Chapter 274: The Zhendan Caravan

"My race originally started in the Southlands and only moved north later; now, I have led a group of men back to our ancestral home," Sinuoli answered the Cathayan's question simply.

"What about you? Who are you, and why have you come to the Southlands?"

"I am Linghu Zhengde, a humble comprador for the Dragon Fleet." The translator introduced himself first, then pointed to the person in charge, whose clothing was embroidered with a dark blue dragon pattern.

"This is Zou Qilin, the Governor-General of the Dragon Fleet's southern branch caravan." Seeing the translator look at him, Zou Qilin stood up and cupped his hands toward Sinuoli.

"The Dragon Fleet? Is that the navy of Zhendan?" Sinuoli asked.

"Indeed. We are all subjects under the command of Yin Yin, the Storm Dragon, who serves as the Governor of Weidong Province and Admiral of the Dragon Fleet. You may not have heard the name of Princess Yin Yin; she is the daughter of the Dragon Emperor and the Moon Empress, the Longnü who governs the south."

"Dragon Emperor, Moon Empress, Storm Dragon..." Sinuoli repeated the names, needing a moment to process and absorb them.

"I have heard of one called the Iron Dragon, Zhaoming. How is he now? Is he still ruling the realm?" Sinuoli thought of the intelligence provided by Guildmaster Buluoke of the Engineer's Guild at the time.

"Are you referring to Hall of Zhaoming, the Governor of Weixi Liesheng who sits in the capital of Shangyang and guards the Changya Zhilu?" Linghu Zhengde looked surprised, though he provided an explanation for himself in an instant.

"Hahaha, that is true. You Westerners all learn about our Zhendan through the Changya Zhilu, so it is only natural you know of Hall of Zhaoming. The old master is still the lord of Shangyang. Although our sovereign father has taken on a human form to walk the world, his true form remains an immortal Dragon."

Sinuoli could sense Linghu Zhengde's reverence for the Dragon Gods. As rulers, they must be widely beloved by the people; at the very least, their troops were quite loyal.

"Iron Dragon, Storm Dragon—besides these two, there are other Dragon-Blooded, right?" Sinuoli asked next, remembering that Guildmaster Buluoke had mentioned another name.

"Those who often appear before men and govern the four directions include the Governor of Weibei Liesheng, Changyuan Shaowei, and Storm Dragon Miaoying; the Governor of Weinan Province and the Heavenly Mountains, the Candle Dragon Lidao; and the Governor of the Central Province and Prime Minister, the Jade Dragon Yuanbo. There are others..." Linghu Zhengde had great enthusiasm for the Dragon-Blooded and introduced them with high spirits.

"Linghu, say no more! Ask him the reason for his arrival!" Before he could finish, Zou Qilin interrupted his subordinate. He used the Zhendan language; Sinuoli understood, but there was no harm in pretending not to at this moment.

"Ah, you just said you returned to your ancestral home; that is a wonderful thing. Congratulations, congratulations!" Linghu Zhengde quickly changed the subject. "But what brought you here? This is quite a distance from the mountains."

"I came here to sign some trade agreements with Lord Atike. Cooperation, mutual benefit, and the exchange of goods can accelerate development. Hearing the Skinks discussing that there were strangers here, I stopped by to take a look." Sinuoli, of course, would not say he had come specifically for the Cathayans; he switched to a watertight reply.

"May I ask where you are from? Karag-a-Karaz, Karak-Kadrin, or Karak-Vaul?" Linghu took a rough, hand-drawn map and asked while looking at it.

"It is Karaz-a-Karak, the Everpeak, the capital of the Mountain Kingdom. I am Draz, son of the true lord of the mountains." Sinuoli corrected him. Many Empire Humans struggled to pronounce the Dwarf names of cities, let alone the Cathayans. To facilitate communication, many of his kin used the common-tongue names to refer to their cities.

"Oh, oh. Then, do you still have contact with that place?" Linghu Zhengde appeared very excited.

"Of course, we have two caravans traveling back and forth every month!" Sinuoli gave an affirmative answer.

"They come from the end of the Changya Zhilu! And they maintain close contact with that place!" The translator turned his head to report.

"Excellent!" Zou Qilin slapped the armrest of his chair, struggling to control his joy. "The local produce here is not very rich, and those four-legged lizards do not wear clothes, running about the world naked. We have suffered from poor performance for too long!"

Immediately after, Linghu Zhengde enthusiastically invited Sinuoli to stay overnight in the bazaar and arranged some Eastern-style delicacies for him and his men. Looking at the chopsticks in his hand and the stir-fry on the plate, Sinuoli attributed all his displayed strangeness to "not being used to the food."

The guards did not see through the reason behind the Cathayans' enthusiasm, attributing it all to them being wealthy, generous, and hospitable. The high-concentration distilled spirits from the East were much stronger than the fermented fruit wine of the Lizardmen, and they soon fell into a drunken stupor.

"Phew, I didn't expect I'd have to personally go eavesdrop for another day!" Sinuoli had things on his mind and hadn't drunk much. He took out the Chenshi Bili and wiped it gently; the Runes on it were triggered. In the eyes of outsiders, he vanished, and his movements were silent.

Sinuoli easily bypassed several guards. These Zhendan soldiers wore Lamellar Armor—made of iron plates connected by leather strips or rivets. But from this point alone, Sinuoli could not judge more information; the Warhammer World could not really be mapped to the history of his previous life.

"This trade route must be controlled by us!!"

Sinuoli heard Zou Qilin's voice. This Governor-General was clearly not just a caravan leader; he was also a quite capable warrior.

"That goes without saying! Our caravan is going to make a comeback this time!"

"Back then, Tu Anquan chose this side, and what happened? It wasn't safe at all, and the profit was only this much! I won't even mention the ones going to Nipeng; the caravans going to Ind earned much more!"

"Thousands of years ago, when that Laimiya was still around, selling Firearms earned so much! It is said that the debt the natives there owed was enough to mortgage the entire city-state and still not be paid off! How is it that it's all gone now!"

The caravan managers had also drunk quite a bit of alcohol, and they huddled together to discuss. Sinuoli turned his mind rapidly. The Cathayans wanted to connect to the Old World through him, and he, too, wanted to establish a line with Zhendan. However, knowing their thoughts, he could seize the initiative.

"It's a pity, I still have too little intelligence. I don't know the exact status of these few people, nor what price they can offer." Sinuoli felt slightly regretful as he walked silently back to his guest room.

"Silk five, fifty lotus or... My god, how are they even conducting trade like this!" Early the next morning, Sinuoli wandered around the market.

Because the Lizardmen did not use precious metals as currency, this bazaar was still in the stage of barter. He had no way to accurately calculate the price of Zhendan goods, as his own trade with the Lizardmen was also based on barter.