Chapter 691
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Saleen felt a little disappointed, but he did not show it on his face . He immediately thought of a problem . "The Pan's turtle alchemical boat is powerful, but I only have one and I am not hopeful of capturing another creature like the pan turtle . The pan's turtle alchemical boat is Metatrin City's secret weapon, the enemy mustn't know about it . If I have a warship that can dive the existence of the pan's turtle alchemical boat will be concealed . Holy Rock City uses this item to equip its navy which means that it can be repeatedly produced unlike my pan's turtle alchemical boat . If I create a manufacturing method, I will possess a huge number of it, which will be very practical . I don't have to use metals to craft it because I possess thundercloud wood . The thundercloud wood is much tougher than metals and isn't heavy . A lot of magic nuclei can be conserved if it is used in underwater navigation . "
"I, will have to thank His Majesty for this . " Saleen was grinning from ear to ear, "This diving warship has arrived at an opportune time . "If I want to expand the navy, I will surely have to use humans . If the entire army is made up of spirits and the winged skeleton meets with a mishap, I will not be able to command so many spirits . "
Seeing Saleen feel so jubilant, Barde finally had peace of mind . At this point in time, without a formal ceremony, a letter of credence could not be handed over . They could only discuss trade . After settling one-hundred-thousand magic nuclei in one go, Barde began thinking about the possibility of establishing personal relations with Saleen .
"Nailisi, go and collect the diving warship . " Saleen gave Nailisi one Dimension Stone . In name, this alchemical equipment was called a warship, but it was in fact a small vessel . Since Saleen possessed some experience from crafting similar equipment with Lex in the past it would not be too difficult for him to study this equipment .
Nailisi was all smiles when she received the Dimension Stone, then she went to collect the entire diving warship . Her ability was akin to that of a sorcerer already, even a normal grand mage might not be able to store this huge object which measured over ten yards .
Tiffany observed this event, but she pretended not to notice . She did not realize that Nailisi was an imp, nor did she detect the scent of a grand mage from Nailisi's body .
At that moment Barde and his confidante claimed that they were a little exhausted . They left without waiting for the performance to be put up by the singers who were borrowed from the nobles . Daniel went to arrange their lodging . Only the soldiers from the palace's swordsmen camp lived in the palace, so there was nothing Barde could find out . Saleen's main secrets were all concentrated in the temple .
Saleen invited Tiffany and Stephanie to stay behind . Seeing that Tiffany did not stand up, he knew that she had something to tell him . The nobles had also left, only Aini remained . In the temple, only Saleen's followers stayed behind .
"Great Mage, does His Majesty have something to tell me?" Saleen only opened his mouth after seeing that Barde and the rest had left . There were few formalities between mages, mages would not beat about the bush .
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"His Majesty doesn't have much to say . He asked me to find out whether Metatrin City can deploy troops to assist Holy Rock City or not . If your capabilities are too weak, then forget it, but if there is such a possibility… His Majesty would like to make a trade . "
"Trade?"
"Since you aren't a noble conferred by His Majesty, His Majesty will make it up to you if you deploy your troops . " Tiffany made her words even clearer . "This compensation wouldn't be without conditions . If your soldiers are too inferior, His Majesty can do nothing either . You have to win a few battles, that way it will be easier to draw funds from the national treasury . "
"Deploy troops? I… heard that the war in Loulan is very advantageous to Qin . " Saleen did not agree in a hurry, although he really wanted to send troops into Loulan in a justifiable manner . He was most afraid of not being able to participate in such matters .
"There is news from Sikeqinya City . Emperor Danny, who added a 'sacred' word in front of his name, seems to be interested in joining the war . " Tiffany's words appeared more arrogant now, but she was not directing her scorn at Saleen . The emperor of Sikeqinya, Emperor Danny, was a conceited fellow who was more abominable than the Cloudflow emperor and had added a 'sacred' word in front of his name .
In the eyes of a sorcerer, he was a clown . Even though he was a Golden Grand Swordmaster, he was still a clown .
What about Emperor Chanake? His powers had exceeded that of a Golden Grand Swordmaster, but he wasn't so presumptuous . Emperor Chanake was not indomitable, he was ambushed by the Holy See in the end .
"Understood…" After all, Saleen had experienced quite a number of tribulations in his life . With Lex's actions and Narnia's teachings, Saleen had no choice but to have a clear picture of the mainland's situation .
Sikeqinya might appear to be scattered sand, but in actual fact, it was powerful enough to disrupt the balance between the other three empires . If Sikeqinya wanted to help the Tanggulasi Empire, it would deploy troops from Laiyin Duchy . It would actually attack the land in northern Qin as a result .
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At that position, Qin did not possess any sturdy barrier . Originally, it had relied on Loulan for shielding . Now that Loulan was in shreds, soldiers from Laiyin Duchy only needed to pass through a hill measuring about three-hundred miles to enter Qin .
The Qin Empire had only stationed Lex's army there . Due to the terrain, armies which entered from this direction would have to pass through Phoenix once more and wind north before they could enter Qin again . By then, only the plains would be in the way of the invaders .
Be it the Tanggulasi Empire or Sikeqinya, either one of them had more cavalrymen than Qin .
In a field battle occurring on the plains, the power of the cavalrymen would always surpass that of the infantrymen unless the infantrymen were from a magic army . Two main forces from Qin had attacked Loulan, the vanguards had already reached the midline of Loulan . More than half of Loulan's land had been seized, it would be impossible to send troops to stage a rescue .
The moment Laiyin Duchy attacked from this point, Qin could only depend on the northern nobles to defend the invasion .
In the past people from Phoenix would naturally take the lead . At this moment, the Phoenix people hated Qin to the core, it would be too difficult to ask the Phoenix nobles to deploy their troops .
Of course, the Qin emperor could send the imperial swordsman's camp to fill this cavity, but it was more thrifty asking Saleen to take on this task . Due to Emperor Chanake's campaign, the imperial swordsman's camp had lost more than ten-thousand people . In the next few years Holy Rock City would not dare to deploy the imperial swordsman's camp for another campaign .
The gap was too huge between Qin and Tanggulasi, Qin's civilians were relatively richer and had some status . On the other hand, the Tanggulasi people were treated like beasts and the emperor could command them at will . When necessary, one-third of the three-hundred-million Tanggulasi people would be sent into battle . That was the most feared situation .
"What do you think about my army, Great Mage?" Saleen rebutted .
"It is passable . " Tiffany laughed, it was interesting for Saleen to ask this question because he did not even display his strongest forces .
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"Even if there is a letter of credence, it doesn't constitute a military alliance . If my army enters Loulan by accident, it will prove to be a big trouble . " Saleen declared his worries directly . He wanted a more concrete answer from the Holy Rock City . It would be no laughing matter if the Holy Rock City turned against him in the future otherwise .
"But the alliance issue is a little tricky . Decisions in the Holy Rock City aren't made by His Majesty alone . You can form a mercenary group though . " Tiffany was desperate, so she revealed Ojarvis' plan . "This Saleen is indeed very cunning, but unwilling to take initiative . " Judging from this reaction, Tiffany was in admiration of Ojarvis' deduction .
If Tiffany was in Saleen's shoes, she might not be able to resist the temptation and would have deployed troops to join in the war .
Even if one-hundred men were deployed and they all died in Loulan, there would still be a reason to invade Loulan . "This Saleen remains unmoved and he isn't putting on a pretense . "
"Mercenaries? How will the price of the mercenaries be calculated? If they are going to acquire magic nuclei like what His Majesty did, I will not be able to afford them . " At this moment, Saleen's behavior greatly resembled that of a Sikeqinyan . There was no other way . Saleen could sell magic nuclei to Ojarvis at half price because the cost was very low . If mercenaries were deployed money would be consumed daily . If too little mercenaries were sent, they would not affect much change . If too many were deployed, their commission would be a big issue .
"It's not like you aren't getting any benefits, you don't have to keep refusing . " Stephanie could not tolerate it any longer . She was not an imperial mage, she was just a sorcerer whom Emperor Chanake had groomed, so she did not treat Saleen as politely . She was viewing this problem from her own perspective .
"Benefits? What will I receive?" Saleen sneered, "Even if the mercenaries I deploy emerged victorious, they will only get a commission . Can my soldiers occupy the land? Will my nobles receive rewards as a result? Can my mages choose to build a magical tower in a city of their choice because of this?"
"Your brain is filled with all these complicated thoughts, are you still even a mage?" Stephanie rebutted .
"I can choose not to care about such stuff, but my subordinates will be mindful of it . If I cannot give them a satisfactory answer, why should they follow me?" Saleen retorted .
"So, Your Highness Saleen, what do you have in mind?" Stephanie smiled slyly .
Saleen shrugged his shoulders like a noble, then said, "The size of my mercenary group shall not be limited and it can travel within Qin . They will not pay taxes and will not be commanded by anyone else . "
"How is that possible?" Tiffany was puzzled, "By making such outrageous demands, Saleen is hindering the opportunity for cooperation . "
"Why not? My soldiers might not necessarily enter Qin . From Phoenix, they can enter Laiyin Duchy directly . This is a form of precaution . "
Stephanie furrowed her brows, then said, "Don't beat about the bush anymore, you know that Holy Rock City will not accede to these terms . "
"Then give me Laiyin Duchy . " Saleen went straight to the point . His agenda was to seize Laiyin Duchy . With Lex around, he would not need to fight with Qin .
"Hah, can you devour Laiyin Duchy?" Stephanie said in a sarcastic tone .
"I was born in Sikeqinya . A Sikeqinyan merchant will order goods in advance even if they aren't produced yet," Saleen answered plainly .
"Seems like what you really want is a secret agreement!" Tiffany sighed, "His Majesty Ojarvis has guessed everything correctly, there wasn't one request by Saleen which wasn't anticipated by Ojarvis . If Ojarvis didn't have such a weak body, he could become Qin's noblest emperor without any problem . "
A secret agreement was an allusion . Simply put, it was a private deal between two emperors to target a third party . This deal would never surface to light, but it was binding . Such an agreement could bypass the forces which restrained the emperor, it could be executed directly .