That day, the castle was missing a few of its girls; they had all formed up and set off to open up new markets for Sedona City.
Inside the castle's study.
"Master, when Elisa and the others pass by the royal capital, won't they be intercepted?" Mina asked with a hint of worry.
It should be noted that the fleet normally had to pass through the royal capital. If they were intercepted by the First Prince's men, the losses would be disastrous.
"Who said they were passing through the royal capital?" Lucas raised an eyebrow, his eyes flashing with calculation.
"Ah?" Mina was stunned.
Annie's fox ears twitched as she asked in surprise, "Master, when you sent Dahlia and the others out, weren't they heading to the inland and eastern regions of the Siacan Kingdom?"
"There's no need for that right now."
Lucas tapped his fingers against the table. With his lips curled into a slight smile, he explained, "The inland region has merchants coming to Sedona City, and the goods that the nobles of the Western Lands will soon produce will be enough to dominate that entire market. We can ignore it for now. As for the East, Pichu is already selling goods there, and that market is reliant on us. Maintaining our current operations there is sufficient."
Indeed, Lucas had no need to set his sights on the entirety of the Siacan Kingdom right now. There was no need to extend his reach inland just yet; otherwise, people might try to take advantage of him.
Market demand was already under his control. Sooner or later, it would all fall into his hands. For now, he could just sit back and watch the drama unfold in the royal capital. When the time was ripe, he could launch his offensive inland.
Therefore, it was necessary to open up markets further afield—such as the Dwarf Kingdom and the Yadian Kingdom.
It had to be known that the Whispering River had many tributaries. Coupled with the recent floods, some of the shallower tributaries had widened significantly. Several of these branches flowed outwards, passing through other kingdoms. One such tributary branched off near Pentos City, and Lucas had ordered Dahlia and her team to secretly use that branch to enter foreign territory.
Their primary goal was still gathering intelligence. There was no way to attack the Siacan Kingdom for now. Having just taken the Western Lands, he couldn't take steps that were too large—as the saying goes, taking a step too big will just end up pulling your balls.
Once Lucas fully integrated his current territories, that would be the time to strike the Siacan Kingdom. Moreover, at that point, it would be much easier to conquer the entire territory. After all, he still had his partners.
"Master, do you have your eyes set on the Dwarf Kingdom's iron ore?" Annie's eyes lit up; clever as she was, she immediately realized his angle.
"Indeed. Steel is power," Lucas chuckled softly.
Truly, when all was said and done, he was targeting their iron ore. Who could blame him when the Dwarf Kingdom had such massive quantities of it, and it was even exposed right on the surface of the earth?
This was intelligence provided by Florence. When Lucas first heard it, he was stunned. If he could seize that mining area, he could rely entirely on the technology he provided to rapidly rise to power on the back of the steel industry.
High-rise buildings, massive steel ships, trains, and the like—all of it could fully blossom, instead of developing at this sluggish pace. Who asked his territory to have such a severe lack of steel production?
"Master, will the dwarves sell their iron to us?" Annie frowned. She had also gleaned some information from the mermaid. Dwarves were known for their stubborn tempers. Sometimes, when their tempers flared, they would rather take a loss than trade with anyone.
"That will depend on Dahlia's eloquence, and just how charming our goods are," Lucas said, a confident smile playing on his lips.
Dwarves loved their alcohol. And the strong liquor produced in Sedona City was exceptionally alluring.
"Dahlia will succeed." Annie breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing the Master's smile, she knew the matter would be resolved.
"Master, another hundred or so beastkin arrived today," Mina reported.
"Oh? From the Sahara?" Lucas paused for a moment before asking, "How many beastkin have arrived recently?"
"Nearly a thousand. They've all been put to work since they arrived," Mina said with a smile.
"It seems the bait we cast last time was successful. The beastkin chieftain should be arriving soon, shouldn't she?" Lucas smiled faintly.
Previously in Riverden City, he had ordered his subordinates to spread word of Sedona City's development and its fair treatment of beastkin. It was clearly a massive success, drawing many beastkin over to Sedona City.
"Intelligence indicates that the beastkin chieftain has sent people to contact the fleet to gather information about Sedona City. I reckon she'll be here soon," Mina chuckled softly.
"Let her come. We can take our cooperation a step further." Lucas took a sip of tea.
The beastkin tribes of the Sahara were his partners. In the future, he could have them help launch a pincer attack against the First Prince or the Second Prince.
"They will definitely come." Thinking of that proud monkey-tribe beastkin and imagining her reaction upon arriving in Sedona City, Mina couldn't help but find it amusing.
"..." Annie pouted. She couldn't insert herself into this topic about the beastkin tribes. After all, they didn't even know what the other party's chieftain was called, nor had they ever seen what she looked like.
"By the way, Annie, how is the cashmere coming along?" Lucas turned and asked the fox-eared girl.
Since the basic linen manufacturing technology had been licensed out, higher-end products like cashmere coats would serve as their stepping stone into the premium market.
"It's already being woven. We've produced a lot of woolen yarn," Annie quickly replied.
"How is the cotton planting going? Are there any pests?" Lucas asked worriedly. Right now, he was terrified of bug infestations. Although he had used some methods to create insect repellent, it was unknown if it would have any major effect.
"None at all. Everything is going very well," Annie said with certainty.
"That's good." Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. Cotton was another piece in his next chess move. There were also the mulberry leaves currently being planted; silkworm silk represented the ultimate future of luxury fabrics.
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200 power stones.
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