Chapter 413: Requisitioning Ships

Since he had arrived in Savile Town, Xia Duo first made a trip to the Town Hall to inquire about the status of negotiations with the various chambers of commerce, but the results were not very ideal. Whether it was the Tower of Time or the branch presidents in Savile Town, they were actually happy to see a new contract reached, but the headquarters of those chambers of commerce were still hesitant, dragging things out like this.

Neither explicitly refusing nor directly agreeing.

Xia Duo was not particularly anxious; after all, the Princess had already helped Niya contact a chamber of commerce, and once the specific news was released, he presumed they would agree as well.

Walking out of the Town Hall, Xia Duo estimated that the people he had just contacted should all be gathered, so he mounted his Summon Mount and rode toward the Villa District in the north.

Lady Patti's manor villa.

Steward Yarman was waiting personally at the entrance of the manor, looking toward the intersection from time to time. He waited and waited but saw no one coming, and he could not help but feel a bit anxious, wringing his hands and pacing back and forth.

Just then, Yarman suddenly heard a series of hoofbeats behind him, coming from afar to near. He hurriedly turned to look, and the "clatter-clatter" of the hooves had already reached him.

"Ah—" Yarman's heart almost jumped out of his throat. Forcing himself to control his panic, he hurriedly stepped forward to salute, "Lord Xia Duo, the several presidents have already arrived."

"Very good."

Xia Duo nodded, dismissed his mount, and walked toward the villa with Steward Yarman. On the way, he asked, "How is the recent situation with the Liyadun Chamber of Commerce?"

"Thanks to your blessing, my lord, the chamber has already curbed the decline, and the connection with Konnifila City has also been restored. In the future, we will certainly be able to serve you better."

As for serving, Xia Duo was noncommittal. How much sincerity could a merchant's words have? It was nothing more than a transaction. However, the fact that the Liyadun Chamber of Commerce had restored its connection with Konnifila City was worth paying attention to.

Xia Duo also understood the core competitiveness of the Liyadun Chamber of Commerce; it was actually that they had some connections with the Elves in Konnifila City, similar to a compradore on Earth. Local chambers of commerce in the Savile Territory needed their help if they wanted to develop trade with Konnifila.

It was a textbook example of empty-handed white-wolfing.

Before, for some reason, the Liyadun Chamber of Commerce's connection with the Elves had suddenly been severed, which was why Lady Patti had the idea of transforming. But having never done real industry in the past, trying to transform all at once meant the decline could certainly not be stopped.

And now that they had hooked up with the Elves again, he just wondered what Lady Patti's thoughts were now?

After chatting a few more words with Steward Yarman about the situation of the three chambers of commerce—Hans, Silaiwen, and Shanjin—they had arrived at the villa, and Lady Patti and the three presidents were all waiting at the entrance to welcome him.

"Lord Xia Duo!" *4 "Hmm." Xia Duo nodded in return, "Let's talk inside."

"Yes, yes." The three presidents answered in unison.

With Xia Duo's current status, even if he had made them stand here to talk, they would not have had any objections.

Arriving at the Reception Room, Xia Duo took the main seat as a matter of course, then let everyone sit down and said, "Besides understanding the situation regarding the recruitment of territory population, there is another important matter I need your chambers of commerce to handle together."

"My lord, no matter what the matter is, the Shanjin Chamber of Commerce will definitely accomplish it for you!" As soon as Xia Duo finished speaking, President Fulaike of the Shanjin Chamber of Commerce could not wait to express his stance.

The others hurriedly followed suit; only Lady Patti was a beat slower, but she also clearly expressed her support.

"I have obtained permission from the Seventon Council to recruit territory residents directly in Seventon. I need you to help me bring my residents back."

The several presidents looked at each other. Fulaike, who had spoken first, was "pressured" by the others and had to bite the bullet and step forward, "My lord, we are willing to serve you, but we are not familiar with Seventon. I am worried that we might not handle your business well."

"You don't need to worry about that. The recruitment of residents will be done entirely by the Seventon Council; you only need to take the Document I have signed to collect the people."

Speaking of this, Xia Duo felt more and more that this expansion movement was not simple at all. When it involved population, no lord would be willing to let people go.

Legally speaking, even the Seventon Council had no right to forcibly requisition population. That they could recruit residents at will meant there must be a transaction and compromise involving all the lords in the entire territory.

The Princess alone did not have such great energy; after all, some lords were Great Arcanists themselves, so why would they concede to the Princess, who was also a Great Arcanist? It could be seen that although the expansion movement was led by the Princess, it must have been agreed upon and supported by the vast majority of Great Arcanists—at least on the surface, that was the case.

Hearing Xia Duo's explanation, the several presidents present were also stunned. This news was truly too shocking. To be able to have the Seventon Council come forward to recruit residents for Lord Xia Duo, then inside this—

"My lord, Fulaike is willing to serve you. The Shanjin Chamber of Commerce will spare no effort to complete this task!"

Damn it, he snatched the lead again! President Hans of the Hans Shanghui was very annoyed in his heart. He glanced resentfully at Fulaike and hurriedly expressed his determination, "My lord, although the Hans Shanghui does not have merchant ships, I am willing to purchase them on the spot in Seventon. It will definitely be faster than the Shanjin Chamber of Commerce!"

The other two chambers of commerce also expressed their agreement.

Lady Patti was also willing to purchase merchant ships on the spot in Seventon, but Xia Duo did not approve of purchasing merchant ships in Seventon to transport people back.

Of course, he was still very satisfied with the attitudes of Fulaike and Lady Patti.

"Thank you for the support of the several presidents, but the matter of transporting people is not that urgent yet. The Council needs time to recruit manpower, and winter is coming soon. The Daxia Territory does not have enough housing to accommodate them for the time being, so I plan to proceed after the spring of next year. In addition, regarding the ship issue—"

Xia Duo paused. Actually, he was also hesitating whether to use ships to transport people. To be honest, if transporting by ship, the most ideal situation for one trip would take at least a month, and if any situation arose, it might take several months. It was truly too inconvenient.

For Xia Duo, who was used to the convenient transportation on Earth, this was simply unbearable. And if he did not use ships, he could only use Magic.

Using a 【Portal】 or 【Teleportation Array】, but the former was an 8th Circle spell and the latter was 9th. Even for a fixed portal or teleportation array, there was wear and tear every time it was used.

Whether hiring a Mage to cast spells or borrowing the portals and teleportation arrays of the Arcane Union, transporting hundreds or thousands of people down would cost a fortune.

But since he would only start transporting people after the spring of next year, Xia Duo was considering whether he would have already opened the door to transport people himself by then. Casting spells himself and asking others for help were definitely two different things.

Of course, being certain that he could become an Archmage and becoming an Archmage before the spring of next year were also definitely two different things.

Furthermore, Xia Duo still had to advance to Advanced Arcanist. He was unwilling to just be an ordinary Mage, and according to his plan, the time required for advancement could not be completed by the spring of next year.

Unless there were Projection Planes waiting for him to enter whenever he wanted, allowing him to borrow some time from the future.

However, the uncertainty of this was too high. Even though the Tower of Time had already searched for three Projection Planes and he had entered two in time, Xia Duo did not have a 100% guarantee that he would be able to search for more in the future, and that he would be able to enter them in time.

In just an instant, Xia Duo thought of a lot, but in the end, he could not be that radical. It was safer to make two sets of preparations, so he continued, "Regarding the ship issue, I hope that one trip can transport at least 500 people. If there are not enough ships, I will provide the funds to purchase them."

Steward Yarman knew the situation of these chambers of commerce and the Daxia Territory best, so he said, "My lord, counting the Owen, it should be enough!"

Xia Duo considered that the state of the Magic Net in the Mythallar Ruins was still somewhat dangerous for the time being, and he still needed to detour through Savile Town when traveling between the Tower of Time and the Daxia Territory. After thinking about it, he did not count the Owen and prepared to purchase another ship.

"Forget about the Owen. You go and purchase another ship in Seventon, and come to me for reimbursement when you return. In addition, list the losses of your chambers of commerce during this period, and I will also reimburse you."

For this kind of situation similar to requisitioning ships and personnel, Xia Duo did not intend to requisition them without compensation; otherwise, it would not be so easy next time. Cooperation and mutual benefit were the true path.

Of course, as a superior, he was certainly in a more advantageous position.

(End of chapter)