This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 427 - 399: Kingdom Factory Plan

Chapter 427: Chapter 399: Kingdom Factory Plan

It’s no wonder Princess Ariel was sensitive, when Amberser had pretended to be Monger Greyriver, she had observed very carefully how this "wise man" used language to fool people, thinking that one day she might become a clever person herself.

Therefore, Princess Ariel was very familiar with all the body movements of that Monger Greyriver.

And now, even though the lich in front of her looked nothing like Monger Greyriver, Princess Ariel could feel that their temperaments were very similar. Especially the last part of what Amberser said, as soon as he finished speaking, Princess Ariel knew that she had completely fallen into the trap, just like when Monger Greyriver used to trick people.

This feeling was just too strange.

Princess Ariel couldn’t help but scrutinize Amberser, trying to see through the soul masked by the lich’s shapeshifting.

Unfortunately, Amberser did not reveal any flaws, only politely saying, "If Your Royal Highness has other considerations, please feel free to speak up, business always needs discussion."

It was then that Princess Ariel came back to her senses and said to Amberser, "What other ways of cooperation were you referring to just now?"

A smirk crossed Amberser’s mind, Princess Ariel’s question signified that most of his plan had succeeded.

Amberser said, "It’s quite simple. The Fury Tide Kingdom has major financial problems and can’t produce sufficient cash, but I know that the Fury Tide Kingdom has a bit of surplus population..."

Princess Ariel interrupted, "Master Ultraman, you are mistaken. The Fury Tide Kingdom doesn’t have a large population, we are already struggling to fill our stomachs."

The Fury Tide Kingdom is spread across several giant islands, with a population that isn’t very large, estimated to be less than ten million in total.

Moreover, the small land area of the Fury Tide Kingdom doesn’t allow for large-scale farming and herding, so they rely on the sea for survival. Consequently, the common people of the Fury Tide Kingdom can only fish to fill their bellies.

The majority of the population pays taxes in fish, which is why the kingdom’s gold is scarce. Had it not been for the discovery of a small underwater gold mine, the Fury Tide Kingdom would have had to resort to piracy to earn gold.

However, mining the underwater gold is exceedingly difficult, and not much gold has been mined over the years, with the mine nearly depleted.

A kingdom that can’t even feed itself doesn’t have the manpower to dive and mine, and without sufficient gold or any significant special products, the Fury Tide Kingdom finds it hard to trade with other kingdoms on the mainland, constantly suffering losses. This has led to the Fury Tide Kingdom becoming more isolated, more backward, and poorer.

So Amberser’s mention of abundant manpower is completely absurd.

Yet, Amberser shook his head, "I’m aware of the Fury Tide Kingdom’s predicament. Fishing for food is far too inefficient and dangerous, which is not conducive to the development of the Fury Tide Kingdom."

This is the problem with island kingdoms, unable to support a vast industrial system, and if they only rely on fishing and hunting, they can never escape their current plight.

Amberser, however, had a solution, "Has Her Royal Highness ever considered importing food? If the kingdom has enough food, it could free up the population for more valuable work, like processing various alchemic products for me."

"Processing alchemic products?" Princess Ariel said in surprise: "But our Fury Tide Kingdom doesn’t have the foundation for that."

"No problem, I do. I have complete alchemy factory production line technology, I just lack personnel."

Princess Ariel, remembering the bound giant dragons she had seen earlier, exclaimed in shock, "Are you really going to slaughter giant dragons, using their bodies for alchemy?"

"Heh, it’s not so cruel. I do business with a steady flow rather than short-term deals. If the Dragon Race were wiped out, what then? I’m only targeting certain specialties of the Dragon Race like Dragonbone Vine, Dragon Scales, Dragon Blood, etc. With the right adjustments in ratios, these raw materials can produce a huge quantity of alchemic products with a wide market."

Princess Ariel then asked, "Aren’t you friends with the Undead Queen? Wouldn’t it be simpler to ask her for help?"

Amberser replied with resignation, "The Gloomyland region is simply unsuitable for building large production lines. Besides, Dragon Race materials are very sensitive, and if contaminated by Dark Magic Power, the rejection rate would be very high."

Using skeletons to work is not an option as Dragon Race products are high-end, and a slight contamination could lead to waste. Living people are necessary.

Even if Dark Hell has Dwarves and Gnomes, issues like water source and ventilation are problematic, and considering the winding tunnels, it’s hard to find a flat area.

Amberser couldn’t very well perform the World Weaving Technique again to create a new environment for the Alchemy Factory, for the input costs would be too high. Even if he was prepared for that expense, the subsequent transportation costs would be another significant expenditure. Transporting goods from Gloomyland to the surface could only be done reliably by Teleportation Circle, which is frightfully expensive.

The Fury Tide Kingdom is different; it’s an island, which makes transportation much easier.

Amberser was planning to build an inter-kingdom airship transportation route, and by opening up one here, even the cost could be further reduced.

And another point, the Fury Tide Kingdom is far too poor. In other places, alchemy factory workers’ salaries could be halved, then given a further thirty percent discount, and that would be sufficient to hire people from the Fury Tide Kingdom.

The advantage of low wages is incomparable to other regions.

Another point is that the Fury Tide Kingdom is arguably the closest to Dragon Island; even if no factory was set up, it would serve as a transit hub for transporting materials. Rather than being just a hub, it’s better to turn it directly into the production site.

Furthermore, Amberser could inflate the prices of war airships and use it to offset the "wages" for the Fury Tide Kingdom.

At most, he could share a part of the sales profits with the Fury Tide Kingdom, stimulating their initiative. In this way, Amberser could lure these ten million people into becoming his workers.

Just the thought of the kingdom becoming his alchemy factory excited Amberser so much that his soul trembled. When the time came to dump products on the market, he could crush all the alchemy guilds on the continent, and the price of Vitality Potions would be solely determined by Amberser!

"Her Royal Highness the Princess, I can provide airships for the kingdom, along with technology and some basic infrastructure, and all you need to provide is a sufficient number of workers and land. As for food, I have some connections with the Druids and can obtain enough food from them to ensure that the people of the Fury Tide Kingdom won’t go hungry.

"You wouldn’t want your people to eat nothing but fish their entire lives, would you? Bread, eggs, milk, various meats—all of these could become part of the Fury Tide Kingdom’s menu. What do you think?"

Airel was shocked by the future depicted by Amberser. Even as a princess, her diet consisted of various fish and seaweed, and she had only tasted beef and mutton a few times, let alone milk. Bread was the only choice available, as the scarce arable land of the Fury Tide Kingdom prioritized supplying the royal family.

If this Lich could actually deliver, it seemed like it would indeed be a good thing for the Fury Tide Kingdom.

Just as Airel was about to agree, instead she said, "I will seriously consider your proposal. How about this, Master Ultraman? Please write up a detailed plan, so I can study it. As to how we can cooperate, what we need to provide, and what we can gain, I hope all of this will be clearly laid out in the plan."

Inside, Amberser thought, the once naive girl had really grown up and had become smarter and more cautious.

Amberser handed the plan he had prepared in advance to Airel, and Her Royal Highness the Princess briefly flipped through it, her eyes lighting up. The contents listed were precisely what the Fury Tide Kingdom needed, everything seemed so perfect, as if signing this contract would improve the kingdom.

Poor Airel, her growth had been too brief, if only she had delved into research for a few more years, perhaps she would have seen through Amberser’s schemes.

This was a beautified plan, completely avoiding the key issues.

Once a kingdom’s food supply is monopolized and its populace all become workers, what end awaits that kingdom?

This form of monopoly is intangible. Once the people of the kingdom get used to a life with meat and bread, if one day they are forced back to a diet of only fish, it would be a devastating blow to the kingdom.

At that time, the fate of the Fury Tide Kingdom would be entirely in Amberser’s hands.

Amberser didn’t mind if Airel took the plan back to study it slowly.

Most likely, no one in the Fury Tide Kingdom would understand the tricks hidden in Amberser’s plan; they were too poor, had too few people, and attracted too few talents.

Amberser had seen their court mages. Those who dabbled in alchemy, those who played with corpses, those who played with spells, but not a single one had researched society and people’s livelihoods.

As for the old king... hehe, Monger Greyriver had entirely deceived the old king, who was even less capable of seeing to the heart of the issue.

The only concern now was Lord of the Storm Talos. Would He see through this plan and deliver a divine message to His followers?

Would that be considered meddling in mortal affairs?

All Amberser could do was pray to Aeo in his heart, O God above gods, please be stricter, and preferably make all deities afraid of issuing divine messages. Then, sooner or later, this world would fall into his hands.

Watching the retreating figure of Airel, Amberser prepared to withdraw his attention.

The Laine People would not be defeated by the mere Thunderous Sea Area; they were sure to come before him, so he had to prepare, hoping to resolve the matter cleanly when the time came, as that would deter everyone.

But just as Amberser was about to resume refining his plan, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

Airel... that name, it couldn’t be—was the girl that fool intended to marry Her Royal Highness the Princess Airel?

Originally, Amberser had no such thought, for the name Airel was too common, with too many people sharing it, and without a surname, it was difficult to compare.

But Aeolus possessed such extraordinary power; the woman he wanted to marry wouldn’t be a commoner’s daughter, would she? Otherwise, a commoner would not manage to escape Aeolus’s pursuit if she wanted to elope.

Only Her Royal Highness the Princess Airel had the status to warrant Aeolus’s full pursuit.

Combining Aeolus’s idiotic behavior, Amberser had a bold guess—this was likely a method of divine intervention in the Mortal Realm by deities!