Published: March 12, 2025
Chapter 563: The Dwarven Clan's Ironware
Chris frowned and finally made up his mind, saying, "Please don't rush to leave, sir. First, come and visit our Hurricane Family. We might be able to help with the matters concerning the Dwarven Clan."
Zhao Hai looked at Chris and smiled slightly, saying, "That's fine. I hope to trouble you, Miss. My ship is quite spacious; may I invite you to take a look?"
Chris shook his head and replied, "No, thank you, sir. I've just gone through a major event, and I still have many things to deal with. Please, you mustn't rush to leave." Zhao Hai agreed and followed Laura and the others back to his ship.
Once on board, Zhao Hai ordered the six warships to depart, heading towards Golden Island. He also notified Kun Zheng and the others to take over the warships.
After doing all this, Zhao Hai entered the space with Laura and the others. Once seated in the space, Zhao Hai smiled at Laura and said, "It seems this effort was worth it. If the Hurricane Family is willing to talk to the Dwarven Clan on our behalf, our business dealings with them will be much easier."
Laura nodded and said, "Yes, the Pagoda Empire is very strict with the Dwarven Clan. Given our current status, our contact with the Dwarven Clan will surely attract their attention. The folks from the Pagoda Empire treat the Dwarven Clan as their exclusive blacksmiths. If we go directly to the Dwarves for business, there will definitely be complications."
Zhao Hai frowned and asked, "Don't the major families on the continent have any objections? Why can they watch as the Pagoda Empire monopolizes business with the Dwarven Clan?"
Laura smiled and said, "How could they not have objections? But they have no choice. While the business with the Dwarven Clan is indeed good, they also don't want to make enemies with the Pagoda Empire. The Pagoda Empire deals with those who do business with the Dwarven Clan using very simple methods. If a family conducts business with the Dwarves, they suppress that family's business within the Pagoda Empire, making it not worth the loss."
Zhao Hai was taken aback. He really hadn't expected the Pagoda Empire to act this way. He had to admit that they were indeed targeting the lifeblood of those major families. The Pagoda Empire had always taken the majority share of the business with the Dwarven Clan, while other families received very little. Under such circumstances, being suppressed in their business within the Pagoda Empire was truly not worth it.
Lily smiled and said, "Not only that, but those from the Pagoda Empire who trade with the Dwarven Clan desperately slander merchants from other countries, making the Dwarven Clan think that traders from other countries are all frauds. Naturally, the Dwarven Clan is less willing to do business with merchants from other countries."
Zhao Hai laughed and said, "The Pagoda Empire is indeed interesting. It seems the Dwarven Clan's ironware is truly exceptional; otherwise, they wouldn't go to such lengths."
Laura nodded and said, "That's true. A knife made from the same iron material, crafted by a human blacksmith, might break or become unusable after just one war. On the other hand, a knife from the Dwarven Clan can withstand more than five wars and is sharper than the human-made knife. The Pagoda Empire has relied on the Dwarven Clan's ironware to achieve its current status."
Meigen nodded and said, "I once saw a Jing Steel Dagger made by a Dwarven craftsman at my father's place. The dagger doesn't look extravagant or eye-catching, but it's incredibly sharp, far surpassing those made by high-ranking human blacksmiths. If a dagger made by a human blacksmith clashed against a dagger made by the Dwarven Clan, the latter could easily cut through the former."
Zhao Hai nodded and said, "So the Dwarven Clan's ironware is that good. I wonder how it compares to the daggers made by the universal machine."
Laura shook her head and said, "It might be even better than the daggers made by the universal machine. They are handcrafted and refined through countless forges, so they should be more outstanding."