Although Brand had prepared a welcoming party, the way to the royal city was still by tram.
Piltover is not a small, confined place like a western town. Although its land area is not as large as Alabasta, it is still twice the size of Wano Country now, and its specific area is similar to that of Wano Country several hundred years ago.
At that time, the country had not yet been flooded, and its land area was much larger than it is now.
If you wanted to walk to the capital, who knows how long it would take.
Now, these foreign nationals don't need to ask for directions themselves; they've even been provided with their own private carriages.
The tram sped along the tracks, and the specially designed tram didn't produce much noise; all you could see was the scenery rushing past you.
The island-circling tram has improved the island's transportation convenience, allowing ordinary people to travel around the entire Firefly Island in a single day using this specially designed mode of transport.
"Is this the island on the ground?"
Most of the people in the Fishman Island group were filled with curiosity and crowded around the windows to watch the changes outside.
The land was unknown to them, since even Otohime had never truly been to the land before.
"Quiet down! We are here representing the Dragon Palace Kingdom to negotiate. What kind of behavior is this! What will outsiders think of us!"
Princess Otohime wasn't the only one in a wheelchair; the Left Minister of the Ryugu Kingdom was also among them.
According to him, if the Queen dared to take the risk herself, what was there for a minister not to do? Although Shak possessed some martial prowess, he was ultimately from Fishman Street and lacked manners, so he followed along.
He is old enough, but he is a male catfish mermaid. The ability to split his legs is exclusive to female mermaids. The Left Minister will never be able to have his own legs in this lifetime.
The noisy fish-men were now in stark contrast to the visiting Alabasta delegation.
Yes, the delegations from the two countries are currently in the same train carriage.
Brand felt that having two carriages would result in one in front of the other, which might cause outsiders to fight over the issue of which carriage was in front of the other. Even if two carriages were arranged, there would still be a sequence.
Both the Ryugu Kingdom and Alabasta are legally member states of the World Government, and the people who come here are all queens, so it's not easy to determine who is superior.
In other countries, fish-men and mermaids would definitely be ranked lower.
Let alone the Dragon Palace Kingdom, they don't even acknowledge that race as a branch of humanity.
But this is Piltover, and the fact that Oran has minks as his confidants and holds high positions shows Oran's views on different races.
Since that's the case, let's just do it together.
Firefly Island already has large carriages for people of larger size, so it would be perfect to modify those carriages.
Diplomacy is not something Brand is good at; he's just copying what others are doing, following the old traditions of the Kingdom of Fafler.
Although Brand felt that the former kingdom was incompetent at everything, he admitted that those guys were very good at these kinds of formalities.
However, the person most skilled in diplomacy here is neither Brand nor the Left Minister of the Dragon Palace Kingdom. One is just copying blindly, and the other is just reciting from a script. In Titi's view, they are both extremely awkward.
As the Alabasta princess who has attended world conferences, she is the one who knows the most about such matters, and she also has a certain understanding of the national conditions of the two countries.
One is a country that has been out of contact with the outside world for a century in the deep sea, and the other is a newly established country that has been founded for seven years. It is inevitable that they will have flaws.
She didn't nitpick; instead, she was thinking about the tram problem.
Both the speed of movement and the coolness of the air conditioning inside the tram made her, someone living in a desert country, feel very comfortable.
Alabasta has a vast territory, and communication between major cities is difficult due to the desert. It would be great if such a tram could be built.
But all of this can only be discussed after she meets Oran. Although the purpose of her trip was to express her gratitude to Oran, she couldn't remain silent after encountering royalty from other kingdoms.
"Hello, I am Queen Neferutari Titi of Alabasta."
"I heard you're a princess from a kingdom in the deep sea. Would you like to get to know me?"
It's impossible to know how the other people felt when the tram arrived at the station, but the two princesses had already gotten to know each other well.
This gave Otohime more hope for the future. She felt that they had now made contact with two human kingdoms, which was a significant step in the history of Fishman Island.
Princess Otohime's visit this time was more of a formality, with the aim of ensuring the smooth operation of the Fishman Deep Sea Mining Company and reducing the public's fear of the land.
The Dragon Palace Kingdom and Piltover are both rather special cases; some things that have been agreed upon now can't be implemented. On the contrary, Titi has been discussing more things.
Aside from expressing gratitude for the pirate guerrilla rescue ship, Alabasta was practically throwing money away; they were interested in many of Piltover's technologies.
Although the power core of the Power Gear is currently classified and not for sale, Titi has brought in a number of ship modification orders, specifically to add outer wheels to the ships to make them more powerful.
In addition, Titi even talked about overseas construction projects.
"Princess Titi, building a railway in Alabasta isn't difficult. Trams might not be suitable for you, but the power source can be modified. However, this facility isn't a profitable project. Once it's completed, it will be very difficult to recoup the investment."
The construction of railways is already a huge expense, not to mention the subsequent maintenance. If the government doesn't pay for it, the operating costs will be ridiculously high.
"Alabasta can afford this money. If it makes life more convenient for its citizens, then the expenditure is worthwhile. I can agree to this on behalf of Kobra."
Whether to express her gratitude or because she was genuinely not short of money, Titi didn't even bother to haggle over the price.
Brother Oran, you offered too low a price. She was thinking, "Wow, it's so cheap!"
Oran heard Ginny's voice through the earpiece in his ear. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit combined with Observation Haki made mind-reading extremely useful in this situation, allowing him to easily find out the other party's bottom line.
As one of the twenty kings of that time, Alabasta enjoys many privileges within the World Government. As one of the victors, this country is certainly not poor, after all, it is a superpower capable of supporting a standing army of 600,000.
"Princess Titi, we actually have quite a few other nice things here. If you're interested, I can introduce them to you one by one."
In a sense, these desert nations seem to be truly wealthy. Alabasta didn't know Orlando was short of money, but now Orlando knows just how rich they really are.
Oran did not try to raise the price on the spot, but instead planned to have a good talk with the other party based on the principle of small profits and quick turnover.
One-off transactions are nowhere near as useful as long-term, stable customers. Putting everything else aside, if Titi really decides to build a railway in Alabasta, it will be a massive project that will take several years to complete.
Oran even became interested in Alabasta's standing army. Assuming Alabasta's troops were fully re-equipped with new weapons, even if each soldier earned 10,000 Berries, that would amount to 6 billion.
She's not just a princess from another country, she's a god of wealth!
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 30 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[pat*eon*com/DaoistRoeoNQ]
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"