said.

Bailuo actually needed a lot of people.

With people comes the birth of more children.

Bailuo was willing to wait for ten or twenty years to see a generation of ‘People of Yatun’ born and raised on this land.

“Do you need them to possess specific skills?”

“It doesn’t matter if they don’t,” Bailuo replied, “Even the most ordinary farmer will do, as long as they meet my requirements mentioned above.”

Bailuo did not care about talent, because talent can be cultivated from within, and the self-made individuals are even more loyal.

“How much?”

“As much as you can transport,” Bailuo stated seriously, “I will take it all.”

For the first time, Handlebar Mustache looked at Bailuo with a surprised gaze, puzzled, “Are you serious?”

“Let me handle the rest,” Gonnia interjected.

Bailuo raised his hand signaling her to proceed and sat back, calmly watching Gonnia’s performance.

“John.”

Little John promptly brought out a box they had brought along, placing it on the table.

“Spices?”

Handlebar Mustache had already sensed its scent, and as a leader of a large slave caravan, naturally, he knew what it was: “Is that black pepper inside?” “All black pepper!”

After Gonnia finished speaking, John immediately opened the box, and seeing it brimming with black pepper, even Handlebar Mustache couldn’t keep his eyes off it.

“This is the deposit.”

“Hmm?!”

Handlebar Mustache stood up in surprise, “All this?”

This black pepper, if converted into gold coins, was worth at least 50 Large Gold Coins, equivalent to 5 million of the currency from a previous world.

And this was only the deposit!

“Clap!”

While Handlebar Mustache was still astonished, John closed the lid of the box, and Gonnia said, “Our condition is that a portion of the slaves originally destined for the Holy Empire be diverted to us.”

“After all, some ordinary slaves are not easy to sell there; why not sell them to us? What’s to lose?”

“Hmm.”

Handlebar Mustache: “You make a valid point.”

“Bang!”

The next moment, another chest was placed on the table; when opened, it still contained black pepper.

“Hiss ”

This time, Handlebar Mustache fell silent.

Although he had responded quickly before, Handlebar Mustache was still apprehensive, after all, trading with the Holy Empire was more important than working for the Kingdom of Mountains.

However, Bailuo was offering far too much.

“Two chests, as a deposit?”

“Two chests, as a deposit!”

Handlebar Mustache repeated the same words Gonnia had said, but his tone was entirely different.

He hesitated; Handlebar Mustache really started to doubt.

“You’re asking for too many people; even I…”

If Bailuo had requested only a few dozen or a few hundred, that would have been negotiable, but given today’s events, Bailuo was definitely not after just a few slaves.

This made Handlebar Mustache start to question Bailuo’s identity—who was he, and what did he need so many slaves for?

“Bang!”

This was the third chest, equivalent to a 150 Large Gold Coin deposit.

Just ask yourself, do you dare?

Gonnia was not at all afraid Handlebar Mustache would take the deposit and run away because once a merchant tastes the sweetness, they can never go back.

Consider this—their profit here could be tens of millions at once, while on the other side, they’d go through hard labor for just a few millions, and still have to put up with all kinds of frustrations.

If it were you, could you forget the beauty of those tens of millions?

So Gonnia understood very well; all she needed was to sway Handlebar Mustache.

If knocking didn’t work, then slapping, bumping, or even throwing money at him until he buckled!

Yatun was not short of money; they could produce a ton of such black pepper for you in a week.

“I’ll do it!”

Handlebar Mustache agreed right away, very decisively.

As a merchant, to forsake such profit would be foolish.

If you worry about the risks here, think about transporting slaves over the sea —isn’t every journey fraught with the danger of being sunk by a storm?

If one fears this or that, how can they achieve great things?

“Welcome to a partnership with the Three-Headed Dog Slave Commerce Guild!”

Handlebar Mustache stood up decisively, took out the agreement, and pushed it forward to Bailuo, letting him examine it: “Our slaves are definitely the best.”

Bailuo remained noncommittal; Gonnia didn’t say anything either. She merely instructed John to hand over the deposit to the other party.

Meanwhile, as Bailuo watched Handlebar Mustache, Lilith on the other end, on Yatun Island, began to radiate a faint green glow.

“I curse you, if you break this contract, you will die instantly!”

After Lilith finished speaking, an invisible force attached itself to Handlebar Mustache without his awareness.

Handlebar Mustache was just a mere mortal; he could not resist Lilith’s curse.

This was the insurance policy Bailuo had taken out for the People of Yatun.

If Handlebar Mustache were truly honest, then he would naturally be unharmed.

On the contrary, should the curse be triggered, a mere mortal would be unable to withstand this curse from a Fairy.

“Let me handle this, Captain.”

Gonnia took the agreement from Bailuo’s hands, scrutinized the document carefully, and following a silent cue from Bailuo’s eyes, Gonnia began to negotiate in further detail with Handlebar Mustache.

Soon, both parties signed a brand-new contract.

From that day on, Handlebar Mustache would transport a large number of slaves to an island four days’ sail from Yatun, where Bailuo would then transport them away with his ship.

Their trade would be settled directly in spices.

This ensured that Handlebar Mustache would never know who he was dealing with or where they lived.

Furthermore, should Handlebar Mustache breach this covenant, Bailuo would send someone with the contract to find him.

The reputation of the Three-Headed Dog Commerce Guild would be ruined, and Handlebar Mustache would undoubtedly be doomed.

Besides, Handlebar Mustache would certainly not be content with a mere 150 Large Gold Coins; he would want more, much more!