Munitions Empire

Therefore, Tang Mo naturally let out a snort of laughter, causing Alice's defenses to crumble in an instant as she sat back down in her chair, dejected and covered in metaphorical dust.

"I'm not stuttering!" Alice, realizing she had indeed become somewhat speech-challenged in her anger, surged up with ire again and emphasized her point resentfully.

"Alright! Alright!" Tang Mo gave her a look that said 'I don't believe you one bit,' intending to gloss over the subject.

He didn't wait for Alice to get stuck on the topic and steered the conversation back to the terms of cooperation: "I'm willing to supply these products, but the prices will have to float upwards. You know, the Elf Race paid over one hundred thousand Gold Coins for these devices, and Northern Ridge also requested deferred payment, so the price will have to rise somewhat."

"Twenty steam engines, priced at 20,000 Gold Coins, with the deferred surcharge, set at 30,000 Gold Coins… Payment can be made in installments." As Tang Mo spoke, he began calculating how much Northern Ridge was due to pay, looking like he deserved a good punch.

After considering further, he added: "Moreover, if you want the bullet production line, you'll have to pay me the design costs of the bullets: starting from 10 million bullets, at 30 copper coins each… the price comes to 30,000 Gold Coins... There's no extra charge for this, so you can produce more bullets to dilute the cost."

At this point, he remembered something about the Elf Race—the cost of bullets hadn't been accounted for…

So, in his mind, he reminded himself to have a good discussion with his new Elf friends tomorrow about increasing the bullet prices.

Having reminded himself, he continued, causing Alice to lose any remaining semblance of temper: "If Northern Ridge wants the production rights to the K1 Quick Gun and the Revolver, there's an additional cost of 20,000 Gold Coins… Believe me, it's a real bargain…"

This young lady now realized that in front of Tang Mo, the formidable dragon, she was nothing but a naive little bunny.

Her expression numb, she watched as Tang Mo lamented to himself: "The Elves paid over one hundred thousand Gold Coins for these devices, and you… only spent about 80,000 Gold Coins… and you can pay in installments too… My, I'm hardly making any money…"

As he spoke, Tang Mo suddenly paused, raising his voice and addressing Alice: "However, there's obviously no such thing as a free lunch, so I want some compensation. That's not too much to ask for, right?"

"Compensation?" Clearly, Miss Alice, our protagonist, once again misunderstood the word.

And Tang Mo, relentlessly charging ahead with steely determination, nodded and went along with Alice's misunderstanding: "Yes! Compensation! After Northern Ridge secures victory in the war against Suthers Kingdom, I expect you to look after the interests of Great Tang Group, meaning mine… personally."

"I expect to get at least a stake in 2 iron mines and 1 copper mine, and I want at least thirty percent of the ore output!" Tang Mo boldly stated, planning to take over the Shireck Consortium's industries in Northern Ridge after the war.

Alice, for her part, felt that such a demand wasn't too unreasonable—after all, she could worry about these headache-inducing matters after the war.

However, Tang Mo's next demand seemed a bit excessive. He continued, "Additionally, for war reparations, I want thirty percent."

"Impossible! That's like saying you'd take all the benefits of Northern Ridge's war effort by yourself! The most I can give you is two percent!" Alice immediately rejected the proposal.

Tang Mo, aware that he was asking for the moon, wasn't afraid of Alice's counteroffer. Without considering, he retorted: "Are you joking? You think a few thousand Gold Coins will do? I want twenty-nine percent!"

"Heh! Three percent! Not a coin more! War reparations also need to provide for our soldiers' families, not to mention stabilizing Northern Ridge's economy. I'm worried there won't be enough to go around!" Alice didn't insist and immediately topped up Tang Mo's offer.

But this increase seemed somewhat lacking in sincerity, a mere one percent was clearly not enough to satisfy Tang Mo's appetite.

So Tang Mo waved his hand dismissively, looking like he really wasn't interested in continuing the negotiation: "You clearly have no sincerity!"

His acting was far from Oscar-worthy, even quite crude, for he really had no need to put on a show in front of Alice; he was merely bargaining for what he deserved.

Alice's eyes widened in response, her face flushing red like an apple: "You're taking advantage of a crisis!"

Tang Mo spread his hands in feigned innocence: "You can choose not to accept."

Stewing in anger, Alice pointed a single finger: "Ten percent! That's the most generous offer I can make."

That slender finger distracted Tang Mo for a moment; seldom had he seen such beautiful hands and long attractive fingers.

When he came to his senses, he couldn't help but cause Alice to see red once more: "Eh? You're not stuttering anymore?"

"I never stuttered in the first place." Alice immediately cried out loudly.

"…Alright then, ten percent it is! Within half a month, I'll send the corresponding machinery and equipment to Northern Ridge." Tang Mo readily agreed to the terms Alice had offered.

Alice breathed a sigh of relief, "Pleasure doing business with you!"

Tang Mo had also completed his negotiation plan for the day—after that, he still had to wait here for the Jingling Race to deliver part of their shopping payment.

Smiling, he said, "Pleasure doing business! I really don't have a room to host you, so tonight, I'll have Tagg take you to the harbor. You can find a ship and sleep in the captain's quarters…"

"You called me over just, just to talk about these?" Alice recalled her series of misunderstandings, looked down blushing, and asked softly while staring at her own toes.

The next second, Tang Mo answered as a matter of course, "What else? What did you think I asked you here for? Don't expect me to find a hotel for you in Brunas when you've just racked up a debt of tens of thousands of Gold Coins' worth of machinery from me…I'm broke! Not a penny left! Pay back what you owe, and then we can talk about other things!"

Tang Mo thought Alice was preparing to borrow money from him, because Alice knew he now had a large sum of Gold Coins. He had other uses for that money; he had to purchase cement, buy steel and other materials… Plus the payments he owed made his reserves not that substantial indeed!

The remaining tens of thousands of Gold Coins (well, not that many really), were also needed to acquire the intelligence network of the Silver Fox Tavern, to continue developing factories, and to support a private military… His money wasn't blown in by the wind, after all!

"Tang Mo!" Alice suddenly exclaimed Tang Mo's name.

"Hmm?" Caught off guard by being called by his name, Tang Mo was somewhat unused to it.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a pig…" After calmly saying this, Alice suddenly felt a refreshing sensation throughout her body.

Like a proud swan, she turned around with a swirl and, carrying a fragrant breeze, she left without looking back.

Tang Mo watched her retreat until the door blocked his view, only then did he shift his gaze elsewhere, "It's a bit messy… I should clean up a bit."

Outside, Alice walked up to Tagg, fuming, and said to her butler, "Let's go! To the dock! Pighead! Pighead! Jerk! Fool!

Pighead!"

Tagg glanced at the butler, who gave Tagg a helpless look, and together they followed Alice out, walking towards where the carriages were parked at the factory entrance.

Wes leaned against a tree, a playful smile on his face. He waited until the three of them had gone far, then sauntered carelessly as he pushed open Tang Mo's door.

"Something up?" Tang Mo was cleaning up some bottles by the wall, glanced at Wes, and asked absent-mindedly.

"Could it be… you like men?" Wes got straight to the point, asking curiously.

"Ah? How could that be… Why do you ask?" Tang Mo stopped what he was doing and looked back at Wes, "Are you interested in me?"

In the art of grossing someone out, he was behind no one. At least he managed to disgust Wes, whose face instantly showed a priceless expression.

However, he still understood from Tang Mo's words that Tang Mo wasn't interested in men—he was a normal man who liked women.

"Oh, stop it! I like women," Wes snorted disdainfully, then asked, "That young lady is the pride of Northern Ridge, and so pretty... didn't you feel anything?"

"Hmm… an Earl's daughter sounds quite tempting." Tang Mo laughed, put down the bottles, and stood up, only to realize with frustration that he didn't have any cigarettes in his pocket.

"Then why did you let her leave just like that?" Wes was quite intrigued and started to pry further, "You should be able to tell that she mustered a lot of courage to come see you."

"Do you think there's a possibility… it's because of her hair color?" Tang Mo seemed like a suave dude, not at all like an 18-year-old boy.

For an instant, Tang Mo's mind conjured the image of a long-haired silhouette, but that figure was too blurred to make out clearly.

"I'm being serious!" Wes didn't buy it: "Why, didn't you keep her? A beautiful Earl's heiress, isn't that enough?"

"Ha-ha! Maybe I'd prefer a queen instead." Tang Mo brushed away the ethereal image in his mind, making a joke out of it.

Wes was taken aback by the response; he contemplated for a moment, then nodded earnestly, "That's a good idea!"

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It's New Year, and Dragon Spirit is asking for: monthly tickets, donations, recommendation votes, subscriptions, favorites… rolling around and acting cute!

Wes: "That's a good idea!"