It wasn't Ariel's fault for being sensitive. Back when Anbaixiu was posing as Mengge Grayriver, Ariel had observed this "wise man" very carefully to see how he used words to swindle people, hoping that one day she might become clever herself.
Because of this, Ariel was intimately familiar with Mengge Grayriver's physical gestures and mannerisms.
And now, while the lich before her bore no outward resemblance to Mengge Grayriver, Ariel could sense an uncanny similarity in their demeanor. Especially that last statement—the moment Anbaixiu finished speaking, Ariel knew she had walked right into a trap, exactly the way Mengge Grayriver used to hoodwink people.
It felt utterly bizarre.
Ariel couldn't help sizing Anbaixiu up and down, wanting to see through to the soul concealed beneath this lich's Polymorph.
Unfortunately, Anbaixiu revealed no flaws whatsoever. He merely said with courteous ease, "If Your Highness has other concerns, feel free to speak plainly. Business is always meant to be negotiated."
Only then did Ariel snap back to her senses, asking Anbaixiu, "What did you mean by another way of cooperating?"
Anbaixiu was secretly delighted. Ariel asking that question meant his plan was already more than half successful.
Anbaixiu said, "It's simple. The Raging Tide Kingdom faces serious financial troubles and can't produce enough cash, but I know the Raging Tide Kingdom has a bit of surplus population..."
Ariel interrupted, "Master Ultraman, you're mistaken. The Raging Tide Kingdom's population isn't large at all. We can barely keep everyone fed as it is."
The Raging Tide Kingdom was scattered across several giant islands, and its population was genuinely small—all told, probably under ten million.
Furthermore, with so little land, large-scale farming or animal husbandry was out of the question; they could only survive off the sea. Consequently, the commoners of the Raging Tide Kingdom had no choice but to fish, relying entirely on their catch to fill their bellies.
The vast majority of the populace paid their taxes in fish, leaving the kingdom with very little gold. Had they not discovered a small underwater gold mine, the Raging Tide Kingdom would have had to resort to piracy just to earn gold.
Yet excavating an underwater gold mine was exceedingly difficult. Over all these years, they hadn't extracted much gold, and now the mine was nearly exhausted.
In a kingdom where people couldn't even eat their fill, where would they find the manpower to dive and mine? Without enough gold or noteworthy local specialties, it was difficult to trade with kingdoms on the mainland without constantly getting the short end of the stick. This made the Raging Tide Kingdom even more isolated, backward, and impoverished.
So Anbaixiu claiming they had a surplus of manpower was pure nonsense.
Anbaixiu, however, shook his head. "I know the dilemma facing the Raging Tide Kingdom. Gathering food through fishing is dreadfully inefficient and dangerous to boot, which is entirely detrimental to the kingdom's development."
Such was the trouble with an island kingdom. Unable to support a massive industrial base, remaining stuck in fishing and foraging meant they could never escape their current plight.
And Anbaixiu happened to have the solution. "I wonder if Your Highness has ever considered importing food? If the kingdom had enough grain, its people could be freed up to do far more valuable work—such as processing various alchemical products for me."
"Process alchemical products?" Ariel asked in puzzlement. "But our Raging Tide Kingdom has no foundation for that whatsoever."
"No matter, I do. I possess the full technology for alchemical factory production lines. I only lack manpower."
Remembering the bound dragons from earlier, Ariel gasped in surprise. "Are you really going to slaughter those dragons and use their corpses for alchemy?"
"Heh-heh, I'm not that cruel. I believe in sustainable business, not one-off deals. What would I do if the dragons all died out? So I'm only targeting certain draconic specialties, such as Dragonbone Vine, dragon scales, dragon blood, and the like. Just by tweaking the proportions of these raw materials, we can produce massive quantities of alchemical products with immense market appeal."
Ariel asked again, "Aren't you friends with that Undead Queen? Wouldn't it be far simpler to ask her for help?"
Anbaixiu replied helplessly, "The Underdark is utterly unsuitable for building large-scale production lines. Besides, draconic materials are delicate; if contaminated by dark magic, the defect rate skyrockets."
Using skeletons to work wouldn't do. Draconic goods were high-end commodities; the slightest taint would spoil the product. He needed living workers.
Even if the Underdark had dwarves and gnomes, water supply and ventilation were major issues, not to mention that the place was a labyrinth of twisting corridors. Finding a flat expanse was no easy feat.
Anbaixiu could hardly cast World Weaving all over again just to craft a new environment for alchemical factories—the initial investment would be exorbitant. Even if he were willing to spend that much, subsequent transport costs would pose another staggering expense. From the Underdark to the surface, only teleportation arrays could offer reliable transit, and that cost was truly terrifying.
The Raging Tide Kingdom was different. It was an island nation, making transport far more convenient.
Anbaixiu was currently planning to establish trans-kingdom airship routes; adding a stop here would allow him to compress costs even further.
Furthermore, the Raging Tide Kingdom was dirt poor. Cutting an alchemical factory worker's wages elsewhere in half and then slashing that by another thirty percent would be more than enough to hire Raging Tide workers.
A low-wage advantage—nowhere else could match that. On top of that, the Raging Tide Kingdom was the closest region to Dragon Island. Even if they didn't host factories, they would serve as a transit hub for moving materials. Rather than merely being a transit station, why not turn it directly into a manufacturing base?
What's more, Anbaixiu could inflate the price of combat airships to offset the Raging Tide Kingdom's "wages."
At most, he could give the Raging Tide Kingdom a small cut of the sales profits to spur their initiative. In this way, Anbaixiu could coax these ten million people into becoming his wage laborers.
The mere thought of this kingdom turning into his alchemical factory made Anbaixiu's soul tremble with excitement. When he began dumping his goods on the market, every alchemical chamber of commerce on the continent would be hammered into submission. At that point, the price of a Vigor Potion would be whatever Anbaixiu declared!
"Your Highness, I can provide the kingdom with airships, technology, and some infrastructure. All you need to provide is sufficient labor and land. As for food, I have connections with druids and can acquire ample grain from them, guaranteeing that the people of the Raging Tide Kingdom will never go hungry.
"I trust Your Highness doesn't wish for your subjects to eat nothing but fish for the rest of their lives, either? Bread, eggs, milk, various meats—all of these can become staples on the Raging Tide Kingdom's menu. What do you think?"
Ariel was stunned by the future Anbaixiu painted. Even as a princess, her diet consisted solely of various fish, kelp, and seaweed. She had barely tasted beef or mutton more than a few times, let alone milk. Bread was available to her only because the Raging Tide Kingdom's meager arable land was prioritized for the royal family.
If this lich could truly pull this off, it seemed like a wonderful thing for the Raging Tide Kingdom.
Ariel was on the verge of agreeing, but what came out of her mouth instead was: "I will give your suggestion serious consideration. How about this, Master Ultraman: why don't you draw up a detailed proposal first so I can study it? Exactly how we cooperate, what we must provide, and what we stand to gain—I hope it can all be laid out in detail in the proposal."
Anbaixiu mused inwardly. That silly girl from back then had truly grown up; she had become smarter and far more cautious.
Anbaixiu handed the proposal he had long prepared over to Ariel. The princess flipped through a few pages, her eyes lighting up. Everything documented inside was precisely what the Raging Tide Kingdom needed. It was all so wonderful; it seemed that merely signing this contract would set the kingdom on the path to prosperity.
Poor Ariel. She simply hadn't had enough time to grow. Had she studied for just a few more years, she might have seen through Anbaixiu's tricks.
This was a heavily embellished proposal, entirely sidestepping the core problem.
What would become of a kingdom once its food supply was monopolized and its entire population turned into factory workers?
Such a monopoly was insidious. Once the kingdom's people grew accustomed to days of meat and bread, forcing them back to the fish-only days of the past would strike a devastating blow to the nation.
By then, the fate of the Raging Tide Kingdom would be entirely in Anbaixiu's hands.
Anbaixiu didn't mind Ariel taking the proposal back to study at her leisure, either.
Chances were that no one in the Raging Tide Kingdom could discern the traps hidden within Anbaixiu's plan. They were too poor, had too few people, and could attract very little talent.
Anbaixiu had met their court wizards: dabblers in alchemy, corpses, and spells, but not a single one who had ever studied society or economics.
As for the old king... Heh, Mengge Grayriver had run circles around him. The old man certainly lacked the ability to see the heart of the matter.
The only concern now was the Storm Lord, Talos. Would He see through the plan and hand down an oracle to His followers?
Did that count as interfering with mortals?
Anbaixiu could only pray silently to Ao: *Overgod, please be stricter. Ideally, make all the deities terrified of sending down oracles, and this world will fall into my hands sooner or later.*
Watching Ariel's departing figure, Anbaixiu prepared to refocus his attention.
The Ryans wouldn't be defeated by a mere Sea of Thunder; they were bound to reach him eventually. Preparations still needed to be made. He hoped to resolve the matter spectacularly when the time came, so as to strike awe into everyone.
Yet just as Anbaixiu was about to continue refining his plans, a thought suddenly struck him.
Ariel... that name... No way. Could the woman that idiot wanted to marry be Princess Ariel?
Anbaixiu hadn't made the connection before because the name Ariel was too common; too many people shared it, and without a surname, it was truly impossible to compare.
However, given Aeolus's extraordinary power, the woman he intended to marry couldn't be some ordinary family's daughter, could she? An ordinary girl attempting to flee a wedding would never escape Aeolus's pursuit.
Only Princess Ariel would be worthy of Aeolus pursuing her with everything he had.
And considering Aeolus's utter buffoonery, Anbaixiu formed a daring conjecture: this was likely a divine scheme to meddle in the mortal realm!
Chapter 400