Chapter 476: Chapter 472: The Emperor’s Illegitimate Child? Chapter 476: Chapter 472: The Emperor’s Illegitimate Child? “Your Majesty, I have already sent out your space coordinates. Please stay put for three days. Before long, a fleet of trade airships will cross space to trade with you,” the message read.

“This is so extravagant,” Muria twitched the corners of his mouth, comparing this to the trade adventures of the Lockman Kingdom which he’d previously thought were impressive. Now, these businesses looked like mud next to the sky-high Empire’s business associations.

“Your Majesty, based on my intelligence, the largest business associations in the Human Empire follow the Empire’s colonial fleet for business, so you can trust in their capabilities. They can provide any resource you want,” the message continued.

“…I don’t have any money,” Muria said after a moment of silence, his voice a little dry.

“Unfortunately, your Majesty, I am keen on helping you, but according to the rules, a Titan on an adventure can only receive limited technical intelligence support and cannot seek resource aid. Therefore, I apologize. You must acquire everything you want by yourself.”

“I understand,” Muria scratched his head, feeling a little frustrated. He had merely gained another steady channel for trade, but his fundamental problem of scarce resources and talent remained unresolved.

“What will I trade with the Empire with when their business association comes over?” Muria walked around Cloud Island, contemplating items that he didn’t need but could be traded.

“Weapons, potions, and…” Muria stared at a majestic steel golem that stood before him, towering over three meters tall. Many ideas sprang into his mind.

As the inheritor of all the legendary mage and Elemental Master Heinal’s possessions, Muria had some understanding of metal golems. With a sufficient number of skilled rune workers and ample metal resources, some mid-to-low-tier metal golems could be manufactured in bulk.

Mass production technology for metal golems was critical for any kingdom, as it significantly reduced the military death rate. Undoubtedly fatal missions could be assigned to golems, and even if they were destroyed, the remnants could be recovered and reforged into new cannon fodder.

“I may consider making this my primary profit-making project. After all, it doesn’t demand exceptional talent to become a skilled golem worker. All they need is a reasonable degree of elemental sensitivity. I’ll think about what else, besides golems, I can sell,” Muria mused.

“Dragon scales can be collected as raw materials, and then I can have the dwarves forge them into armor. The Zor Elves can do the final rune engraving and decoration, prioritizing aesthetics and style over the armor’s properties, then sell them at a high price.

Considering this is an empire capable of planar colonialism, there should be a decent number of foolhardy nobles aplenty with more money than sense. These are ripe pickings. What is remains uncertain is how much money the collectors could offer. I should let the dwarves make a couple of sets for trials.”

…

“Everyone pay attention! We’re about to meet His Royal Highness. If any of you mess this up, don’t blame me, Andrew, for being merciless,” rebuked a slightly overweight young man in a luxuriously decorated conference room aboard a massive floating ship. “This is a task delegated to me by the royals. As long as I pull this off, we’ll all profit. But if you mess this up and make me suffer, none of you will escape the consequences.”

“Chairman, who exactly are we dealing with? Just who is this person that even requires your personal intervention? Give us a hint so we know what to expect.”

“I’m not sure who this bigwig is, but I can tell you that this command was issued personally by Emperor Ayn Rand. According to the Emperor’s instructions, we just need to treat this bigwig as a prince who’s next in line to the throne.

Moreover, we don’t need to think about profit regarding our trade dealings with this bigwig. As long as he doesn’t catch on, we just need to bring as many benefits for him as possible. The ideal situation would be if we could discreetly give away all the goods we brought.”

“Chairman, we brought along fifty-seven ships’ worth of goods. If we were to give it all away, wouldn’t we be left with nothing?”

“Isko, you’ve been with me for a while now. Can’t you think rationally? How many people are yearning to take a loss as ordered by the Emperor?” chirped the chubby association chairman with evident glee.

“These losses are temporary. The rewards the Emperor will grant us later will be ten, even a hundred times what we’ve given.”

“Not a hundred, ten times would be enough,” a high-level official of the association wiped the corners of his mouth, feeling as if saliva was seeping out.

“Cough, chairman, do you mean the more goods we give away now, the more rewards we’ll get in the future?”

“Of course. This time we’re here to give away money, and we must do so discreetly, without letting the bigwig catch on,” the chairman replied.

“It’s really troublesome. Can’t we just throw all the goods we brought along with the ships at him? He can’t possibly refuse, can he?”

“Enough with the nonsense. It’s more than enough for us to comprehend a bit of the bigwig’s thoughts. Let’s just do as we’re told.”

…

“What a waste, even trade ships can cross through space,” Muria’s eyes reddened as he watched airship after airship emerging from the sky. “How wonderful it would be if these trade ships were not here to trade with me but were my enemies. I could just seize their valuables.”

Following the guidance of the Cloud Giants, airships that had crossed through space landed on three different cloud islands. The ships were simply too large. Compared to them, the airships that Muria brought from the Lockman Kingdom were like kittens standing next to tigers, the size difference was just too vast.

“May I ask if you are Prince Muria? I am Andrew, a representative of the Uranos Empire’s Deep Blue Commerce Association,” introduced Andrew, the association’s chairman, once he had been introduced to Muria’s true presence. His tone was modest and respectful.

Nobody could comprehend the astonishment, joy, and excitement in Andrew’s heart when he saw Muria’s black hair and golden pupils, the unique features of a human child. Despite his guessing beforehand, Andrew found it impossible not to associate the boy standing in front of him with the seemingly celibate Emperor Ayn Rand of the Uranos Empire.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read