A week later, on the edge of the sunburnt plateau...
"How is the investigation of the Moonlight Empire?" asked Cedric, the leader of the Starsea Travelers.
"Throughout this week, I've visited various cities, different production sites, and explored all of the investable projects in the empire."
"Here are the specifics," Eric said as he presented the information.
Cedric reviewed the notes that Eric had taken.
"Interesting," Cedric muttered.
"This Moonlight Empire is truly unique."
"Yes, Leader. I was even amazed by them," Eric said, reminiscing about his time in the empire.
"The promoter of this era is really not your average person."
Cedric wasn't amazed by the farms, security, the formation array, the academy, and so on.
What truly amazed him was that all of these aspects existed within one budding empire.
It's like a person wouldn't be amazed by just being handsome or rich.
But if you possess amazing talent in various fields, and you're still handsome and rich, then there's nothing left to do but raise your flag and surrender.
"This seems like a promising place to invest," Cedric thought.
This era of imperial domination was his chance to rise – his chance to reach tier 7.
If he could navigate it correctly, he might even amass resources until he reached tier 8.
Seeing the report from his subordinate Eric, it was clear that the Moonlight Empire had the potential to become the largest producer of food.
And in times of war, the most profitable commodities are food and weapons.
"Go and summon the two Etherium embassy envoys," Cedric instructed without hesitation.
"Yes, Leader."
Soon, Sith and Kelton entered.
"What's the matter?"
"I'd like to meet the ruler of the Moonlight Empire."
"I wonder if you can arrange a meeting."
"Well, i'll send a message and see how he responds."
"Then I'll wait."
...
In the City of Arcana, in the park...
"How is your training on the Celestial Ascent Path?"
Maximus asked, looking at his wives, while his children played a little further away.
It was a rare day for his family; his wives weren't training, and his children were on vacation.
"We have already reached the 1300th+ step," one of his wives replied.
"Oh, that's quite far."
"It's because the style is all competitive."
"There are so many people stuck on the lower steps, that the illusion trial has turned into a competition mode."
"Furthermore, the punishment isn't life-threatening"
"After we lose, our soul will only weaken, causing us to descend a step."
Originally his wives only thought of tempering their souls slowly as the illusion trial is too dangerous.
If you fail the backlash in your soul can even kill you.
However, the real Celestial Ascent Path is more mild than its virtual counterpart.
Moreover, Due to it being a competitive mode, it's easier to advance.
Unless it's on a higher floor, where there aren't many people.
"Oh, that's quite different. Should I also visit it?" Maximus muttered.
But considering he still had a lot to do, he dismissed the thought.
As he reminisced with his wives, his token vibrated.
"Huh?"
Curious, he took out the token.
[Sith: Your Majesty, someone wishes to speak with you...]
[Maximus: I'm busy. Tell them to meet me tomorrow.]
Seeing that it wasn't particularly urgent, he didn't feel the need to rush.
Today was a rare day for his family; he couldn't let it be disrupted so easily.
"Come on, let's go to that treehouse and have some tea while the children play," Maximus said, leading his wives.
...
The next day, in the Moonlight Empire castle:
"I've met Your Majesty," Sith and Kelton greeted.
"At ease," Maximus waved his hand.
"And who is this?" Maximus inquired as he noticed another person accompanying them.
"I'm Cedric Starsea, the leader of Starsea Traders," Cedric stepped forward and bowed.
"I heard that you have something to discuss?"
"Indeed, Your Majesty. I've come to propose a partnership with our Starsea Traders."
"Interesting. What kind of partnership are you suggesting?"
"It's a trading partnership."
"I've heard there are large amounts of spirit plants and land animals in your territory."
"Starsea Trading wishes to acquire all your production supplies," Cedric proposed.
"Don't you know that we are already trading with other sea merchants?"
"Yes,"
"Then why come here? you can just buy the next shipping of our export"
"This... Starsea Trading aims to monopolize all your export products. Of course, in return, we're willing to pay twice their price," Cedric presented his plan.
He saw this as an opportunity to establish a monopoly in the business.
Given the current abundance and accessibility of food, he anticipated potential scarcity after the war.
Even if people had money, they might not be able to purchase food.
Having a stable food supply would certainly earn him enormous wealth.
"It's impossible for you to monopolize our production supplies," Maximus shook his head.
"We can also trade various supplies at more favorable prices," Cedric added, trying to persuade Maximus.
"Still no," Maximus firmly stated.
"If you wish, you can propose conditions," Cedric offered, attempting to gauge Maximus's needs.
"No, I don't want to entrust the future of my empire to anyone but myself,"
Maximus didn't want to depend on these sea merchants.
He planned on establishing his own sea fleet when he grew stronger.
Allowing anyone to monopolize his export business wasn't a part of his plan.
"It's a shame. In that case, I can only engage in standard business with Your Majesty,"
Cedric sighed, understanding the difficulty of monopolizing a business.
Unless one were a fool, entrusting everything to a single individual was unwise.
"That's acceptable," Maximus nodded in agreement.
"Then I shall take my leave," Cedric sighed.
Now he can only compete with other sea merchants when buying food from Moonlight Empire in the future.
"By the way, I have a business proposal for you," Maximus suddenly interjected.
"Oh? What is it?"
"It goes like this: the Moonlight Empire suffers from a shortage of population."
"Depending solely on natural reproduction would take ages to catch up to those old empires in terms of population."
"Thus, I would like to entrust your Starsea Traders with the task of assisting in the transportation of people," Maximus explained.
"Transport people?" Cedric repeated.
"That's correct. You should know that in this era of imperial domination, the more people there are, the stronger your empire becomes," Maximus explained.
According to Doran, the more people are gathered in one place the more concentrated the mana will be.
In the past, if he wanted to increase the mana concentration of the empire, he needed sufficient magic crystal mines as formation nodes.
However, in this era of imperial domination, the population will become like a magnet drawing mana towards them.
With enough population, it can even catch up to the mana concentration in the arcane continent.
"I'm not sure how much you're willing to pay for this service," Cedric inquired.
If the payment was too low, he would immediately decline, as he couldn't engage in a money-losing venture.
"How about 1 gold per person?" Maximus proposed.
"I'm afraid I can't agree to that. "
"The transportation cost alone is at least 3 gold, and when you factor in various necessities, it comes to nearly 5 gold coins," Cedric shook his head.
"I see. I didn't know the cost to be so high."
"How about 10 gold coins per person?"
"Furthermore, those with skills would cost 100 gold."
"For Tier 1 individuals, it's 1000 gold."
"For Tier 2, 10,000 gold."
"And lastly, for Tier 3, 100,000 gold."
Maximus proposed with a smile.
While it might seem like a considerable amount of money, it's easy to manage with the system in place.
After a few months of operation and experimentation, he found that the monthly sentiment limit mortal individuals could generate was between 10 to 100 gold.
With education, this could even rise to 1,000 to 10,000 gold.
Additionally, there were also mages and knights whose contribution he couldn't estimate for now.
Regardless, no matter how many people Cedric transported, he wouldn't be at a loss but would earn instead.
After all, he can convert the sentiment that people produce to gold points monthly.
"10 gold coins?" Cedric was taken aback.
The cost he initially estimated for Maximus was just that – an estimate.
If he managed things well, he could potentially reduce the cost to 1 gold coin per person, resulting in ten times the profit.
Moreover, there were talented individuals and those mages, and knights with higher costs.
"How about it?" Maximus asked.
"Of course, our Starsea Traders can't decline such a business opportunity."
"But I'm uncertain about how many people you need."
"If it's too low, I won't be able to profit much," Cedric inquired.
"There's no set limit, I can pay as much as you have," Maximus replied with a smile.
"Are you sure?" Cedric questioned.
After all, the Moonlight Empire was only recently established.
"Don't worry, I will pay hand in hand," Maximus reassured him.
"Then I'll do my best to revitalize the population of the Moonlight Empire," Cedric grinned broadly.
"It's a pleasure doing business with you," Maximus said, returning the smile.
New n𝙤vel chapters are published on f(r)e𝒆webn(o)vel.com