The Admiral
"We, the representatives of Sea Breeze rchant House would like to et with the leader of New Norfolk. Do you know where they are so we can discuss future cooperation?" The blueish-green human was looking for him and he didn't know why.
After being swamped, the rchants had cleared a path and split up to go in different directions. The Admiral knew from their dress and insignias that they were all not of the sa Faction which made them splitting up unsurprising.
It was just that he didn't understand why.
The small group with Mountain emblems and a coloring of rich browns went off to the East where he knew the leader of Mountainside lay. The Grass Sea Trading Group went off to where the Heartlands Alliance Lay.
And now, the Sea Breeze rchant House was looking for him, when his City was located conveniently on the coastline.
The Admiral didn't imdiately go out to et with the alien but tried to think through what had just happened. So much had happened he wasn't exactly ready for another bombshell to be dropped so soon.
Like alien rchants being teleported in.
"Sir," an advisor ca up to him, "The volunteer has co back and said that they can re-enter anyti they wish until the tir is up."
Perfect!
So good news finally. No one was sure if first entering the Reward Space would be a one-ti thing or not. This way they could find out what these First Trading Rights were and if the rchants were telling the truth.
"Do we have the information yet?" The Admiral asked.
"We do," the sa advisor handed over a red to titled, 'rchant Connections to the newly Integrated.', "The researchers have already parsed through it and haven't located any falsities. It doesn't hold that much specific information and is more general, but from what we gathered, the rchants were truthful."
"So they truly are here in a pure capitalist intent?" The Admiral asked.
"From what we can gather, yes."
"Does the book hold anything else I should know?" The Admiral asked. He didn't have the ti nor the skills to read the book right now. He would eventually, but he had a lot more pressing concerns to deal with in the next twenty-four hours.
"One other thing of note is First Trading Rights are usually purchased by a single rchant Group or Trading House through a bid of so sort. It seems like the ones we got are a conglorate of many, smaller Trading Houses pooling together." The advisor said.
"So they're separate, but technically working together?" He asked.
"Yes."
He thought for a mont before nodding, "Alright, send him in."
The Admiral had been briefed by economic advisors on how to handle this eting already and daylight was wasting.
The slender, off-colored human soon entered into the tent set aside for diplomatic etings. The man looked like a normal human proportion wise. A bit on the shorter side but had everything else normal. Two arms and legs. Two eyes and one nose.
Everything except for his color and his eyes were normal. Both were clearly otherworldly.
"Hello, I am Trevarian, rchant Head of the Sea Breeze rchant House sent here. It's a pleasure to et you." Either through research ahead of ti or so other reason, he stuck out his hand in a normal handshake greeting.
The Admiral wasn't thrilled to touch hands but had to anyway. Poison is both easier and harder to deal with. With stats, skills, and possible alterations, the threat of poison could be diminished, not to ntion healing skills. The flip side to that was with Professions, skills, and otherworldly plants and animals, poison could be insanely more deadly. It was a toss up. The Admiral didn't like toss ups.
"You may call The Admiral." He answered, "I've heard you've been looking for ."
"Correct." Trevarian nodded, "As you know, without the ability to set up our own Civilization Pylons, we must rely on those run by natives for access to anities and protection."
"And you want to use mine?" The Admiral surmised, "Am I supposed to think choosing my City, which sits on the Coast, is a coincidence?"
Trevarian shook his head, "It is not a coincidence. You have the highest leveled Pylon that matches our specialty. It is obvious why your City was chosen just like why the Frost Rose Emporium only has one choice."
He wanted to say 'And if I say no?' but he guessed what the answer to that would be. He also didn't want to co off as instantly hostile either. There were too many unknowns for him to feel comfortable inviting in otherworlders, but he didn't have a choice.
He could either say yes, and gain whatever benefits he could, or they would find soone else who would.
"How would this agreent work?" The Admiral asked instead, "I won't allow you to undercut our industries." They possibly had entire cities or planets to call on for supplies and with that kind of ability, there would be no way the barely rebuilt industries of Earth would be able to compete.
If that happened, all manner of resources and coins would be sucked out and transferred to wherever these aliens called ho. The opportunity to build wealth would be a lot harder, near impossible.
"You don't have to worry about that." Trevarian said, "Anything produced locally will be much more affordable than what we can provide. Unless it's wildly overpriced, of course."
Stolen from its original source, this story is not ant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The Admiral was skeptical.
"You've used the pylon shop, yes?" Trevarian asked, "You know how expensive it costs to buy things from far away?"
"Yes, I do," He answered. It was the only reason Traders still ford caravans and built ships. It was cheaper to move the goods manually than to buy through the shop.
"Moving supplies from planet to planet is exorbitantly expensive." Trevarian said, "The transfer costs alone will make anything you produce locally much cheaper by a significant margin. To undercut you, we would have to sell at a massive loss when there is no need to do so."
"Alright," He said slowly, "What would future cooperation entail?"
"That part is rather simple." Trevarian said, "We ask to be allowed to construct a Trading Hall inside your City, preferably in the Inner City but that part is more preference than requirent, and protected from outside threats. Additionally, we ask to be linked to your Civilization Pylon so that our Shop can house Market Terminals.
"In doing so, we will be subject to any taxes you set and allow you first refusal to match any offer on any outside goods we bring in and sell."
Is this an elaborate spying operation? Are they reporting back what we do and what we make? How strong we are and how large our military is?
It was hard not to think about the possibilities as they were woefully ignorant of what was even possible.
"I will need to think about this," He said. This wasn't sothing he would be able to decide right now, let alone by himself. While he was in charge, this wasn't his area of expertise.
"That's perfectly understandable," Trevarian said cheerfully, "You may call for when you wish to speak again."
They said pleasant goodbyes and after the man left, The Admiral slumped back into his seat. Not only do I have to prepare for War, but now I need to consider aliens as well. What has my life turned into?
Every strategic advisor or long-term military man he had in his chain of command knew that War was imminent. The blow everyone received and the massive losses from the test only delayed the inevitable.
War between Factions was coming and he needed to be ready. Not only that, but future tests lood. It'd be years until those ca to the forefront, but based on how bad this one was, they needed to prepare earlier rather than later.
He sighed deeply.
An aide ca in to pull him away from his thoughts, "Sir, a Christopher Zalenski is here to see you."
Luckily, they were trained and knew him well enough that he didn't even have to ask for the intelligence report they had on the man as it was already being handed to him.
~~
Christopher Zalenski, Designation: Iceman
Faction: Frostheim - Faction Leader
Title: Baron
Class: Heavy Warrior Variant
Profession: Unknown
Level: 100
Highest Stat: Strength Est. 1500
Laws: Ice - Tier 2. Wind - Tier 2
Mana Cultivation: Stage 1
Body: Stone
Spirit: Anchor Formation
A heavily armored warrior using a large Warhamr. Layer of Ice as well as plate underneath. Creates a domain of ice around him that debilitates anything close.
Categorization: Extrely High strength and High defense Warrior.
Threat Level: Extrely High
~~
There had been so changes from the one he first read about the man. Most were clarifications or edits where they were unsure, but one change did stand out.
Threat Level: Extrely High
It used to only be High. There were only a few others they had knowledge of that were evaluated to have an Extrely High threat level.
After reading through what they had on the man and putting away the paper, he nodded, "Send him in."
The Admiral wasn't excited to have a eting right after the alien and wished to discuss with his advisors what they should do, but he also needed to know what the man wanted. Spurning him now was not a good decision. Especially with a threat level like that.
The man who walked in was much different than who he rembered seeing at the gathering. The man then was covered in nice furs, stood confidently, and mainly just observed.
The man now was dressed more moderately in soft leathers. He still held a confidence to him, but it was hidden behind a tiredness he didn't have before and it was obvious he was still nursing wounds. The Admiral knew the feeling as he too wished to sleep and see a Healer.
The Warhamr the intel said he wielded was missing and he instead had two axes on his belt.
I'm surprised they allowed him to walk in with them. Weapons of those who ca to visit were supposed to be left outside the tent.
"Christopher, it's nice to formally et you," The Admiral said and they shook. His hands were rough but firm.
"I'm sorry, I don't know your na," Christopher said in response after the handshake.
"The Admiral or just Admiral is fine." He'd been going by it for so long that it felt like his na by this point.
"If that is what you insist, but I'd prefer to call you by na," Christopher said. The man was much larger than the previous alien and filled out the chair much more.
"Fitzwallace." The Admiral said finally. It was his last na but it was what he'd gone by for most of his military career. His first na felt odd to be referred to by.
"Nice to et you, Fitzwallace." He said sincerely, "I've co for a few reasons."
Straight to the point. Alright then.
"I've t with other Faction leaders before leaving to purchase things that my City does not have and now I've co to you. I can't help but notice the advancents you've made in combining our old technology with magic and have co to see if you're willing to sell any of it."
Is he talking about guns? Or just the electronic devices we've recovered.
Through research, they'd been able to replace electric lightbulbs with magic-powered ones instead. From everyone else using torches and fire for light at night, the Admiral knew they were ahead of the curve.
They'd attempted to get Radios working again but nothing they'd tried had worked. The interference mana provided shortened the range dramatically making them mainly useless and if they did work, the static was unbearable. There was also an issue with soone of sufficient strength causing problems. Scientists believed strong auras could also interfere with the radio waves.
Advanced computers were also sothing they still hadn't worked out yet, but more simplistic ones were already being tested.
Guns, though, were where most of their efforts lay. Artillery and cannons were sothing they wanted to outfit their Cities and ships with before any Wars kicked off and the Admiral was not interested in giving them away.
"That depends on what it is you're looking for." The Admiral said, "I won't sell you arms if that's what you want no matter how much you offer."
"I don't want your guns. The lights and other similar devices are what I'm after. Not weapons." Christopher shook his head, "Also, the Formation you use to communicate long distances would help us trendously as well as ship designs that can withstand aquatic beasts."
How does he know about the Formation?
At first, the Admiral was taken aback by how openly he asked for things. He didn't veil his words or hide anything, he just ca right out and said it. Which was... odd.
Plus, he just gave up how much he knew. The Communication Formation was supposed to be a highly kept secret, yet the man obviously knew about it and asked for it openly.
Frostheim's intelligence network is advanced. They'd have to make a note of that for the future.
Is he hiding more? Did he openly state it to throw off and assu that was all?
"And what are you offering for such knowledge?" The Admiral asked slowly, still debating in his head whether the man was toying with him.
"These," Christopher upended a small pouch he took from his belt and blue-tinted small crystals tumbled out and onto the table.
Mana Crystals.
They were used for power in almost everything they'd built and were extrely expensive. Any they could get their hands on were either being used to power what they had already built or used in research.
The Admiral tried to keep his want for them concealed. Maybe he already knows how much we need them.
"I'm sure we can co to an agreent." He said.
Guns were off the table, but everything else didn't matter that much. Especially if they were getting Mana Crystals in return.
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