Chapter 1259: Profit-Seeking, Conditions

Xia Duo was somewhat surprised by this answer, but it was also within reason; since a great backer had returned, he could be bolder when cooperating with others.

After all, the processing fee of the Tower of Time was much cheaper compared to other High Mages, and the more orders placed, the more profit there was to be made.

However, Xia Duo refused this new order that could also make money for the Tower of Time, for no other reason than worrying about whether the Tower of Time could deliver on time.

One must know that the design blueprints for the Demon-Slaying Amulet were still in his Personal Space! Even mass-production design hadn't begun, and the previous order of 100 pieces was merely the amount he was certain he could complete by himself.

He hadn't counted the Magic Technician team of the Tower of Time at all.

If he took on more orders, he might not necessarily be able to cover the shortfall.

He still had to see the completion status of the June orders before discussing what followed.

However, Xia Duo did not completely refuse, but left some room: "!"

"No problem! The underground war will not end in a short time, and we will still have many opportunities to cooperate."

In his words, Lord Halan even revealed an attitude of being quite expectant toward the underground war, which made Xia Duo frown inwardly.

Although Xia Duo also wanted to earn some Gold Coins in the underground war, he still understood the principles of "when the lips are gone, the teeth are cold" and looking after the feelings of allies; as a lord on the side of Netheril, he should not and could not reveal such an attitude in public.

This would cause Danzo to misjudge, thinking that Netheril might actively intervene in the war and prolong its duration.

Although this did indeed conform to Netheril's interests to a certain extent, such things could only be done, but absolutely must not be said.

Furthermore, from a longer-term perspective, sacrificing the Northland alliance—a Northland ally that could almost be called a natural ally of Netheril—might not necessarily lead to real gain.

Consequently, combined with the fact that Lord Halan had chosen to stake everything on a single throw before reaching a true dead end, Xia Duo felt that this guy was not a very good cooperation partner.

He felt that Lord Halan was a person who paid more attention to short-term interests; once he could not satisfy the other party's short-term interest requirements, it was not impossible for the other party to change their face instantly.

What Xia Duo wanted most were allies with common ideals and common goals, followed by partners with long-term common interests, and only then, trading objects with short-term common interests.

For the former two, Xia Duo could concede a lot of profit to his partners to a certain extent; after all, in the long run, he would not lose anything, but would instead earn more.

But for the latter, short-term trading objects, that was almost a one-off deal; naturally, he would squeeze them as dry as possible.

Of course, with Xia Duo's current status, position, strength, and scale, any existence could be developed into a long-term partner.

If they drifted apart, it didn't matter; if they dared to turn hostile and play tricks, then it would depend on whether the sword in Xia Duo's hand was sharp!

Thinking this way, Xia Duo already had a rough idea of how to handle those nine Demon-Slaying Arrows.

……

Arriving at his residence, Xia Duo invited Lord Halan to the Reception Room for a detailed talk; the other party did not come to see him just to increase the order, but most importantly, wanted to obtain those nine Demon-Slaying Arrows in advance.

He believed that at this very moment, there were definitely not many people who could take out nine Demon-Slaying Arrows at once; a quantity that should have appeared at the end of the month appearing at least a month early would definitely bring huge benefits to Lord Halan.

Lord Halan had previously mentioned that at Prince Baside's place, one could receive a Demon-Slaying Amulet order at the cost of one Demon-Slaying Arrow.

This point should be true, but there must be more to it; after all, taking ten Demon-Slaying Arrows now could not be exactly the same as one month later!

Even if the order was the same, the impression left on Prince Baside would not be exactly the same; the friendship of a Dwarf Prince was a huge benefit in itself.

"Lord Halan, what you need to know is that I have just promised Lord Kelifu to go explore the Astral Plane shortly; during this time, I need to prepare for it, but rest assured, the remaining nine Demon-Slaying Arrows will definitely be delivered on time within this month."

"Just promised? To go to the Astral Plane?" Charles Halan was suddenly shocked.

He had originally thought that since Lord Xia Duo could produce the first Demon-Slaying Arrow within two days, the remaining nine could definitely be completed in a short time.

But now, he could not hinder Lord Kelifu's plan, yet he did not want to give up on the Demon-Slaying Arrows; a flash of anxiety crossed Charles Halan's eyes, and he asked unwillingly: "Is there really no way to advance it?"

"It's not impossible."

Upon hearing it was feasible, the expression on Lord Halan's face immediately turned from worry to joy, and he asked impatiently: "May I ask what Lord Xia Duo needs?"

Xia Duo glanced at the other party; did this guy really have a backer now? If it were before, he might not have dared to press like this.

It was just that he knew this matter was related to Kelifu, yet he still wouldn't give up; Xia Duo speculated that his relationship with Kelifu might not be that close.

It seemed that what Lord Halan just said about having old ties with a student of Kelifu should be limited to just that!

However, this was also a good thing for Xia Duo; if the other party put Kelifu first in everything, they wouldn't ask for early delivery, and then Xia Duo wouldn't be able to gain more from this matter.

As for what to gain, Xia Duo thought carefully, and he found that he couldn't get anything special from Lord Halan either.

The Halansaide estate had already been handed over and belonged to the Tower of Time. As for other things, if he asked for too much, Lord Halan wouldn't be willing; if he asked for too little, Xia Duo himself couldn't bring it up.

Thus, Xia Duo proposed a condition that seemed unrelated to himself: "I need Lord Halan to promote the New Coin of the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce in the Halan Territory and in the economic activities you can influence!"

"The New Coin of the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce?" Charles Halan's eyes rolled, and he hurriedly asked, "Could it be that your manufacturing of the Demon-Slaying Arrows is related to the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce?"

"Hehe."

Xia Duo did not answer this question, but looked at the other party with a calm expression, watching how the other party would choose.

The New Coin of the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce involved the Ascension Ritual, and not all territories would agree to it.

According to Xia Duo's understanding, currently only a few territories were willing to actively promote the New Coin in an official capacity; some uninformed territories were relatively neutral, neither supporting nor opposing, depending on their relationship with the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce.

But more territories related to Great Arcanists did not oppose it openly, but obstructed it in various ways secretly; even the Seven Towers, which had a good relationship with Zhenna, had a large number of opposing voices within it.

After all, Ascended Gods, in a certain sense, were all competitors!

Perhaps, if I feel your Ascension path might be simpler and easier to achieve, then I will switch; there is definitely more than one person who has thought of what Zhenna is attempting to build in terms of commercial order.

If she could take down the Halan Territory, it would definitely be no small progress for Zhenna.

Of course, for Xia Duo, although he couldn't get anything from Lord Halan here, he could definitely make it back from the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce.

He was very certain of this!