Chapter 775.3: Ripple Effect

The Wislanders were not the only people following developments in the Southern Seas. The “Southern Seas New Alliance” looked very much like an alternate identity of the New Alliance and was also about to become a new member of the Mutant Slime Mold Research Committee. Consequently, the major powers across the wasteland had all followed the latest developments in the Southern Seas to some degree through New Alliance media.

That included not only the Enterprise and the Academy, but also the Bugra Free State. Even the distant Xilande Empire had heard the news.

In the Heavenly City, within the magnificent palace, Wutuo Xilande sat upon his chair, savoring wine imported from Port Gallon while happily listening to a eunuch read aloud the latest edition of the Dawn Garden Street Gazette. His grin stretched so widely that he could barely close his mouth, and he repeatedly shouted his approval.

To be fair, not everyone in the New Alliance was a sycophant. There were still people who dared speak the truth, and the reports in this newspaper were genuinely entertaining.

The New Alliance’s administrator had supposedly taken a fancy to the queen of the Lion Kingdom. Although the king was furious, he dared not speak out. His silent indulgence had not only stirred public resentment throughout his kingdom, but also driven the Honey Badger Princess, who was deeply infatuated with the administrator, mad with jealousy.

As a result, the two kingdoms had begun fighting fiercely along their border, threatening to trigger a second mighty war across the Great Desert.

The New Alliance’s own backyard was already engulfed in war, and now the flames had spread into the Southern Seas. He had heard that even a vessel called the Heavenly Court had been destroyed.

However, Dawn City’s media had remained completely silent about the matter. Only the fearless Dawn Garden Street Gazette had stepped forward to reveal the naked truth, stripping the New Alliance bare before the public.

“The New Alliance has committed so many injustices that it has brought humiliation upon itself! I doubt it will last much longer!”

Wutuo Xilande thoroughly enjoyed what he was hearing, a faint drunken flush coloring his face.

Had the newspaper not been so far away, he would have gladly donated money to it so that those courageous reporters could publish updates more quickly.

Perhaps because he had drunk too much, his eyes suddenly shifted as a whimsical idea occurred to him.

“The New Alliance is occupied with the Sunset Province and the front at Ten Peaks Mountain. It must have no attention to spare for the Southern Seas… Would it not be perfect if the Southern Seas New Alliance became a tributary state of the Xilande Empire?”

He had learned the term “tributary state” from the Dawn Garden Street Gazette. Supposedly, the Lion Kingdom and the Honey Badger Kingdom were both tributary states of the New Alliance, while the Camel Kingdom counted as half of one. The Golden Lizard and Falcon Kingdoms belonged respectively to the Academy and the Army.

The eunuch reading the newspaper looked confused, while Duke Nihark, seated nearby, also froze.

The former had simply failed to follow His Majesty’s train of thought and was unsure whether he should respond. The latter had only recently returned and had not read the previous issues delivered by Duke Garawa, so he did not understand what “tributary state” meant.

Seeing that no one objected, Wutuo Xilande stroked his chin before speaking. “Didn’t the Wislanders produce some cement in West Sail Harbor? Steel too. It is all rusting in our warehouses. We might as well sell it to them… Ah, and price it in our currency! We should establish that so-called pricing power as well!”

According to the Dawn Garden Street Gazette, the New Alliance had risen so rapidly largely because its administrator had stuffed Silver into the pockets of wastelanders and exchanged them for the truly valuable things they possessed.

Although the newspaper did not explain how the New Alliance had managed to put those silver coins into the wastelanders’ pockets, Wu Tuo considered it a brilliant idea. The Xilande Empire needed to find a way to do the same, and this opportunity was perfect for putting the plan into practice on a large scale.

The survivors of the Southern Seas needed to rebuild their homes, which meant they would certainly require steel and cement. And he happened to have an enormous surplus of both.

The materials had originally been intended for road construction, but renovating the Heavenly City and the infrastructure around West Sail Harbor required nowhere near that many resources. The unused supplies had piled into mountains inside the warehouses.

In truth, he did not really understand why the Wislanders had worked so hard to produce so much steel and cement. What he wanted were rifles, artillery, and soldiers who knew how to fight.

Unfortunately, those big-nosed foreigners truly had not treated him as an outsider. Not only had they forced purchases and sales upon him, but they had also paid their debts with goods they could not sell elsewhere. He had figured that since he would never recover the money anyway, he might as well accept their proposal and receive a pile of miscellaneous goods.

Perhaps they might become useful someday.

Now he was immensely grateful for his foresight in agreeing to the Wislanders’ proposal. Had that pile of junk not become useful precisely now?

Nihark stroked his chin, considering that His Majesty’s reasoning actually seemed to make some sense.

He had once served as governor of Port Gallon and therefore understood commerce to some degree. The Xilande currency genuinely lacked competitiveness against Dinars and Silver, putting them at a severe disadvantage in trade and costing the imperial treasury considerable sums.

With the recent surge in customs revenue from Port Gallon bringing the Empire a substantial income, they could use that idle money to accomplish something.

“The only problem is… the Southern Seas New Alliance does not possess any Xilande currency. How do we make them use Xilande currency to purchase our goods?” Nihark wondered aloud, rubbing his chin.

Looking at the troubled Nihark, Wutuo Xilande took a sip of wine and smiled faintly. “That is easily solved. It does not matter if they have none. We can lend them a sum of Xilande Coins.”

He had also learned this move from the Dawn Garden Street Gazette.

During the Sunset War, the New Alliance had provided loans to the Lion Kingdom and the Honey Badger Kingdom. On the one hand, those loans stimulated infrastructure construction in both countries. On the other, New Alliance companies earned enormous profits from the projects.

Going even further back, the Enterprise’s aid to the New Alliance had taken a similar form.

Although Wutuo Xilande could not explain the precise mechanisms involved, he was perfectly capable of copying what others had done.

Nihark looked at His Majesty, who had suddenly become enlightened, with surprise. The expression on his face gradually turned to delight, and he rose from his chair. “Your Majesty is wise! As long as we lend them money, we can not only sell our unsold cement, but also become their creditor!”

He had spent so many years in Port Gallon without ever thinking of such a method, yet the emperor had somehow come up with it!

Could the newspaper truly be that miraculous?

Nihark could not help thinking that once he returned, he would have to ask Duke Garawa to send him several copies as well so that he could study them.

Seeing Nihark’s astonishment, Wutuo Xilande smiled calmly and set down his cup. “You flatter me. Sit.”

Although his face remained composed, he was inwardly delighted that he had so thoroughly impressed one of his ministers.

At the same time Wutuo Xilande was feeling pleased with his own strategy, a massive campaign quietly began in Mammoth State in the northeast of the Poro Province.

On one side stood Mammoth State’s local army, numbering a full 50,000 men while claiming to have 100,000, personally commanded by the state governor.

On the other side stood the Moonfolk Resistance, which claimed to have 10,000 troops but could not actually gather even 6,000. More than half of them were slaves and refugees recruited along the way.

They were led by Laxi, the former commander of the Port Gallon Militia.

Clearly, the governor of Mammoth State did not take this ragtag force seriously at all. He had not even bothered the emperor with the matter and planned to send news of victory to the Heavenly City after the fighting ended, giving the Emperor a tremendous surprise.

Coincidentally, his opponent Laxi felt exactly the same way and did not take the enemy seriously either.

100,000 men… What a fucking boast!

In this miserable backwater, he would admit defeat if even ten men could scrape together a single rifle!

After arranging the battle deployments, the scruffy man simply squatted inside the military camp and began reading the Survivors’ Daily that had arrived with the supplies.

Looking at the front-page report concerning the Southern Seas, Laxi bit into a steamed bun and muttered to himself, “Damn, that was fast!”

He remembered that when he had still been living comfortably in Port Gallon, the New Alliance had remained locked in a stalemate with the North Island Federation in the Southern Seas. Apart from redeploying the Burning Corps, there had been no indication whatsoever that fighting was about to begin.

Yet in the blink of an eye, the North Island Federation had already been destroyed.

Now that the New Alliance had secured the Southern Seas, it would undoubtedly begin massive infrastructure projects there. If he wanted to develop his miserable territory of Mammoth State, he had to seize this opportunity!

The only thing this place had in abundance was people!

Stuffing the final piece of steamed bun into his mouth, Laxi chewed as a sharp light flashed in his eyes.

We need to move even faster!

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